A S TUTTERING FOUND A TION TRIBUTE
JON ATHAN MILLER A MUSICAL AND MEDICAL GENIUS
The obituary article of Jonathan Miller published in the New York Times on November 27, 2019, “Jonathan Miller, Bold Director of Theater and Opera, Is Dead at 85,” mentioned the many roles he played in his life – medical doctor, theatre and opera director, author, actor and television presenter. However, the article made no mention that Miller was a person who stuttered.
Miller, who died after a struggle with Alzheimer’s disease, was born into a prominent Jewish family in London. His father, Emanuel Miller, was a military psychiatrist and then became a pediatric psychiatrist at major hospitals during his career. His mother, the novelist and biographer Betty Miller, was a native of County Cork, Ireland, and was a daughter in the Spiro family, the most prominent Jewish family in Cork City who were also strong supporters of Irish independence.
Miller studied medicine and natural sciences at St. John’s College, Cambridge, and later trained at University College Hospital in London. He qualified as a medical doctor in 1959 and worked at a hospital for a few years. However, his medical career would see many interruptions and take a back seat to his work as an actor, director, writer and television presenter. He would, however, go back to the medical field a few select times, such as holding a research fellowship in the history of medicine at University College London from 1970-1973, as well as studying neuropsychology with Dr. Sandra Whitelson at McMaster University in Canada in 1984 and becoming a research fellow in neuropsychology the next year at the University of Sussex.
Jonathan Miller’s astounding career on stage and on television cannot be adequately summarized in one article. His theatrical career began at Cambridge when he joined the Footlights, a theatrical club that included David Frost, Eric Idol and John Cleese. After winning praise in two Footlight revues in London, he joined the cast of “Beyond the Fringe” with Dudley Moore, Peter Cook and Alan Bennett. “Beyond the Fringe” spent two years in the West End, and then moved to Broadway in 1962.
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