Chill Wills, Acting - KorPlix:Korean Person Archives

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Chill Wills
Acting

Chill Wills
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1902-07-18,Seagoville, Texas, USA
Gender
Male
Biography
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.

Filmography

Meet Me in St. Louis

7

Meet Me in St. Louis
1944-11-28

7.6

Giant
1956-11-08

7.1

The Alamo
1960-10-23

I'll Be Seeing You

7

I'll Be Seeing You
1944-12-31

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid

7.19

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
1973-05-23

6.806

Rio Grande
1950-11-15

5.5

The Rounders
1965-01-08

City That Never Sleeps

6

City That Never Sleeps
1953-06-12

Tarzan's New York Adventure

6.4

Tarzan's New York Adventure
1942-05-01

7

The Westerner
1940-09-18

The Wheeler Dealers

6.2

The Wheeler Dealers
1963-11-14

Where the Boys Are

6.1

Where the Boys Are
1960-12-28

5.4

The Sundowners
1950-02-02

6.5

McLintock!
1963-11-12

5.96

Western Union
1941-02-21

Allegheny Uprising

5.6

Allegheny Uprising
1939-11-10

Francis in the Navy

5.5

Francis in the Navy
1955-08-24

5.4

Mr. Billion
1977-03-03

The Man from the Alamo

6.6

The Man from the Alamo
1953-08-07

6.3

Sky Murder
1940-09-27

Leave Her to Heaven

7.4

Leave Her to Heaven
1945-12-25

The Deadly Companions

5.614

The Deadly Companions
1961-06-06

6.5

The Yearling
1946-12-18

5.6

Belle Starr
1941-09-12

6.9

Boom Town
1940-08-30

From Hell to Texas

5.9

From Hell to Texas
1958-04-29

4.9

Fireball 500
1966-06-07

6.4

Honky Tonk
1941-10-01

The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again

5

The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again
1970-11-16

5.1

High Lonesome
1950-09-01

Family Honeymoon

5.7

Family Honeymoon
1948-12-06

The Bugle Sounds

6

The Bugle Sounds
1942-01-30

Her Cardboard Lover

5.1

Her Cardboard Lover
1942-07-16

6.275

Tulsa
1949-04-13

The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come

4

The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
1961-06-01

6.1

Cattle Drive
1951-08-01

5.8

Gun Glory
1957-07-19

5

Red Canyon
1949-04-27

A Stranger in Town

6.5

A Stranger in Town
1943-04-01

Drive-In Movie Memories

7.3

Drive-In Movie Memories
2001-08-31

5.1

Santiago
1956-07-13

What Next, Corporal Hargrove?

