1902-07-18 Seagoville, Texas, USA
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.
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Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade | Self (archive footage) | 2004-07-25 |
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Drive-In Movie Memories | 2001-08-31 | |
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That's Entertainment! III | (archive footage) | 1994-07-01 |
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John Wayne's 'The Alamo' | Beekeeper | 1992-06-06 |
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Stubby Pringle's Christmas | The Janitor | 1978-12-17 |
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Poco… Little Dog Lost | Big Burt | 1977-11-23 |
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Mr. Billion | Col. Clayton T. Winkle | 1977-03-03 |
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It's Showtime | Self (archive footage) | 1976-03-31 |
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Guns of a Stranger | Tom Duncan | 1973-05-01 |
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Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid | Lemuel | 1973-05-23 |
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The Steagle | Tall Guy McCoy | 1971-09-15 |
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The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again | Gentleman George Agnew | 1970-11-16 |
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The Liberation of L.B. Jones | Mr. Ike | 1970-03-18 |
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Big Daddy | 1969-06-11 | |
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The Over the Hill Gang | Gentleman George Agnew | 1969-07-06 |
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Fireball 500 | Big Jaw | 1966-06-07 |
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The Rounders | Jim Ed Love | 1965-01-08 |
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The Cardinal | Monsignor | 1963-12-12 |
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The Wheeler Dealers | Jay Ray Spinelby | 1963-11-14 |
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McLintock! | Drago | 1963-11-12 |
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Young Guns of Texas | Preacher Sam Shelby | 1962-11-30 |
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The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come | Major Buford | 1961-06-01 |
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Gold of the Seven Saints | Doc Wilson Gates, M.D. | 1961-02-18 |
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The Deadly Companions | Turk | 1961-06-06 |
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The Alamo | Beekeeper | 1960-10-23 |
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Where the Boys Are | Police Captain | 1960-12-28 |
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The Sad Horse | Capt. Connors | 1959-03-01 |
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Disneyland '59 | Self | 1959-06-15 |
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From Hell to Texas | Amos Bradley | 1958-04-29 |
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Gun Glory | Preacher | 1957-07-19 |
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Giant | Uncle Bawley | 1956-11-08 |
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Santiago | Captain 'Sidewheel' Jones | 1956-07-13 |
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New York Premiere Telecast 'Giant' | Host | 1956-10-09 |
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Gun for a Coward | Loving | 1956-12-30 |
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Kentucky Rifle | Tobias Taylor | 1956-07-01 |
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Timberjack | Steve Riika | 1955-02-18 |
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Francis in the Navy | Francis (voice) (uncredited) | 1955-08-24 |
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Francis Joins the WACS | Francis (as Francis the Talking Muke) | 1954-07-30 |
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Hell's Outpost | Kevin Russell | 1954-12-15 |
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Ricochet Romance | Tom Williams | 1954-11-01 |
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Francis Covers the Big Town | Francis (as Franis the Talking Mule) | 1953-06-10 |
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City That Never Sleeps | Sgt. Joe, the 'Voice of Chicago' | 1953-06-12 |
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The Man from the Alamo | John Gage | 1953-08-07 |
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Tumbleweed | Sheriff Murchoree | 1953-12-01 |
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Ride the Man Down | Ike Adams | 1952-11-25 |
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Francis Goes to West Point | Francis (as Francis the Talking Mule) | 1952-07-01 |
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Bronco Buster | Dan Bream | 1952-05-01 |
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The Sea Hornet | Swede | 1951-11-06 |
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Cattle Drive | Dallas | 1951-08-01 |
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Francis Goes to the Races | Francis The Talking Mule (as Francis the Talking Mule) | 1951-05-01 |
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Oh! Susanna | Sgt. Barhydt | 1951-03-01 |
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Rock Island Trail | Hogger McCoy | 1950-05-18 |
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High Lonesome | Boatwhistle | 1950-09-01 |
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Rio Grande | Dr. Wilkins | 1950-11-15 |
