Victor Miller Obituary: ‘Friday the 13th’ Screenwriter and Daytime Emmy Winner Dies at 86

Victor Miller, the screenwriter whose original screenplay gave birth to one of horror cinema’s most enduring franchises, has died at the age of 86. Miller passed away on Monday, September 1, 2026, in Alameda, California, according to his son Ian, who confirmed the news to Variety . The cause of death was not disclosed . His passing marks the end of a remarkable career that spanned decades and left an indelible mark on both horror cinema and daytime television.

Born Victor Brooke Miller on May 14, 1940, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Miller was a man of diverse talents and interests . He attended Yale University before earning a Master’s Degree at Tulane . His early career saw him hovering around the periphery of Hollywood screenwriting success before he met director Sean S. Cunningham. The pair collaborated on a couple of children’s movies about sports, including the family comedy “Manny’s Orphans” (1978) and the sports comedy “Here Come the Tigers” (1978), the latter of which Miller wrote under the pseudonym Arch McCoy .

However, Miller and Cunningham soon realized that the youth of America didn’t want family-oriented “Bad News Bears” knock-offs; they wanted what John Carpenter’s “Halloween” had proven successful—tons of blood, screaming, and what Miller himself described as “the ever important nubile flesh.” That realization would lead to the creation of one of the most iconic horror films in cinematic history.

Released in 1980, “Friday the 13th” is widely considered a seminal installment in the horror canon. It popularized the summer camp setting and themes surrounding teenage debauchery, which to this day remain essential tropes of the slasher genre . In a recent interview with a “Friday the 13th” fan site, Miller said the inspiration behind the iconic film came from an attempt to follow in the footsteps of John Carpenter’s “Halloween,” which had debuted two years prior .

“First came the concept that we emulate ‘Halloween.’ The title didn’t come until the screenplay had already gone through at least one draft,” Miller recalled. “The idea for the summer camp came from my instinct that we needed a location where young adults would be cut off from all adult help, the basic idea in ‘Halloween.’ The idea that Jason had died before the film began also came from the concept in ‘Halloween’ — that there is a prior evil — Michael Myers’s murdering the babysitter, if I recall correctly. The rest of the story came as a result of the location and the idea that, one by one, the campers would be eliminated by the world’s most protective mother” .

Miller’s original screenplay centered not on the iconic killer Jason Voorhees, as the film is often misremembered, but on his mother, Pamela Voorhees, who is revealed as the killer seeking revenge for her son’s supposed drowning at Camp Crystal Lake. Jason himself appears only in the film’s famous final scare, emerging from the lake in what is presented as a dreamlike sequence . It wasn’t until “Friday the 13th Part 2” that an inexplicably grown Jason became the franchise’s killer, initially hiding his face beneath a burlap sack before acquiring his now-iconic hockey mask in the third film .

The role of Pamela Voorhees was played by Betsy Palmer, and Miller later reflected on the therapeutic nature of writing the character. In a 2009 interview, he said, “She’s the uber mom. She’s not the mother I had, which of course was the therapeutic part of writing Friday the 13th, as much as much as I and the rest of the world would like to denigrate it, it did help me unloosen some of the things locked in my head” . He also noted that Jason’s appearance in the final scene was not in his script but was the idea of special effects artist Tom Savini .

Miller was not involved with any of the sequels, though he remains credited for creating the characters of Jason Voorhees, his mother Pamela Voorhees, and the heroine Alice Hardy . The series went on to become one of horror’s most enduring franchises, spawning more than ten films, the crossover “Freddy vs. Jason,” a 2009 reboot, and the forthcoming “Crystal Lake” television series, which returns to the characters and mythology rooted in Miller’s original screenplay . In a 2015 interview with VICE, Miller expressed some disappointment that the franchise had turned Jason into the continuing killer, saying it “completely destroys the motivation for Mrs. Voorhees! Which was the only thing I had going for me in that movie.” However, he seemed comfortable with the knowledge that Jason Voorhees would be his legacy, joking, “every time they make a new [‘Friday the 13th’ movie], I get a little check.”

The franchise’s box office success speaks for itself. The original “Friday the 13th” grossed $39.7 million domestically and nearly $60 million worldwide, while “Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter,” which Miller also wrote, brought in over $32 million . Miller’s role as the “Character Creator” for “Freddy vs. Jason” (2003) further cemented his legacy, with that film grossing over $114 million worldwide .

Beyond the long shadow of “Friday the 13th,” Miller enjoyed a robust career writing for daytime television. He became an Associate Head Writer on the daytime drama “One Life to Live” from 1982 to 1984. In 1984, he joined “All My Children” in the same role and later did the same with “Guiding Light,” “Another World,” and “General Hospital” . His work on “All My Children” helped the soap win three Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team in 1985, 1988, and 1998, with Miller being a critical member of the award-winning team .

Miller also worked with Cunningham once again after “Friday the 13th” on the thriller “A Stranger Is Watching” (1982), adapting the Mary Higgins Clark novel . Other film credits include “Getting In” (1994), “Jury Duty” (1995), “Rock, Paper, Scissors” (2017), “The Once and Future Smash” (2022), and the short film “Sweet Revenge” (2025) . In his later years, Miller remained active in the entertainment industry. Most notably, he had been involved in the development of “Crystal Lake,” the upcoming A24-produced prequel series for Peacock. The series, set to premiere on October 15, 2026, features Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees and Callum Vinson as young Jason Voorhees .

Miller’s involvement in the series was a natural extension of his recent legal victory. In 2022, he won a U.S. copyright lawsuit over the 1980 film, reclaiming rights to his original screenplay . That victory allowed him to team up with A24, Peacock, and showrunner Bryan Fuller—and later Brad Caleb Kane—to bring “Crystal Lake” to the screen . The series is currently in production and has been spotted filming in Blairstown, New Jersey, the same town that stood in for Crystal Lake in the original 1980 film .

Miller is survived by his wife, Tina Thurston Miller, and his two sons, Ian and Josh . His son Ian shared a heartfelt tribute on social media, writing: “Yesterday my father, Victor Miller, went to his final reward. He was almost always the smartest, funniest person in whatever room he was in. He inspired in me, and many others, a love of photography, music, and storytelling. He had a helluva run and will be missed dearly” . Ian also announced that a celebration of Miller’s life will be held in November—fittingly, on Friday the 13th .

Victor Miller will be remembered as the man who gave the world Camp Crystal Lake, its protective mother Pamela Voorhees, and, inadvertently, one of horror’s most iconic killers. His legacy extends far beyond the horror genre, encompassing a distinguished career in daytime television and a lasting influence on American pop culture. As his son Ian said, he had a helluva run. Rest in peace, Victor Miller.