2

What Next, Corporal Hargrove?
1945-11-21

Tugboat Annie Sails Again

5.5

Tugboat Annie Sails Again
1940-10-26

Francis Joins the WACS

5.8

Francis Joins the WACS
1954-07-30

0

The Sad Horse
1959-03-01

Francis Goes to the Races

6.5

Francis Goes to the Races
1951-05-01

The Grass Is Always Greener

5.3

The Grass Is Always Greener
1950-01-07

The Sainted Sisters

7

The Sainted Sisters
1948-04-30

Young Guns of Texas

3.7

Young Guns of Texas
1962-11-30

Sunday Dinner for a Soldier

6

Sunday Dinner for a Soldier
1944-12-08

5

Bronco Buster
1952-05-01

Racketeers of the Range

6.2

Racketeers of the Range
1939-05-26

Gun for a Coward

5.6

Gun for a Coward
1956-12-30

6.5

Gallant Bess
1946-12-05

6.1

Tumbleweed
1953-12-01

6.5

The Cardinal
1963-12-12

5

Oh! Susanna
1951-03-01

Gold of the Seven Saints

7

Gold of the Seven Saints
1961-02-18

3.2

Timberjack
1955-02-18

Barbary Coast Gent

4.6

Barbary Coast Gent
1944-09-01

Northwest Stampede

2

Northwest Stampede
1948-07-28

5.1

Kentucky Rifle
1956-07-01

0

At Sea Ashore
1936-04-04

That Wonderful Urge

6.2

That Wonderful Urge
1948-11-20

6.4

Apache Trail
1942-09-01

6.8

Sorority House
1939-05-05

7

Way Out West
1937-04-16

4.7

Billy the Kid
1941-05-30

Rock Island Trail

6

Rock Island Trail
1950-05-18

Ride the Man Down

6.5

Ride the Man Down
1952-11-25

5

Arizona Legion
1939-01-20

Bar 20 Rides Again

6

Bar 20 Rides Again
1935-12-06

Ricochet Romance

7

Ricochet Romance
1954-11-01

Best Foot Forward

6

Best Foot Forward
1943-10-08

The Day the Bookies Wept

5

The Day the Bookies Wept
1939-09-13

Call of the Prairie

5

Call of the Prairie
1936-03-06

Timber Stampede

0

Timber Stampede
1939-06-29

The Omaha Trail

7

The Omaha Trail
1942-09-01

5

Lawless Valley
1938-11-03

Trouble in Sundown

0

Trouble in Sundown
1939-03-23

The Liberation of L.B. Jones

5.7

The Liberation of L.B. Jones
1970-03-18

0

Stella
1950-07-20

5.9

Wyoming
1940-09-13

5

Hell's Outpost
1954-12-15

Stand by for Action

7

Stand by for Action
1942-12-31

5.2

Heartaches
1947-06-28

5.5

Francis
1950-02-08

Poco… Little Dog Lost

4

Poco… Little Dog Lost
1977-11-23

Francis Covers the Big Town

5.1

Francis Covers the Big Town
1953-06-10

Francis Goes to West Point

5.8

Francis Goes to West Point
1952-07-01

Stubby Pringle's Christmas

0

Stubby Pringle's Christmas
1978-12-17

5

The Sea Hornet
1951-11-06

That's Entertainment! III

6.9

That's Entertainment! III
1994-07-01

5.4

The Bad Man
1941-03-28

5.7

Loaded Pistols
1948-12-15

Guns of a Stranger

3

Guns of a Stranger
1973-05-01

New York Premiere Telecast 'Giant'

6

New York Premiere Telecast 'Giant'
1956-10-09

See Here, Private Hargrove

6

See Here, Private Hargrove
1944-03-18

Mr. Gardenia Jones

4.2

Mr. Gardenia Jones
1942-05-29

4.8

The Steagle
1971-09-15

0

Big Daddy
1969-06-11

7

It's Showtime
1976-03-31

The Harvey Girls

6.4

The Harvey Girls
1946-01-18

6.5

Disneyland '59
1959-06-15

John Wayne's 'The Alamo'

6

John Wayne's 'The Alamo'
1992-06-06

The Saxon Charm

4.3

The Saxon Charm
1948-09-28

Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade

7.3

Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
2004-07-25

5.7

Nobody's Baby
1937-04-23

The Over the Hill Gang

5.6

The Over the Hill Gang
1969-07-06

6

Burke's Law
1963-09-20

6.4

Trackdown
1957-10-04

6.4

Route 66
1960-10-07

Alias Smith and Jones

6.9

Alias Smith and Jones
1971-01-05

6.5

Gunsmoke
1955-09-10

Hallmark Hall of Fame

8.8

Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951-12-24

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

7.7

Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955-10-02

7

Rawhide
1959-01-09

Judd for the Defense

7.5

Judd for the Defense
1967-09-08

6.7

Tarzan
1966-09-08

7.8

Night Gallery
1970-12-16

Frontier Circus

4.667

Frontier Circus
1961-10-05

5.5

The Texan
1958-09-29

4

The Rounders
1966-09-06

6.5

Gunsmoke
1955-09-10

6.5

Gunsmoke
1955-09-10

6

Burke's Law
1963-09-20

6

Burke's Law
1963-09-20