Miller received two Oscar nominations and won once for Best Screenplay for the 1941 fantasy romantic comedy film, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, along with Sidney Buchman.
His father, Harry John, was a successful lumberman and a state legislator, and his mother was a prominent member of the local community.
In 1929, Miller wrote Hawks' first sound film, The Air Circus then did The Far Call for Allan Dwan that same year, following it up in 1930 with The Lone Star Ranger and a comedy, Harmony at Home, then left Fox.
Miller joined Hawks at First National and in 1930 did The Dawn Patrol, working with another team on Today that same year.
[7][8] His final works at Fox Films include The Last Mile then adapted the comedy play Once in a Lifetime, both completed in 1932.
for Henry Hathaway, then went back to Fox for Murder in Trinidad, Marie Galante and Charlie Chan's Courage.
Miller continued to write for other studios and in 1936, wrote It Happened in New York for Universal and in 1937, Two in the Dark for RKO and for Republic, The Leathernecks Have Landed.
[13] He stayed at the studio to work on Marked Woman, San Quentin, Back in Circulation, and Kid Galahad.
[14] In 1938, Miller worked on the Errol Flynn vehicle, The Adventures of Robin Hood, which was a big success.
[15] Miller wrote Valley of the Giants that year and following in 1939, two productions with John Garfield, Dust Be My Destiny and Castle on the Hudson.
In 1950, Miller wrote The Man Who Cheated Himself, originally known as The Gun,[33] and associate produced The Sound of Fury.
Miller wrote The Mississippi Gambler (1953) and in 1954, the Bengal Brigade for Universal and The Shanghai Story for Republic.
[40] That same year, he sold a story Pete's Dragon for the Disney company to make as a vehicle for Kevin Corcoran.
Miller was nominated with Fred Niblo, Jr. for their 1931 screen adaptation of Martin Flavin's play The Criminal Code.