Chill Wills

Chill Wills

  • Birthday: 1902-07-18
  • Deathday: 1978-12-15
  • Place of birth: Seagoville, Texas, USA
  • Also know as: Theodore Childress Wills

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

Kentucky Rifle

1956

As Tobias Taylor

Poco… Little Dog Lost

1977

As Big Burt

City That Never Sleeps

1953

As Sgt. Joe, the 'Voice of Chicago'

High Lonesome

1950

As Boatwhistle

The Sad Horse

1959

As Capt. Connors

Timber Stampede

1939

As Whopper Hatch

Guns of a Stranger

1973

As Tom Duncan

Ricochet Romance

1954

As Tom Williams

Racketeers of the Range

1939

As Whopper Hatch

The Sundowners

1950

As Sam Beers

The Man from the Alamo

1953

As John Gage

From Hell to Texas

1958

As Amos Bradley

Cattle Drive

1951

As Dallas

Gun Glory

1957

As Preacher

Heartaches

1947

As 'Breezie' Mann

Loaded Pistols

1948

As Sheriff Cramer

The Steagle

1971

As Tall Guy McCoy

Big Daddy

1969

As

Tumbleweed

1953

As Sheriff Murchoree

The Wheeler Dealers

1963

As Jay Ray Spinelby

The Yearling

1946

As Buck Forrester

Fireball 500

1966

As Big Jaw

The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again

1970

As Gentleman George Agnew

Santiago

1956

As Captain 'Sidewheel' Jones

Young Guns of Texas

1962

As Preacher Sam Shelby

Bronco Buster

1952

As Dan Bream

Gallant Bess

1946

As Chief Petty Officer

Oh! Susanna

1951

As Sgt. Barhydt

Northwest Stampede

1948

As Mileaway

Arizona Legion

1939

As Whopper Hatch

Trouble in Sundown

1939

As Whopper

Hell's Outpost

1954

As Kevin Russell

Gun for a Coward

1956

As Loving

The Sea Hornet

1951

As Swede

The Rounders

1965

As Jim Ed Love

Tulsa

1949

As Pinky Jimpson (Narrator)

Gold of the Seven Saints

1961

As Doc Wilson Gates, M.D.

Rock Island Trail

1950

As Hogger McCoy

The Omaha Trail

1942

As Henry Hawkins

Stand by for Action

1942

As Mate Jenks, Chef-Bootsmann

Mr. Gardenia Jones

1942

As Hotel Employee

Giant

1956

As Uncle Bawley

Rio Grande

1950

As Dr. Wilkins

McLintock!

1963

As Drago

Western Union

1941

As Homer Kettle

Mr. Billion

1977

As Col. Clayton T. Winkle

Belle Starr

1941

As Blue Duck

Her Cardboard Lover

1942

As Judge

Red Canyon

1949

As Brackton

Timberjack

1955

As Steve Riika

Barbary Coast Gent

1944

As Sheriff Hightower

Apache Trail

1942

As 'Pike' Skelton

Way Out West

1937

As Lead Singer of the Avalon Boys / Stan's Bass Singing (uncredited)

Ride the Man Down

1952

As Ike Adams

Stubby Pringle's Christmas

1978

As The Janitor

See Here, Private Hargrove

1944

As First Sgt. Cramp

I'll Be Seeing You

1944

As Swanson

Tarzan's New York Adventure

1942

As Manchester Montford

The Westerner

1940

As Southeast

Where the Boys Are

1960

As Police Captain

Boom Town

1940

As Harmony Jones

The Sainted Sisters

1948

As Will Twitchell

The Bugle Sounds

1942

As Sgt. Larry Dillon

The Alamo

1960

As Beekeeper

Honky Tonk

1941

As The Sniper

The Bad Man

1941

As 'Red' Giddings

The Saxon Charm

1948

As Captain Chatham

Family Honeymoon

1948

As Fred

Tugboat Annie Sails Again

1940

As Shiftless

Lawless Valley

1938

As Deputy Speedy McGow

The Harvey Girls

1946

As H.H. Hartsey

The Over the Hill Gang

1969

As Gentleman George Agnew

Francis Goes to the Races

1951

As Francis The Talking Mule (as Francis the Talking Mule)

Allegheny Uprising

1939

As M'Cammon

Sky Murder

1940

As Sheriff Beckwith

Leave Her to Heaven

1945

As Leick Thome

Best Foot Forward

1943

As Chester Short

Francis Goes to West Point

1952

As Francis (as Francis the Talking Mule)

A Stranger in Town

1943

As Charles Craig

That Wonderful Urge

1948

As Homer Beggs

At Sea Ashore

1936

As Leader of The Avalon Four (uncredited)

Sorority House

1939

As Mr. Johnson

Stella

1950

As Chief Clark

Francis Covers the Big Town

1953

As Francis (as Franis the Talking Mule)

Call of the Prairie

1936

As Singing Cowhand

Francis Joins the WACS

1954

As Francis (as Francis the Talking Muke)

Meet Me in St. Louis

1944

As Mr. Neely

Francis in the Navy

1955

As Francis (voice) (uncredited)

Bar 20 Rides Again

1935

As Henchman

Francis

1950

As Francis the Talking Mule (voice)

Nobody's Baby

1937

As Amateur Hour Lead Quartet Singer (as The Avalon Boys)

Francis in the Haunted House

1956

As Francis (as Francis the Talking Mule)

The Cardinal

1963

As Monsignor

Billy the Kid

1941

As Tom Patterson

John Wayne's 'The Alamo'

1992

As Beekeeper

Wyoming

1940

As Lafe

The Day the Bookies Wept

1939

As Man on Bus (uncredited)

It's Showtime

1976

As Self (archive footage)

Disneyland '59

1959

As Self

That's Entertainment! III

1994

As (archive footage)

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