1882-01-11 ( 143 years old ) in Chicago, Illinois, USA
From Wikipedia
Milton George Gustavus Sills (January 12, 1882 – September 15, 1930) was an American stage and film actor of the early twentieth century.
Sills was born in Chicago, Illinois into a wealthy family. He was the son of William Henry Sills, a successful mineral dealer, and Josephine Antoinette Troost Sills, an heiress from a prosperous banking family.
Upon completing high school, Sills was offered a one-year scholarship to the University of Chicago, where he studied psychology and philosophy. After graduating, he was offered a position at the university as a researcher and within several years worked his way up to become a professor at the school.
In 1905, stage actor Donald Robertson visited the school to lecture on author and playwright Henrik Ibsen and suggested to Sills that he try his hand at acting. On a whim, Sills agreed and left his prestigious teaching career to embark on a stint in acting. Sills joined Robertson's stock theater company and began touring the country.
In 1914, Sills decided to conquer the new medium of motion pictures. He made his film debut the same year in the big-budget drama The Pit for the World Film Company and was signed to a contract with film producer William A. Brady. The film was enormously successful, and Sills made three more films for the company, including another huge box-office draw The Deep Purple opposite silent screen star Clara Kimball Young. By the late 1910s, Sills had reached leading man status and parted ways with World Film, taking the then unusual path of freelancing as an actor.
By the early 1920s, Sills was enjoying a highly successful acting career and working for such prominent film studios as MGM, Paramount Pictures, and Pathé Exchange. He was often paired with the most popular leading ladies of the era, including: Geraldine Farrar, Gloria Swanson and Viola Dana.
His greatest public and commercial successes came with the now lost Flaming Youth (1923) opposite Colleen Moore, and the enormous box-office hit The Sea Hawk (1924).
Sills made two sound pictures, showing that he had an excellent voice. Many may have forgotten that Sills had extensive stage training before embarking on his career before the cameras. Sills died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1930 while playing tennis with his wife at his Santa Barbara, California home at the age of 48. He was interred at the Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Chicago, Illinois.
Movies
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
1961-05-24
The Sea Wolf
1930-09-21
Man Trouble
1930-08-24
Love and the Devil
1929-03-24
His Captive Woman
1929-02-03
The Crash
1928-10-07
The Barker
1928-10-02
The Hawk's Nest
1928-05-27
Burning Daylight
1928-03-10
The Circus: Premiere
1928-01-13
The Valley of the Giants
1927-12-04
Hard-Boiled Haggerty
1927-08-21
Framed
1927-06-19
The Sea Tiger
1927-02-27
The Silent Lover
1926-11-21
Paradise
1926-09-26
Men of Steel
1926-07-11
Puppets
1926-06-20
The Knockout
1925-08-23
The Making of O'Malley
1925-06-28
As Man Desires
1925-01-11
Madonna of the Streets
1924-10-19
The Sea Hawk
1924-06-14
Flowing Gold
1924-03-01
A Lady of Quality
1924-01-14
Flaming Youth
1923-11-12
Adam's Rib
1923-09-24
The Spoilers
1923-08-26
Legally Dead
1923-07-30
Souls for Sale
1923-04-22
The Isle of Lost Ships
1923-03-17
What a Wife Learned
1923-01-28
The Last Hour
1923-01-01
The Forgotten Law
1922-11-01
Seeing Stars
1922-10-29
Burning Sands
1922-09-03
Skin Deep
1922-09-01
A Trip to Paramountown
1922-07-10
One Clear Call
1922-05-20
Miss Lulu Bett
1921-11-01
The Great Moment
1921-09-03
At the End of the World
1921-08-14
The Faith Healer
1921-03-13
The Furnace
1920-11-01
The Street Called Straight
1920-02-01
Eyes of Youth
1919-11-29
The Woman Thou Gavest Me
1919-05-25
The Hushed Hour
1919-05-18
The Stronger Vow
1919-04-27
Satan Junior
1919-03-03
The Hell Cat
1918-11-24
The Claw
1918-06-10
The Yellow Ticket
1918-05-26
Married in Name Only
1917-10-01
Making Monkey Business
1917-06-12
The Honor System
1917-02-12
Patria
1917-01-14
The Woman Who Lied
1915-10-06
Under Southern Skies
1915-09-20
The Taming of Mary
1915-08-20
The Arrival of Perpetua
1915-03-29
The Pit
1914-12-28
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