Chill Wills
Acting
Born: July 18, 1902 · Seagoville, Texas, USA
Died: December 15, 1978 (aged 76)
Highest Rated
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.
Known for
Giant
1956
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
1973
Meet Me in St. Louis
1944
The Alamo
1960
Rio Grande
1950
Leave Her to Heaven
1945
McLintock!
1963
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Way Out West
1937
The Westerner
1940
Gunsmoke
1955
Night Gallery
1970
Photos (2)
Movies (110)
Giant
Uncle Bawley
McLintock!
Drago
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
Lemuel
Rio Grande
Dr. Wilkins
The Alamo
Beekeeper
Big Daddy
1969
The Rounders
Jim Ed Love
Way Out West
Lead Singer of the Avalon Boys / Stan's Bass Singing (uncredited)
Meet Me in St. Louis
Mr. Neely
The Cardinal
Monsignor
Leave Her to Heaven
Leick Thome
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage) (uncredited)
I'll Be Seeing You
Swanson
Belle Starr
Blue Duck
The Harvey Girls
H.H. Hartsey
The Yearling
Buck Forrester
The Liberation of L.B. Jones
Mr. Ike
Mr. Billion
Col. Clayton T. Winkle
Tarzan's New York Adventure
Manchester Montford
The Deadly Companions
Turk
The Man from the Alamo
John Gage
The Westerner
Southeast
Santiago
Captain 'Sidewheel' Jones
Where the Boys Are
Police Captain
Western Union
Homer Kettle
Boom Town
Harmony Jones
Honky Tonk
The Sniper
From Hell to Texas
Amos Bradley
Tulsa
Pinky Jimpson (Narrator)
Gold of the Seven Saints
Doc Wilson Gates, M.D.
Family Honeymoon
Fred
The Bugle Sounds
Sgt. Larry Dillon
Francis
Francis the Talking Mule (voice)
The Wheeler Dealers
Jay Ray Spinelby
Billy the Kid
Tom Patterson
That Wonderful Urge
Homer Beggs
Small Town Girl
Happy
Oh! Susanna
Sgt. Barhydt
Loaded Pistols
Sheriff Cramer
The Over the Hill Gang
Gentleman George Agnew
Cattle Drive
Dallas
Gun for a Coward
Loving
See Here, Private Hargrove
First Sgt. Cramp
Allegheny Uprising
M'Cammon
Stand by for Action
Mate Jenks, Chef-Bootsmann
Drive-In Movie Memories
2001
Hell's Outpost
Kevin Russell
Fireball 500
Big Jaw
The Sundowners
Sam Beers
Kentucky Rifle
Tobias Taylor
Barbary Coast Gent
Sheriff Hightower
Francis Goes to West Point
Francis (voice) (uncredited)
What Next, Corporal Hargrove?
Sgt. Cramp
The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again
Gentleman George Agnew
Gun Glory
Preacher
Red Canyon
Marshal G.T. Brackton
Best Foot Forward
Chester Short
Her Cardboard Lover
Judge
High Barbaree
Lars (uncredited)
City That Never Sleeps
Sgt. Joe, the 'Voice of Chicago'
Francis in the Navy
Francis (voice) (uncredited)
Tumbleweed
Sheriff Murchoree
The Steagle
Tall Guy McCoy
Francis Goes to the Races
Francis (voice) (uncredited)
The Bad Man
'Red' Giddings
High Lonesome
Boatwhistle
Hideaway Girl
Lead Singer of Avalon Boys
Wyoming
Lafe
Sky Murder
Sheriff Beckwith
Trouble in Sundown
Whopper
Rock Island Trail
Hogger McCoy
Ride the Man Down
Ike Adams
The Omaha Trail
Henry Hawkins
Apache Trail
'Pike' Skelton
The Sainted Sisters
Will Twitchell
Northwest Stampede
Mileaway
The Sea Hornet
Swede
Heartaches
'Breezie' Mann
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
Shiftless
Timber Stampede
Whopper Hatch
Gallant Bess
Chief Petty Officer
Timberjack
Steve Riika
A Stranger in Town
Charles Craig
Arizona Legion
Whopper Hatch
Young Guns of Texas
Preacher Sam Shelby
The Sad Horse
Capt. Connors
Call of the Prairie
Singing Cowhand
Francis Covers the Big Town
Francis (voice) (uncredited)
Sorority House
Mr. Johnson
Mr. Gardenia Jones
Hotel Employee
The Saxon Charm
Captain Chatham
Francis Joins the WACS
Francis (voice) (uncredited)
Bronco Buster
Dan Bream
Anything Goes
Quartette Member
Ricochet Romance
Tom Williams
Stubby Pringle's Christmas
The Janitor
Racketeers of the Range
Whopper Hatch
Bar 20 Rides Again
Henchman
The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
Major Buford
Poco… Little Dog Lost
Big Burt
The Day the Bookies Wept
Man on Bus (uncredited)
Nobody's Baby
Amateur Hour Quartet Singer
The Grass Is Always Greener
Windy
Sunday Dinner for a Soldier
Mr. York
Stella
Chief Clark
Lawless Valley
Deputy Speedy McGow
New York Premiere Telecast 'Giant'
Host
Guns of a Stranger
Tom Duncan
At Sea Ashore
Leader of The Avalon Four (uncredited)
The Immortal Blacksmith
Tom Davenport
TV Shows (18)
Rawhide
Sheriff Asa Tanner · 2 eps
Tarzan
1 eps
Route 66
2 eps
Night Gallery
Heppelwhite (segment "The Little Black Bag") · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Abe Blocker · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Red Conniston · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Elihu Gorman · 1 eps
Burke's Law
Harry Riggs · 1 eps
Burke's Law
Stanton Custer · 1 eps
Burke's Law
General Hector Harder · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Mr. Kilmer · 1 eps
Judd, for the Defense
1 eps
Alias Smith and Jones
1 eps
The Texan
1 eps
Trackdown
1 eps
Frontier Circus
Colonel Casey Thompson /Col. Casey Thompson · 26 eps
The Rounders
18 eps
Hallmark Hall of Fame
The Janitor · 1 eps
