Victor Miller, the screenwriter for 1980’s “Friday the 13th,” which spawned an iconic horror franchise, died in Alameda, Calif. Monday at the age of 86.

Miller’s son Ian shared the news of his father’s passing on Instagram Tuesday, where he confirmed that a celebration of life would be held in November, adding, “on Friday the 13th, of course.”

“Yesterday my father, Victor Miller, went to his final reward,” his son’s message noted. “He was almost always the smartest, funniest person in whatever room he was in. He inspired in me, and many others, a love of photography, music and storytelling.”

As the tribute went on, Miller’s son said that the screenwriter had a “hell of a run” and shared he’d be “missed dearly.” A cause of death was not immediately shared.

Kerry Fleming, Miller’s filmmaking partner and co-writer, including 2017’s “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” remembered the late screenwriter as a “mentor” and a friend in a statement to TheWrap.

“Victor’s legacy is beyond just what he did for ‘Friday the 13th’” Fleming told TheWrap Tuesday evening, referencing Miller’s legal battle over the copyright rights to the iconic horror series. “I think personally a lot of that weighed on him.”

“He was a mentor and one of those people you meet in your life that instantly become one of the best people you’ll ever meet,” he said of his friend. “He was very giving with his time.”

Per Fleming, he had the chance to see Miller one last time this past month, adding, “He lived a good life. He got to do more than most people would ever dream of. 86 is a good number … And you’re grateful for whatever you can get with them. You’re just so grateful for that time. For the memories.”

Born Victor Brooke Miller on May 14, 1940 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Miller was the son of  John Dabney and Barbara Leovy Miller. For his education, Miller attended Milton Academy in Massachusetts and Yale University in Connecticut. He launched his entertainment career in 1962, when he worked in TV programing at Benton & Bowles Advertising in New York City.



Miller is best known for penning the original “Friday the 13th” movie, which starred Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King and a pre-“Footloose” Kevin Bacon. The film was a box office success, bringing in over $59 million globally on an estimated budget of $550,000 to $650,000. While he did not remain involved with the horror franchise, which spawned 12 movies, he is credited with creating the iconic villains Jason and Pamela Voorhees.

In addition to his work on “Friday the 13th,” Miller had a successful career writing for television. His resume included credits for “All My Children,” “One Life to Live,” “Another World,” “Guiding Light” and “General Hospital.” 

For his work on “All My Children, Miller won three Daytime Emmy Awards.

Miller is survived by his wife, two sons and his grandson.

At some point, we need to sit all the Hollywood movie villains down and explain that when they’re hired to do a job, they’re the ones who are supposed to do it. Bad guys like Jason Bateman in “Carry-On,” Charlize Theron in “The Fate of the Furious” and now Damian Lewis in “The Runner” always insist on kidnapping an innocent person’s family and forcing the hero to commit the crime for them, and that’s just bad crime. Not evil crime, although it’s that too, but bad crime. Crime that they’re bad at.

In “The Runner,” Lewis kidnaps Gal Gadot’s son. And, unless she kills the star witness in a murder trial, her son’s going to die. Lewis doesn’t spring this on her when she’s near the witness, he springs it when she’s all the way across London on her morning jog. She has one hour to commit the murder – and he tells her she has to run the whole distance, which means a million unpredictable things can happen along the way. Also, it gives her oodles of time to come up with a plan to stop the bad guy. Which, of course, she’ll try to do.

The villain in “The Runner” thinks they have a foolproof scheme but all their intricate, high-tech planning does is create a chaotic situation he can’t possibly control. And, on some level, he knows that, because his back-up plan is an old-fashioned Wile E. Coyote-looking bomb, which would have killed a lot more people but — if we look at this from the villain’s perspective, and from the perspective of whoever hired him — would actually have worked.

It’s not fair to judge a movie entirely on logical terms. Not usually. The rules change when the film revolves entirely around a plan the villain claims is perfect, but makes slightly less sense than a steam-powered rutabaga. Then again, lots of movies have silly plots, and a silly plot is entirely forgivable if the audience gets swept up in the characters and their plight. All you need is a talented star and a propulsive pace, which would compensate for most of the deficiencies in “The Runner.”

