Lawrence John Miller is an American comedian, actor, news podcaster, and columnist. He's known for his role as Lou Bonaparte in Mad About You, Tommy in 8 Simple Rules, voiced Pointy-Haired Boss in Dilbert, Jerome Nash Life's Work, and Edwin Poole in Boston Legal. and his movie roles as Mr. Hollister in Pretty Woman, as Dean Richmond in The Nutty Professor, as Walter Stratford in 10 Things I Hate About You, and as Principal Elliot T. Jindraike in Max Keeble's Big Movie.
Miller is primarily regarded as a character actor and is well known for playing 'stuck up to suck up' characters that alternate between being condescending and sycophantic. Miller's first acting job was as the Emcee on the TV series Fame. He gained mainstream attention for his part in popular scenes of Pretty Woman involving him as a store clerk for the main characters. His film roles include Walter Stratford in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, as well as several characters in Christopher Guest's mockumentary movies. He has held prominent supporting roles in Carry On Columbus, The Nutty Professor, , and Max Keeble's Big Move. He has over 50 film appearances. He was part of the main cast of Life's Work, The Pursuit of Happiness, and High School Cupid, a Cupid Inc. Story. He is also a frequent guest actor on television, most notably as the nasty doorman on Seinfeld in the episode The Doorman. He played Edwin Poole in the ABCdramedyBoston Legal. He played night-club owner Michael Dobson in two Law & Order episodes, first in the episode "Coma" and then later in "Encore". Miller appeared as himself in a third episode, "Smoke". He was also in 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, where he played Tommy, Kyle's obnoxious father and Paul's colleague. He is close friends with Jerry Seinfeld and auditioned for the part of George Costanza. He was starred in Blonde Ambition which is considered as a brilliant & cult film for its writing and for the many references it has.
Television writing
Miller served as a writer for the television showsUncommon Sense, Just Words, and Pros & Cons.
Commentary
From 2002 to 2004, Miller wrote a column for the magazine The Weekly Standard that usually ran once every two weeks. Since then, he has continued to contribute occasionally to the magazine. His subject matter has included politics as well as reminiscences about fellow entertainers, and anecdotes from his own life. Two of the columns he wrote in 2002 served as the text for frequently forwarded emails at the time, though in both cases his words were attributed to others. The first was his very first Weekly Standard column in January 2002, in which he mocked various anti-war platitudes of the time; the text was incorrectly attributed to retired Air Force general Richard E. Hawley. The second was an April 2002 column defending Israel in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, which was attributed to fellow comedian Dennis Miller. Another email which also began to be forwarded in 2002, purporting to offer "George Carlin's Views on Aging", was derived in part from a stand-up routine that Larry Miller performed in the 1990s. Miller began a weekly podcast on the Carolla Digital Network, This Week with Larry Miller, suspending it after falling and injuring his head severely in April 2012. After hospitalization and a coma, he said in January 2013 that he was convalescing. Miller resumed the podcast on January 9, 2013. In February 2015 the podcast was retitled The Larry Miller Show with direct distribution.
