Bill Thurman
Born Nov. 4th, 1920 – Died Apr. 13th, 1995

While Thurman had appearances in notable films like Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) or Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show (1971), as well as Hollywood films like Places in the Heart (1984) and Silverado (1985), he really is more known to cult fans that love films that are more off the beaten path. Thurman appeared in films like Creature from Black Lake (1976), The Evictors (1979) and the cult title Mountaintop Motel Massacre (1986). But digging even deeper into the cult history, Thurman also appeared in over a dozen films of Texas filmmaker Larry Buchanan, most notably in titles as The Eye Creatures (1965), Curse of the Swamp Creature (1965), Zontar: The Thing from Venus (1966), Mars Needs Women (1967), and It’s Alive (1969).

Now the thing about Thurman that is memorable were his performances. Was he Oscar winning caliber? Not even close. But more importantly, he was always enjoyable to watch on screen. When I see his name in the title, I know that he is going to try his best and presenting a interesting character on screen, and usually does. Thurman is one of these actors that truly deserves to be remembered since most people are not even familiar with the movies that he’s in, let alone the actor himself. So the next time you’re watching a low budget film that might have been made in Texas, keep an eye out for this large man, most likely with southern drawl to his speech. Most likely, that will be Bill Thurman.