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Creator
Miller, Buzz
Call number
(S) *MGZMD 127
Physical description
1.46 linear feet (3 boxes, 3 volumes)
Preferred Citation

Buzz Miller papers, (S) *MGZMD 127. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library.

Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Buzz Miller was an American dancer who performed primarily in musical theater and ballets. The Buzz Miller papers (1906-1999) document his career as a dancer and choreographer from 1948 through 1980, as well as his personal life and his service in the army in World War II. The collection contains correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, resumes, contracts, notes, and artwork. The collection includes a large number of personal photographs, showing Miller as well as fellow dancers and choreographers.

Biographical/historical information

Buzz Miller was born Vernal Miller in 1923 in Snowflake, Arizona. Miller served with the army during World War II, and was injured in combat in 1944. He began to pursue a dance career after leaving the army in 1947.

Miller began his career touring with the Jack Cole Dancers and with Kay Thompson. He went on to work with choreographers Jerome Robbins, John Butler, and Roland Petit, among others. Miller danced in Broadway shows such as Two's Company (1952), Redhead (1959), and Hot Spot (1963). He performed "Steam Heat," choreographed by Bob Fosse, in The Pajama Game in 1954, a performance he reprised in the 1957 film. In 1969, he danced the title role in Katherine Litz's Dracula. Miller also worked as a choreographer and, later in his career, taught ballet.

Miller met Alan Groh in 1957. The couple lived together for over 30 years until Groh's death in 1996.

Miller died in 1999 in New York City.

Scope and arrangement

The Buzz Miller papers (1906-1999) contain correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, resumes, contracts, and Miller's notes and artwork.

The correspondence includes a large number of Miller's letters to Alan Groh, and a large number of letters to Miller from his sister, Rosalene Miller (Ronnie). Miller's letters to Groh date to 1958 and 1972. The 1958 letters were written when Miller was at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Italy, where he performed in ballets choreographed by John Butler. The 1972 letters were written when Miller was in Germany as the choreographer for Tito Capobianco's production of Aida. Ronnie Miller's letters date to the 1940s and discuss her experiences serving in Women's Army Corps in Iowa and California, as well as her life in Arizona before and after the war. Other correspondence includes a small number of letters Miller wrote to his family, letters from Miller's agent, and short notes from Janet Flanner and Jerome Robbins.

Miller's career is documented primarily through scrapbooks, which contain photographs, clippings, and programs dating from 1948 to 1980. Other materials related to Miller's career include resumes, contracts, and short written reminiscences.

Photograph albums contain images of Miller's family, colleagues, and friends, including Jerome Robbins and Carol Haney. Family photographs date as early as 1907.

The collection also includes a small number of notes from Miller's time in the army, and artwork by Miller and his family members, dating as early as 1906.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by the estate of Buzz Miller, 1999.

Processing information

Compiled by Kit Fluker, 2014

Related Material

Buzz Miller collection of playscripts, (S) *MGZMD 125. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts..

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Conditions Governing Use

The author/creator retains copyright of materials. For information on obtaining permission to publish, contact the Dance Division at dance@nypl.org.