Bad news: Gal Gadot stars in this movie and she’s never convincing. Her first line of dialogue is about how she’s nervous about the trial today and she couldn’t sound less nervous if the director told her to. She’s about as emotionless as an actor can possibly get. Granted, she looks upset after her son gets kidnapped, but she’s only got two levels of upset and she mostly sticks to the first one, which isn’t upset enough given her circumstances. This is a movie about a person who’s literally forced to run for their son’s life, and she spends most of it doing a brisk scamper, which doesn’t make her look invested.

Compare Gadot’s run to Tom Cruise’s epic sprint in “Mission: Impossible III” or Franka Potente’s mad dash in “Run Lola Run.” Those are characters responding to life and death situations with an appropriate degree of urgency. There’s one scene in “The Runner” where Gadot has to run from one subway stop to the next before the subway arrives, and that’s when director Kevin Macdonald pulls out all the stops, speeding along the city streets, cutting the frame rate to amplify her sensation of panic. It’s an exhilarating sequence, but it only calls more attention to how much more thrilling the rest of the movie could be.

“The Runner” isn’t much of a thriller. It isn’t much of a movie. It would, however, be a hilarious episode of “Taskmaster.” Just replace Lewis with Little Alex Horne and Gal Gadot with almost anybody and you’d have a winner on your hands. “Get to the London courthouse in one hour. You cannot drive a car or use public transportation. Your time starts now.” And then they get there and realize if they’d read the back of the instructions they could have used a helicopter, which was behind them the whole time.

All the information is, as always, on the task. But if you’re looking for entertainment, and you’re watching “The Runner,” it won’t be on screen.

Julianne Moore is set to be honored with the Golden Icon Award at the 22nd Zurich Film Festival.

The U.S. actress will accept the accolade alongside Jesse Eisenberg, who directs her in his latest feature The Debut, a musical-comedy co-starring Paul Giamatti.

Over a career now spanning more than three decades, Moore has worked with some of the most distinguished directors in contemporary cinema including Robert Altman (Short Cuts), Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia), brothers Joel and Ethan Coen (The Big Lebowski) and Todd Haynes (Safe, Far From Heaven, May December).

At this year’s Zurich Film Fest, Moore will be given the lifetime achievement award in recognition for her career and recent starring role in The Debut, which is screening at the festival. The movie follows Mona Friedman (Moore), who is cast in a bit part at a small community theater and transforms from a shy, unassuming housewife into a zealous method actor willing to do anything to protect the artistic integrity of her marginal role — even if it means waging war against the show’s domineering director (Giamatti).

“Julianne Moore is one of the outstanding character actresses of American cinema,” said Christian Jungen, CEO of the Zurich Film Festival. “She possesses remarkable versatility and, time and again, manages to captivate us with her intense portrayals of the characters she plays. No matter which film we see her in, we find ourselves rooting for her characters.”

“In the wonderful film The Debut, she delivers a brilliant performance as a woman who realizes it’s not too late to fulfill her deeply personal dream: becoming an actress,” he continued. “It is Julianne Moore’s love letter to her own profession — and thus the perfect film with which to thank her, with our Golden Icon Award, for so many wonderful cinematic experiences.”

Among Moore’s best-known performances are Still Alice, for which she won an Oscar, as well as The Hours and The Kids Are All Right. Recent credits include Apple TV’s Echo Valley, Pedro Almodovar’s The Room Next Door and Netflix limited series Sirens. Next year, she will return to the stage to star in the title role of the Off-Broadway play Faydra. Beyond her acting, Moore is a New York Times bestselling children’s author of the Freckleface Strawberry series and the founding chair of Everytown for Gun Safety’s Creative Council, where she advocates for ending gun violence in America.

Past recipients of Zurich’s Golden Icon Award include Kate Winslet, Sylvester Stallone, and Sharon Stone. The 22nd edition runs Sep. 24-Oct. 4.