Lillian Miller

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Lillian Dorothy Miller (May 26, 1897 – April 1, 1990), known as Miss Miller, was an American TV personality who became a beloved regular audience member on many variety shows from the 1950s to the 1980s. Born in Boston to a Jewish family, she was the youngest of four children. She worked as a government typist until she retired in 1958 because of eye trouble. She started in entertainment as a radio audience member in New York in 1940 and first went on stage in 1949 with Sammy Kaye on So You Want to Lead a Band.

In the 1950s she moved between New York, Philadelphia, and Hollywood. Miss Miller became a regular on The Tonight Show during Steve Allen and Jack Paar, and she even appeared on location in places like Havana and Niagara Falls. She joined AFTRA and stayed a familiar face on television as the show changed hands, appearing on Jack Paar’s prime-time program, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and The Merv Griffin Show through the 1980s, sometimes appearing in commercials. She was also a regular on The Carol Burnett Show, often bantering with Burnett at the opening Q&A. In the mid-1980s she was a frequent guest at The Limelight in Atlanta, where she hosted parties and met celebrities. She was photographed many times by Guy D’Alema during her Limelight visits.