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The Sundowners | Sam Beers | 1950-02-02 |
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The Grass Is Always Greener | Windy | 1950-01-07 |
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Stella | Chief Clark | 1950-07-20 |
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Francis | Francis the Talking Mule (voice) | 1950-02-08 |
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Tulsa | Pinky Jimpson (Narrator) | 1949-04-13 |
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Red Canyon | Brackton | 1949-04-27 |
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Loaded Pistols | Sheriff Cramer | 1948-12-15 |
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Family Honeymoon | Fred | 1948-12-06 |
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The Saxon Charm | Captain Chatham | 1948-09-28 |
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The Sainted Sisters | Will Twitchell | 1948-04-30 |
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Northwest Stampede | Mileaway | 1948-07-28 |
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That Wonderful Urge | Homer Beggs | 1948-11-20 |
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High Barbaree | Lars (uncredited) | 1947-05-01 |
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Heartaches | 'Breezie' Mann | 1947-06-28 |
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The Yearling | Buck Forrester | 1946-12-18 |
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Gallant Bess | Chief Petty Officer | 1946-12-05 |
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The Harvey Girls | H.H. Hartsey | 1946-01-18 |
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What Next, Corporal Hargrove? | Sgt. Cramp | 1945-11-21 |
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Leave Her to Heaven | Leick Thome | 1945-12-25 |
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Sunday Dinner for a Soldier | Mr. York | 1944-12-08 |
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Meet Me in St. Louis | Mr. Neely | 1944-11-28 |
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See Here, Private Hargrove | First Sgt. Cramp | 1944-03-18 |
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Barbary Coast Gent | Sheriff Hightower | 1944-09-01 |
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I'll Be Seeing You | Swanson | 1944-12-31 |
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A Stranger in Town | Charles Craig | 1943-04-01 |
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Best Foot Forward | Chester Short | 1943-10-08 |
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Stand by for Action | Mate Jenks, Chef-Bootsmann | 1942-12-31 |
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Tarzan's New York Adventure | Manchester Montford | 1942-05-01 |
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Mr. Gardenia Jones | Hotel Employee | 1942-05-29 |
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Apache Trail | 'Pike' Skelton | 1942-09-01 |
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Her Cardboard Lover | Judge | 1942-07-16 |
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The Omaha Trail | Henry Hawkins | 1942-09-01 |
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The Bugle Sounds | Sgt. Larry Dillon | 1942-01-30 |
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Western Union | Homer Kettle | 1941-02-21 |
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The Bad Man | 'Red' Giddings | 1941-03-28 |
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Honky Tonk | The Sniper | 1941-10-01 |
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Billy the Kid | Tom Patterson | 1941-05-30 |
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Belle Starr | Blue Duck | 1941-09-12 |
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Wyoming | Lafe | 1940-09-13 |
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Tugboat Annie Sails Again | Shiftless | 1940-10-26 |
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The Westerner | Southeast | 1940-09-18 |
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Sky Murder | Sheriff Beckwith | 1940-09-27 |
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Boom Town | Harmony Jones | 1940-08-30 |
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Allegheny Uprising | M'Cammon | 1939-11-10 |
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Racketeers of the Range | Whopper Hatch | 1939-05-26 |
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Sorority House | Mr. Johnson | 1939-05-05 |
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Trouble in Sundown | Whopper | 1939-03-23 |
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Arizona Legion | Whopper Hatch | 1939-01-20 |
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Timber Stampede | Whopper Hatch | 1939-06-29 |
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The Day the Bookies Wept | Man on Bus (uncredited) | 1939-09-13 |
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Lawless Valley | Deputy Speedy McGow | 1938-11-03 |
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Way Out West | Lead Singer of the Avalon Boys / Stan's Bass Singing (uncredited) | 1937-04-16 |
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Nobody's Baby | Amateur Hour Lead Quartet Singer (as The Avalon Boys) | 1937-04-23 |
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Hideaway Girl | Lead Singer of Avalon Boys | 1936-11-20 |
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Call of the Prairie | Singing Cowhand | 1936-03-06 |
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At Sea Ashore | Leader of The Avalon Four (uncredited) | 1936-04-04 |
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Bar 20 Rides Again | Henchman | 1935-12-06 |
