Born in Boise City, Oklahoma, Vera Miles attended school in Pratt, Kansas and Wichita, Kansas. The patrician beauty of Miss Miles won her the title of "Miss Kansas" in 1948, leading soon to small roles in Hollywood films and television series. Fame came to the forthright, spirited Miles when she attracted the attention of two master directors, Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford. Ford cast her in the classic western The Searchers (1956) and Hitchcock, who put her under personal contract and hailed her as his "new Grace Kelly", paired her with the great Henry Fonda in The Wrong Man (1956). Hitchcock cast Miles in the potentially star-making role of Judy Barton in Vertigo (1958), but Miles withdrew from the film when she became pregnant. Hitchcock gave Miles a supporting role in another masterpiece Psycho (1960), as did Ford when he cast her opposite John Wayne and James Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), She also starred in such films as Beau James (1957) opposite Bob Hope, The FBI Story (1959) opposite Stewart, Back Street (1961) opposite Susan Hayward and John Gavin and Sergeant Ryker (1968) opposite Lee Marvin, as well as showing her consistently remarkable and versatile talent on dozens of popular television movies and series including The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962), Twilight Zone (1959), The Outer Limits (1963), The Fugitive (1963), My Three Sons (1960), Bonanza (1959), "Columbo" and Murder, She Wrote (1984). In 1983, she reprised her role as "Lila Crane" in the film sequel Psycho II (1983), starring Anthony Perkins. Although, too often, the stunningly beautiful Miles' gifts were underutilized, before her retirement in 1995, hers was a most intriguing and enduring Hollywood career.
Movie | Journey to the unknown | June Wiley | 2019 |
Movie | Hitchcock/Truffaut | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 2015-09-04 |
Movie | The Psycho Legacy | Self (archive footage) | 2010-10-19 |
Movie | Separate Lives | Dr. Ruth Goldin | 1995-09-08 |
Movie | 24 Hour Psycho | Lila Crane (archive footage) | 1993-01-01 |
Movie | The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro | Sophie Kubacki | 1989-02-13 |
Movie | Into the Night | Joan Caper | 1985-02-22 |
Movie | International Airport | Elaine Corley | 1985-05-25 |
Series | Murder, She Wrote | Unknown | 1984-09-30 |
Movie | Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues | Kate Keller | 1984-04-23 |
Series | Crazy like a Fox | Unknown | 1984-12-30 |
Movie | Psycho II | Lila Loomis | 1983-06-03 |
Movie | BrainWaves | Marian Koonan | 1983-08-05 |
Series | Matt Houston | Unknown | 1982-09-26 |
Series | Hotel | Unknown | 1982-08-21 |
Movie | Mazes and Monsters | Cat | 1982-12-27 |
Series | Magnum, P.I. | Unknown | 1980-12-11 |
Movie | The Horror Show | (archive footage) | 1979-02-06 |
Movie | And I Alone Survived | Irene Elder | 1978-11-27 |
Movie | Fire! | Martha Wagner | 1977-05-08 |
Series | How the West Was Won | Unknown | 1977-02-06 |
Movie | Smash-Up on Interstate 5 | Erica | 1976-02-02 |
Series | Ellery Queen | Unknown | 1975-09-11 |
Movie | Live Again, Die Again | Marcia Carmichael | 1974-02-16 |
Movie | The Strange and Deadly Occurrence | Christine Rhodes | 1974-09-24 |
Series | Movin' On | Unknown | 1974-05-08 |
Movie | The Castaway Cowboy | Henrietta MacAvoy | 1974-08-01 |
Series | Little House on the Prairie | Unknown | 1974-09-11 |
Movie | Baffled! | Andrea Glenn | 1973-04-11 |
Movie | Runaway! | Ellen Staffo | 1973-09-29 |
Movie | Molly and Lawless John | Molly Parker | 1972-12-01 |
