Warren A. Miller (October 15, 1924 – January 24, 2018) was an American ski and snowboarding filmmaker. He was the founder of Warren Miller Entertainment and produced, directed and narrated films until 1988. His published works include over 750 sports films, several books and hundreds of non-fiction articles. Miller was inducted into the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame (1978), the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame (1995), and was awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards from the International Skiing History Association (2004) and the California Ski Industry Association (2008).

Early years

Warren Anthony Miller was born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, to Helena Humphrey Miller and Albert Lincoln Miller. He had two older sisters, Mary Helen Miller and Betty Jane "BJ" Miller. As a young man he took up the hobbies of skiing, surfing, and photography. At the age of 18, with the U.S. ten months into World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the South Pacific. On Christmas vacation in 1944, he first filmed skiing with a borrowed camera in Yosemite. Upon his discharge from the Navy in 1946, Miller bought his first 8mm movie camera, a Bell & Howell for $77. He and a friend, Ward Baker, moved to Sun Valley, Idaho, where they lived in a teardrop trailer in the parking lot of the Sun Valley ski resort, and worked as ski instructors. In their free time, they filmed each other skiing to critique and improve their ski techniques. During the summers they shifted to the California coast where they filmed each other surfing.

Career

After Miller showed his skiing and surfing films to friends, with accompanying commentary, he began to receive invitations to show and narrate them at parties. In 1949, he founded Warren Miller Entertainment (WME) and began producing one feature-length ski film per year. He borrowed money to rent halls and theaters, and charged admission to his shows. He booked show halls near ski resorts so that he could film the next year's footage during the day, and show the current film in the evening. Before long he was showing his films in 130 cities a year. Miller continued to head Warren Miller Entertainment until the late 1980s when he sold the company to his son, Kurt Miller. Kurt later sold the company to Time, Inc., which sold it in 2007 to Bonnier Corporation, and in 2013 Warren Miller was acquired by Active Interest Media. The company has continued to produce a new film every year carrying on the brand legacy after Warren's passing in 2018 at the age of 93. In January 2023, Outside announced a two-year film project leading into the 75th anniversary of the films. Despite reports and internet hearsay including rumors from longtime Warren Miller collaborator, Chris Patterson, that in 2023 there would not be new Warren Miller film. Warren Miller films corrected rumors and released the 74th film "All Time" in October 2023 and included both historical footage and newly filmed segments shot in Palisades Tahoe, California and Park City, Utah. While transitioning out of his executive role, Miller still maintained his creative role as director and narrator for the films into the 1990s. The makers of later films, including Warren Miller's Higher Ground (2005) and Warren Miller's Off the Grid (2006), used Miller's narration from previous films rather than recording new narration. In 1998, Miller became Director of Skiing at The Yellowstone Club, a private resort in Big Sky Montana. In late 2010, Miller presented 'An Evening with Warren Miller' to two sold-out audiences at Seattle's Benaroya Hall. In September 2016, Miller self-published his autobiography, Freedom Found: My Life Story.

Personal life

Miller's first wife, Jean, died of cancer in 1953, when their son was one year old. Miller married Dorothy Marion Roberts in 1957. They had two children. They were married for twenty years and lived in Hermosa Beach, California, where Warren Miller Entertainment was located. Miller then married two other people before marrying Laurie Penketh Kaufmann in 1988. With Laurie, Miller lived on Orcas Island, Washington, from 1992 until his death on January24, 2018.

Filmography

Movies released since 2004, while bearing Warren Miller's name, were not directed by Warren Miller, nor was he involved in their production in any way.