THE WRITER: Mel Miller
PLAYED BY: Walter Matthau
IN: A Face in the Crowd (1957)
Written by Budd Schulberg, Face is mainly the story of an egomaniacal entertainer: Loud, abrasive country performer and TV/radio personality Larry ''Lonesome'' Rhodes (Andy Griffith, in a nasty, edgy performance that will make you forget his aw-shucks TV characters). What makes it fit our writers'-story gallery? A terrific supporting performance by a youngish Walter Matthau as Mel Miller, the nerdy, bespectacled script ace who helps create the Rhodes persona and then watches it self-destruct.
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