Series | The Streets of San Francisco | Unknown | 1972-09-23 |
Movie | A Great American Tragedy | Gloria Wilkes | 1972-10-18 |
Movie | In Search of America | Jenny Olson | 1971-03-23 |
Series | Alias Smith and Jones | Unknown | 1971-01-05 |
Series | Columbo | Viveca Scott | 1971-09-15 |
Series | Cannon | Unknown | 1971-09-14 |
Movie | A Howling in the Woods | Rose Staines | 1971-11-05 |
Movie | The Wild Country | Kate Tanner | 1970-12-16 |
Movie | It Takes All Kinds | Laura Ring | 1969-06-12 |
Series | Medical Center | Unknown | 1969-09-24 |
Movie | Sergeant Ryker | Ann Ryker | 1968-02-01 |
Movie | Kona Coast | Melissa Hyde | 1968-05-01 |
Series | Hawaii Five-O | Unknown | 1968-09-20 |
Movie | Hellfighters | Madelyn Buckman | 1968-11-27 |
Series | Ironside | Unknown | 1967-03-28 |
Movie | The Spirit Is Willing | Kate Powell | 1967-07-07 |
Series | Mannix | Unknown | 1967-09-16 |
Series | ABC Stage 67 | Unknown | 1966-09-14 |
Movie | Follow Me, Boys! | Vida Downey | 1966-12-01 |
Movie | One of Our Spies Is Missing | Madame Raine De Sala | 1966-12-01 |
Movie | Those Calloways | Lydia (Liddy) Calloway | 1965-01-28 |
Series | I Spy | Rachel | 1965-09-15 |
Movie | A Tiger Walks | Dorothy Williams | 1964-04-12 |
Movie | The Unknown | Kassia Paine | 1964-05-04 |
Movie | The Hanged Man | Lois Seeger | 1964-11-18 |
Series | Burke's Law | Unknown | 1963-09-20 |
Series | Mr. Novak | Unknown | 1963-09-24 |
Series | Kraft Suspense Theatre | Unknown | 1963-10-10 |
Movie | The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance | Hallie Stoddard | 1962-04-13 |
Series | Sam Benedict | Unknown | 1962-09-15 |
Movie | The Lawbreakers | Angela Walsh | 1961-08-15 |
Movie | A Touch of Larceny | Virginia Killain | 1960-02-04 |
Movie | Five Branded Women | Daniza | 1960-03-15 |
Movie | Psycho | Lila Crane | 1960-06-22 |
Movie | Incident at a Corner | 1960-04-05 | |
Series | My Three Sons | Unknown | 1960-09-29 |
Movie | The FBI Story | Lucy Ann Hardesty | 1959-10-01 |
Movie | Web of Evidence | Lena Anderson | 1959-04-28 |
Series | Riverboat | Unknown | 1959-09-13 |
Series | The Twilight Zone | Millicent Barnes | 1959-10-02 |
Series | The Detectives | Unknown | 1959-10-16 |
Movie | Beau James | Betty Compton | 1957-06-07 |
Movie | Panic Button | Carolyn Cook | 1957-11-28 |
Movie | 23 Paces to Baker Street | Jean Lennox | 1956-05-18 |
Movie | The Wrong Man | Rose Balestrero | 1956-12-22 |
Movie | Autumn Leaves | Virginia Hanson | 1956-08-01 |
Movie | Wichita | Laurie McCoy | 1955-07-03 |
Series | Gunsmoke | Unknown | 1955-09-10 |
Movie | Tarzan's Hidden Jungle | Jill Hardy | 1955-02-16 |
Series | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Unknown | 1955-10-02 |
Movie | Screen Directors Playhouse: Rookie of the Year | Ruth Dahlberg | 1955-12-07 |
Movie | Pride of the Blue Grass | Linda | 1954-04-04 |
Series | General Electric Theater | Unknown | 1953-02-01 |
Series | City Detective | Unknown | 1953-01-01 |
Movie | The Charge at Feather River | Jennie McKeever | 1953-07-11 |
Movie | So Big | Girl (uncredited) | 1953-10-31 |
Movie | For Men Only | Kathy | 1952-01-11 |
Movie | The Rose Bowl Story | Denny Burke | 1952-08-24 |
Movie | Two Tickets to Broadway | Showgirl (uncredited) | 1951-11-20 |
Movie | When Willie Comes Marching Home | Laughing Sergeant's Date (uncredited) | 1950-02-17 |
Series | The Colgate Comedy Hour | Unknown | 1950-09-10 |
Movie | The Screen Writer | Young Actress (uncredited) | 1950-09-13 |
Series | Lux Video Theatre | Unknown | 1950-10-02 |
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