Mark Miller Dies: ‘Please Don’t Eat The Daisies,’ ‘Guestward, Ho!’ & ‘Days Of Our Lives’ Actor, Prolific Screenwriter Was 97

Tom Tapp
·2 min read
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Mark Miller, the prolific actor and screenwriter writer best known for Please Don’t Eat The Daisies and Guestward, Ho! has died. His daughter, actress Penelope Ann Miller, confirmed the news on Twitter. He was 97.

Miller portrayed college professor Jim Nash on Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, which ran from 1965-1967 and then in syndication. The NBC-MGM sitcom, which ran for 58 half-hour episodes, was loosely based on the theatrical film of the same name starring Doris Day and David Niven. The series did well initially, but its ratings took a hit in Season 2 when it was moved opposite The Jackie Gleason Show.

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Miller had substantial runs on other big shows, most notably Desilu’s Guestward Ho! on ABC in 1960. He played one half of a New York City couple, the Hootens, who relocate to a dude ranch in New Mexico. Guestward Ho! ran for one season alongside The Donna Reed Show on Thursday evenings.

The actor had a 13 episode arc as J.R. Barnett on Days of Our Lives in 1975, another 13 episodes as Howard Jones on NBC’s college-set soap Bright Promise in 1970. He did two episodes of General Hospital in 1965.

Thoughout the ’60s and ’70s, Miller had appearances on many staples of the era: I Spy, The Andy Griffith Show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents , The Patty Duke Show, The Twilight Zone, That Girl, Adam-12, Cannon, Emergency!, Barnaby Jones, Kung Fu, The Waltons, Marcus Welby, The Streets of San Francisco and more.

In the ’80s, Miller wrote episodes for a host of well-known shows including Diff’rent Strokes and The Jeffersons.

On the big screen, Miller wrote the 1995 Keanu Reeves vehicle A Walk in the Clouds, which was directed by Alfonso Arau. He also wrote and starred in 1982’s Savanah Smiles, which featured two of his daughters, Marisa and Savannah, the latter of whom inspired the film.

Miller also starred in dozens of stage productions such as Noël Coward’s Private Lives opposite Grace Kelly, Phillip Barry’s The Philadelphia Story, William Inge’s Bus Stop opposite Elaine Stritch and with Joan Blondell in Dark at the Top of the Stairs.

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