JASON MILLER

Miller was born John Anthony Miller in Long Island City, Queens, the son of Mary Claire (née Collins), a teacher, and John A. Miller, an electrician. He was of Irish ancestry. His family moved to the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where Miller was educated at St. Patrick's High School and the Jesuit-run University of Scranton. He also attended The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Miller was launched into stardom in 1973 by winning a Pulitzer Prize for his play, That Championship Season. That same year, he was offered the role of the troubled priest in William Friedkin's horror film The Exorcist (1973), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Miller married Linda Gleason, daughter of Jackie Gleason, and Jason Patric, the actor, is their son. 

Jason remains the only person in history to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Drama and an Academy Award nomination.

In 1982 he returned home to Scranton to direct a film version of That Championship Season, which starred Martin Sheen, Paul Sorvino, and Robert Mitchum. After the film he stayed in Scranton and helped to run Scranton Public Theatre, where he continued to act and direct until his death in 2001.