100 Heroes: Buzz Miller
The gay man who became an accomplished dancer.
Buzz Miller was a professional dancer who was equally at home on Broadway and in contemporary ballet and modern dance.
Early life and Training
Born in Arizona in 1923, his birth name was Vernal Miller but everyone called him Buzz.
After graduation from high school, Buzz joined the U.S. Army and spent two years as a front lines messenger on active duty in World War II. He was honorably discharged from military service after being injured in combat.
In 1947, when he was 23 years old, he began his dance studies. After only nine months of study, he got his first professional dancing job.
Professional career
Once he began training, Miller soon showed a talent for jazz dance and he quickly found employment as a professional dancer. He toured night clubs and cabarets across the US and in Europe.
He also appeared in numerous Broadway shows and Hollywood films.
Later years
In 1978, Miller was a founding member of the American Dance Machine. He also taught master dance classes at many universities in the United States. He was regarded as one of the leading teachers of jazz dance in the country.
Personal life
Mille identified publicly as a gay man.
Significant relationships included Jerome Robbins and Alan Groh.
Miller died in 1999 at the age of 76. The cause of death was emphysema.
