Growing up on a farm in Ohio, Bill Miller set out to earn a college degree and become a veterinarian. Miller was a great college athlete, winning a total of nine letters at Ohio State University, three each in football, wrestling, and track. He was a two-time Big Ten champion in wrestling in the heavyweight division and he also placed fourth in the NCAA tournament in 1951. When his college career ended, he took up professional wrestling and became a huge star (literally as well as figuratively), under the names of Big Bill Miller, Dr. X and Mr. M. As Dr. X, he held the world championship several times from 1959 through 1961. As a major attraction of the AWA, he won numerous titles and had a number of classic matches with Verne Gagne, whom he also wrestled in college. In the summer of 1965, Bill and his brother, Dan Miller, defeated Gorilla Monsoon and Bill Watts to claim the WWWF world tag-team title. After retiring from the ring, he turned to his first love of veterinarian medicine and opened a practice in Ohio. He died of a heart attack on March 24, 1997, at the age of 69.