1902-07-18 ( 122 years old ) in Seagoville, Texas, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Chill Theodore Wills (July 18, 1902 – December 15, 1978) was an American film actor, and a singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet.
He was a performer from early childhood, forming and leading the Avalon Boys singing group in the 1930s. After appearing in a few westerns he disbanded the group in 1938, and struck out on a solo acting career.
One of his more memorable roles was that of the distinctive voice of Francis the Mule in a series of popular films. Wills' deep, rough voice, with its Western twang, was matched to the personality of the cynical, sardonic mule. As was customary at the time, Wills was given no billing for his vocal work, though he was featured prominently on-screen as blustery General Ben Kaye in the fourth entry, Francis Joins the WACS. He provided the deep voice for Stan Laurel's performance of "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" in Way Out West (1937), in which the Avalon Boys Quartet appeared.
Wills was cast in numerous serious film roles, including as "the city of Chicago" as personified by a phantom police sergeant in the film noir City That Never Sleeps (1953), and that of Uncle Bawley in Giant (1956), which also features Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. Wills was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his role as Davy Crockett's companion "Beekeeper" in the film The Alamo (1960). However, his aggressive campaign for the award was considered tasteless by many, including the film's star/director/producer John Wayne, who publicly apologized for Wills. Wills' publicity agent, W.S. "Bow-Wow" Wojciechowicz, accepted blame for the ill-advised effort, claiming that Wills had known nothing about it. The Oscar was instead won by Peter Ustinov for his role as Lentulus Batiatus in Spartacus.
In Rory Calhoun's CBS western series The Texan, Wills appeared in the lead role in the 1960 episode entitled "The Eyes of Captain Wylie".
Wills starred in the short-run series Frontier Circus which aired for only one season (1961–62) on CBS. In 1966, he was cast in the role of a shady Texas rancher, Jim Ed Love, in the short-lived ABC comedy/western series The Rounders (reprising his role in the 1965 film The Rounders, starring Henry Fonda), with co-stars Ron Hayes, Patrick Wayne and Walker Edmiston.
in 1963-64, Wills joined William Lundigan, Walter Brennan and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in making appearances on behalf of U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee in the campaign against U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.
In 1968, Wills refused to support Richard Nixon for the presidency and served as master of ceremonies for George C. Wallace, former governor of Alabama, for the California campaign stops in Wallace's presidential campaign.[5] Wills was among the few Hollywood celebrities to endorse Wallace's bid against Nixon and Hubert H. Humphrey; another was Walter Brennan.
Also in 1968, he starred in the Gunsmoke episode "A Noose for Dobie Price", where he played Elihu Gorman, a former outlaw who joins forces with Marshal Matt Dillon, played by James Arness, to track down a member of his former gang who has escaped jail. His last role was in 1978, as a janitor in Stubby Pringle's Christmas. CLR
Description above from the Wikipedia article Chill Wills, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movies
Drive-In Movie Memories
2001-08-31
That's Entertainment! III
1994-07-01
John Wayne's 'The Alamo'
1992-06-06
Stubby Pringle's Christmas
1978-12-17
Poco… Little Dog Lost
1977-11-23
Mr. Billion
1977-03-03
It's Showtime
1976-03-31
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
1973-05-23
Guns of a Stranger
1973-05-01
The Steagle
1971-09-15
The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again
1970-11-16
The Liberation of L.B. Jones
1970-03-18
The Over the Hill Gang
1969-07-06
Big Daddy
1969-06-11
Fireball 500
1966-06-07
The Rounders
1965-01-08
The Cardinal
1963-12-12
The Wheeler Dealers
1963-11-14
McLintock!
1963-11-12
Young Guns of Texas
1962-11-30
The Deadly Companions
1961-06-06
The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
1961-06-01
Gold of the Seven Saints
1961-02-18
Where the Boys Are
1960-12-28
The Alamo
1960-10-23
Disneyland '59
1959-06-15
The Sad Horse
1959-03-01
From Hell to Texas
1958-04-29
Gun Glory
1957-07-19
Gun for a Coward
1956-12-30
Giant
1956-11-08
New York Premiere Telecast 'Giant'
1956-10-09
Santiago
1956-07-13
Kentucky Rifle
1956-07-01
Francis in the Navy
1955-08-24
Timberjack
1955-02-18
Hell's Outpost
1954-12-15
Ricochet Romance
1954-11-01
Francis Joins the WACS
1954-07-30
Tumbleweed
1953-12-01
The Man from the Alamo
1953-08-07
City That Never Sleeps
1953-06-12
Francis Covers the Big Town
1953-06-10
Ride the Man Down
1952-11-25
Francis Goes to West Point
1952-07-01
Bronco Buster
1952-05-01
The Sea Hornet
1951-11-06
Cattle Drive
1951-08-01
Francis Goes to the Races
1951-05-01
Oh! Susanna
1951-03-01
Rio Grande
1950-11-15
High Lonesome
1950-09-01
Stella
1950-07-20
Rock Island Trail
1950-05-18
Francis
1950-02-08
The Sundowners
1950-02-02
The Grass Is Always Greener
1950-01-07
Red Canyon
1949-04-27
Tulsa
1949-04-13
Loaded Pistols
1948-12-15
Family Honeymoon
1948-12-06
That Wonderful Urge
1948-11-20
The Saxon Charm
1948-09-28
Northwest Stampede
1948-07-28
The Sainted Sisters
1948-04-30
Heartaches
1947-06-28
The Yearling
1946-12-18
Gallant Bess
1946-12-05
The Harvey Girls
1946-01-18
Leave Her to Heaven
1945-12-25
What Next, Corporal Hargrove?
1945-11-21
I'll Be Seeing You
1944-12-31
Sunday Dinner for a Soldier
1944-12-08
Meet Me in St. Louis
1944-11-28
Barbary Coast Gent
1944-09-01
See Here, Private Hargrove
1944-03-18
Best Foot Forward
1943-10-08
A Stranger in Town
1943-04-01
Stand by for Action
1942-12-31
Apache Trail
1942-09-01
The Omaha Trail
1942-09-01
Her Cardboard Lover
1942-07-16
Mr. Gardenia Jones
1942-05-29
Tarzan's New York Adventure
1942-05-01
The Bugle Sounds
1942-01-30
Honky Tonk
1941-10-01
Belle Starr
1941-09-12
Billy the Kid
1941-05-30
The Bad Man
1941-03-28
Western Union
1941-02-21
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
1940-10-26
Sky Murder
1940-09-27
The Westerner
1940-09-18
Wyoming
1940-09-13
Boom Town
1940-08-30
Allegheny Uprising
1939-11-10
The Day the Bookies Wept
1939-09-13
Timber Stampede
1939-06-29
Racketeers of the Range
1939-05-26
Sorority House
1939-05-05
Trouble in Sundown
1939-03-23
Arizona Legion
1939-01-20
Lawless Valley
1938-11-03
Nobody's Baby
1937-04-23
Way Out West
1937-04-16
At Sea Ashore
1936-04-04
Call of the Prairie
1936-03-06
Bar 20 Rides Again
1935-12-06
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