Initially makeup was limited to white skin with blackened eyes; but as filming progressed mortician's wax was used to simulate wounds and decay to make the zombies more frightening.
He played many parts: storekeepers, hotel desk clerks, morticians, professors, bank tellers, ministers, confidence men, and a host of other characterizations, usually timid, whining, weak-willed, shifty, sanctimonious or sycophantic.
Miller initially opposes their self-sacrificing decision, but ultimately assists in disguising them, using his skills as a mortician to adjust their makeup and cut their hair to appear like schoolgirls.