Cheryl Lynn Miller is an American actress and musician.

Early years

A California native,^[1] Miller is one of two children of an architect and film studio set designer, Howard Miller and accountant mother and travel agent, Elsie. She began acting as a young girl.^{[citation needed]}

Career

The film Casanova Brown (1944) marked her screen debut at the age of 19 days.^[1] 1965 was a break-through year for Miller. She was featured with an elephant and a chimp on the hit TV series Flipper. This caught the attention of the director (Ivan Tors) who later cast her in the film, Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion.^[2] In this film she played Paula Tracy, the daughter of veterinarian Marsh Tracy (Marshall Thompson). The film led to her role again playing Paula Tracy alongside Thompson in the CBS television series, Daktari, (1966–69).^[3]

During the summer of 1965, Walt Disney chose Miller as his own contractee, dubbing her "The Typical American Girl". By early 1966, filming began for Daktari in Africa, U.S.A., a 200-acre ranch about 40 miles north of the Los Angeles metro area.

Later that year, Miller was one of 13 young actresses who were designated Hollywood Deb Stars of 1966. By the summer, she became Miss Golden Globe of 1966 and assisted Andy Williams in the presentation of the Golden Globe Awards. In 1966, she was voted as honorary mayor of Studio City, California. ^[4]

Miller made many appearances in other television series, including Leave It to Beaver, Our Man Higgins, and The Donna Reed Show. She created the role of Samantha Pudding on the NBC soap opera, Bright Promise.

She also appeared in several other films, including The Monkey's Uncle, with Annette Funicello and Tommy Kirk and Guardian of the Wilderness with Denver Pyle as Galen Clark, John Dehner as John Muir and Ford Rainey as Abraham Lincoln.

Personal life

Miller married Stan Shapiro, a stockbroker, in 1968.^[5]