Hollywood artist had style, charisma
He was the styling Rockabilly dude seen bopping around Hollywood on his motor scooter, teaching painting classes at the ArtsPark, plucking an upright bass on a stage or street corner, or playing ukulele on his front porch.
Hollywood hepcat and artist-in-residence Larry Joe Miller has died after suffering a heart attack Nov. 3. He was 74.
Frontman for the Rockabilly Rockets and known as “Guppy” to his grandkids, Miller toured with the Clash, was a U.S. Air Force veteran, former president of the Broward Art Guild and current proprietor of an art studio and gallery at One Young Circle.
With his slicked-back hair, dark shades and twotone shoes, Miller fit Hollywood’s art scene like a glove, said Broward County Commissioner and Hollywood resident Beam Furr.
“Cool as cool can be; he just epitomized it,” Furr said. “There’s a hole in the heart of Hollywood with his passing.”
“Nobody, bar none, dressed cooler than Larry Joe,” his wife, Amy Miller, said. “He had the coolest hair, he was the best dresser, he was one styling dude.”
But it wasn’t Miller’s stylish ways that made him a standout human being, said his son, Clay Miller, 24.
At his ArtsPark studio, Miller presided over printmaking classes, paint parties and monthly paint-for-fun nights.
“Creativity and charisma, those are the two words that I would say described him best,” Clay Miller said. “He took and he applied those gifts and his incredible passion for the arts and gave it back to the community. The world is missing someone with a true presence and a truly kind heart.”
A collector of late ’50s and early ’60s Populuxe era memorabilia, including a wall full of atomic clocks and more than 100 boomerangshaped ashtrays, Miller had most recently turned his collecting energies to ukuleles.
“He’s a serious musician and a longtime musician, the best stand-up bass player in South Florida,” Amy Miller said. “But even though he’s a serious musician and a serious artist, he didn’t take himself seriously.”
Admirers remembered Miller as “one of a kind,” an “SF legend” and “class guy” as they poured out their condolences on Miller’s Facebook page.
“He was always the coolest cat in the room,” said one post.
“An amazing artist, rocker and all around brilliant character,” said another.
Born in Flint, Mich., Miller’s childhood was spent on U.S. Air Force bases in Manchester, England, San Juan, Puerto Rico and Abilene, Texas, which is where he graduated high school. Miller migrated to South Florida in 1976.
Aside from his wife, Amy, and son, Clay, Miller is survived by three other sons: Tyler Miller, 31, John Paul Miller, 49, and Dennis Green, 54, and seven grandchildren.
A celebration of life is planned for 5 p.m. Nov. 18 at Miller’s studio and gallery at the Hollywood ArtsPark, One Young Circle.