CW
Chill Wills
Actor
Died December 15, 1978 (76 years)
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
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Filmography
| 2001 | Drive-in Movie Memories · as Unknown |
| 1994 | That's Entertainment! III · as (archive footage) |
| 1986 | Laurel & Hardy (TV Series) · as Singer (1986) |
| 1977 | Poco... Little Dog Lost · as Big Burt |
| 1977 | Mr. Billion · as Col. Clayton T. Winkle |
| 1973 | Guns of a Stranger · as Tom Duncan |
| 1973 | Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid · as Lemuel |
| 1971 | The Steagle · as Tall Guy McCoy |
| 1971 | The American West of John Ford · as actor 'Rio Grande' |
| 1971 | Alias Smith and Jones (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1970 | The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again · as Gentleman George Agnew |
| 1970 | The Liberation of L.B. Jones · as Mr. Ike |
| 1969 | The Over-the-Hill Gang · as Gentleman George Agnew |
| 1969 | Night Gallery (TV Series) · as Heppelwhite (segment "The Little Black Bag") |
| 1969 | Marcus Welby, M.D. (TV Series) · as Sam Hill |
| 1966 | Fireball 500 · as Big Jaw |
| 1966 | Tarzan (1966) (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1965 | The Rounders · as Jim Ed Love |
| 1963 | The Cardinal · as Monsignor |
| 1963 | McLintock! · as Drago |
| 1963 | The Wheeler Dealers · as Jay Ray Spinelby |
| 1963 | Hollywood: The Great Stars · as Drago |
| 1962 | Young Guns of Texas · as Preacher Sam Shelby |
| 1962 | The Virginian (TV Series) · as Pat Reedy |
| 1961 | The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come · as Major Buford |
| 1961 | The Deadly Companions · as Turk |
| 1960 | The Alamo · as Beekeeper |
| 1960 | Where the Boys Are · as Police Captain |
| 1960 | Route 66 (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1959 | The Sad Horse · as Capt. Connors |
| 1959 | Rawhide (TV Series) · as Sheriff Asa Tanner |
| 1958 | The Texan (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1957 | Gun Glory · as Preacher |
| 1957 | Trackdown (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1957 | Wagon Train (TV Series) · as Bije Wilcox |
| 1956 | Santiago · as Captain 'Sidewheel' Jones |
| 1955 | Kentucky Rifle · as Tobias Taylor |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke (TV Series) · as Abe Blocker |
| 1955 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) · as Mr. Kilmer |
| 1953 | City That Never Sleeps · as Sgt. Joe, the 'Voice of Chicago' |
| 1953 | Small Town Girl · as Happy |
| 1952 | Ride the Man Down · as Ike Adams |
| 1951 | Cattle Drive · as Dallas |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall Of Fame (TV Series) · as The Janitor |
| 1950 | Rio Grande · as Dr. Wilkins |
| 1950 | Francis · as Francis the Talking Mule (voice) |
| 1950 | The Sundowners · as Sam Beers |
| 1950 | High Lonesome · as Boatwhistle |
| 1950 | Stella · as Chief Clark |
| 1950 | Rock Island Trail · as Hogger McCoy |
| 1950 | The Gene Autry Show (TV Series) · as Sheriff Chill Wills |
| 1949 | |
| 1948 | The Sainted Sisters · as Will Twitchell |
| 1948 | Loaded Pistols · as Sheriff Cramer |
| 1947 | High Barbaree · as Lars |
| 1947 | Heartaches · as 'Breezie' Mann |
| 1946 | The Yearling · as Buck Forrester |
| 1946 | The Harvey Girls · as H.H. Hartsey |
| 1945 | Leave Her to Heaven · as Leick Thome |
| 1944 | Meet Me in St. Louis · as Mr. Neely |
| 1944 | I'll Be Seeing You · as Swanson |
| 1943 | Best Foot Forward · as Chester Short |
| 1943 | A Stranger in Town · as Charles Craig |
| 1942 | Tarzan's New York Adventure · as Manchester Montford |
| 1942 | Her Cardboard Lover · as Judge |
| 1942 | Stand by for Action · as Mate Jenks, Chef-Bootsmann |
| 1941 | Western Union · as Homer Kettle |
| 1941 | Belle Starr · as Blue Duck |
| 1941 | Honky Tonk · as The Sniper |
| 1941 | Billy the Kid · as Tom Patterson |
| 1940 | The Westerner · as Southeast |
| 1940 | Boom Town · as Harmony Jones |
| 1939 | Allegheny Uprising · as M'Cammon |
| 1939 | Timber Stampede · as Whopper Hatch |
| 1938 | Block-Heads · as Midget in Elevator |
| 1937 | Way Out West · as Lead Singer of the Avalon Boys / Stan's Bass Singing (uncredited) |
| 1937 | Nobody's Baby · as Amateur Hour Lead Quartet Singer (as The Avalon Boys) |
| 1936 | Call of the Prairie · as Singing Cowhand |
| 1936 | At Sea Ashore · as Leader of The Avalon Four (uncredited) |