1882-01-11 Chicago, Illinois, USA
From Wikipedia Milton George Gustavus Sills (January 12, 1882 – September 15, 1930) was an American stage and film actor of the early twentieth century. Sills was born in Chicago, Illinois into a wealthy family. He was the son of William Henry Sills, a successful mineral dealer, and Josephine Antoinette Troost Sills, an heiress from a prosperous banking family. Upon completing high school, Sills was offered a one-year scholarship to the University of Chicago, where he studied psychology and philosophy. After graduating, he was offered a position at the university as a researcher and within several years worked his way up to become a professor at the school. In 1905, stage actor Donald Robertson visited the school to lecture on author and playwright Henrik Ibsen and suggested to Sills that he try his hand at acting. On a whim, Sills agreed and left his prestigious teaching career to embark on a stint in acting. Sills joined Robertson's stock theater company and began touring the country. In 1914, Sills decided to conquer the new medium of motion pictures. He made his film debut the same year in the big-budget drama The Pit for the World Film Company and was signed to a contract with film producer William A. Brady. The film was enormously successful, and Sills made three more films for the company, including another huge box-office draw The Deep Purple opposite silent screen star Clara Kimball Young. By the late 1910s, Sills had reached leading man status and parted ways with World Film, taking the then unusual path of freelancing as an actor. By the early 1920s, Sills was enjoying a highly successful acting career and working for such prominent film studios as MGM, Paramount Pictures, and Pathé Exchange. He was often paired with the most popular leading ladies of the era, including: Geraldine Farrar, Gloria Swanson and Viola Dana. His greatest public and commercial successes came with the now lost Flaming Youth (1923) opposite Colleen Moore, and the enormous box-office hit The Sea Hawk (1924). Sills made two sound pictures, showing that he had an excellent voice. Many may have forgotten that Sills had extensive stage training before embarking on his career before the cameras. Sills died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1930 while playing tennis with his wife at his Santa Barbara, California home at the age of 48. He was interred at the Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Chicago, Illinois.
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The Legend of Rudolph Valentino | Self (archive footage) | 1961-05-24 |
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Man Trouble | Mac | 1930-08-24 |
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The Sea Wolf | 'Wolf' Larsen | 1930-09-21 |
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His Captive Woman | 1929-02-03 | |
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Love and the Devil | 1929-03-24 | |
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The Barker | Nifty Miller | 1928-10-02 |
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The Crash | Jim Flannagan | 1928-10-07 |
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The Hawk's Nest | The Hawk/John Finchley | 1928-05-27 |
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The Circus: Premiere | Self | 1928-01-13 |
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Burning Daylight | Elam 'Burning Daylight' Harnish | 1928-03-10 |
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The Sea Tiger | Justin Ramos | 1927-02-27 |
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Framed | Etienne Hilaire | 1927-06-19 |
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The Valley of the Giants | Bryce Cardigan | 1927-12-04 |
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Hard-Boiled Haggerty | Hard-Boiled Haggerty | 1927-08-21 |
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Paradise | Tony | 1926-09-26 |
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The Silent Lover | Count Pierre Tornal | 1926-11-21 |
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Puppets | Nicola Riccobini | 1926-06-20 |
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Men of Steel | Jan Bokak | 1926-07-11 |
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As Man Desires | Major John Craig | 1925-01-11 |
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I Want My Man | Gulian Eyre | 1925-03-22 |
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The Unguarded Hour | Andrea | 1925-11-22 |
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The Making of O'Malley | O'Malley | 1925-06-28 |
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The Knockout | Sandy Donlin | 1925-08-23 |
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The Heart Bandit | John Rand | 1924-01-24 |
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The Sea Hawk | Sir Oliver Tressilian | 1924-06-14 |
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Madonna of the Streets | Reverend John Morton | 1924-10-19 |
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A Lady of Quality | Gerald Mertoun, Duke of Osmonde | 1924-01-14 |
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Single Wives | Perry Jordan | 1924-07-24 |
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Flowing Gold | Calvin Gray | 1924-03-01 |
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The Isle of Lost Ships | Frank Howard | 1923-03-17 |
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The Spoilers | Roy Glennister | 1923-08-26 |
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What a Wife Learned | Rudolph Martin | 1923-01-28 |
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Legally Dead | Will Campbell / George Brown | 1923-07-30 |
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Adam's Rib | Michael Ramsay | 1923-09-24 |
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Souls for Sale | Self - Celebrity Actor (uncredited) | 1923-04-22 |
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The Last Hour | Steve Cline | 1923-01-01 |
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Flaming Youth | Cary Scott | 1923-11-12 |
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A Trip to Paramountown | Self | 1922-07-10 |
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Environment | Steve MacLaren | 1922-12-01 |
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Seeing Stars | Self | 1922-10-29 |
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The Forgotten Law | Richard Jarnette | 1922-11-01 |
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One Clear Call | Dr. Alan Hamilton | 1922-05-20 |
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Skin Deep | Bud Doyle | 1922-09-01 |
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The Woman Who Walked Alone | Clement Gaunt | 1922-06-11 |
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Burning Sands | Daniel Lane | 1922-09-03 |
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The Little Fool | Richard Forrest | 1921-03-14 |
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The Great Moment | Bayard Delaval | 1921-09-03 |
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The Faith Healer | Michaelis | 1921-03-13 |
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At the End of the World | Gordon Deane | 1921-08-14 |
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Miss Lulu Bett | Neil Cornish | 1921-11-01 |
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The Street Called Straight | Peter Devenant | 1920-02-01 |
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The Furnace | Keene Mordaunt | 1920-11-01 |
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Dangerous to Men | Sandy Verrall | 1920-04-05 |
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Sweet Lavender | Horace Weatherburn | 1920-10-04 |
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The Inferior Sex | Knox Randall | 1920-03-08 |
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Behold My Wife | Frank Armour | 1920-10-10 |
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Eyes of Youth | Louis Anthony | 1919-11-29 |
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The Hushed Hour | Luke Appleton | 1919-05-18 |
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The Stronger Vow | Juan Estudillo | 1919-04-27 |
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The Woman Thou Gavest Me | Conrad | 1919-05-25 |
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Satan Junior | Paul Worden | 1919-03-03 |
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What Every Woman Learns | Walter Melrose | 1919-11-09 |
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The Savage Woman | Jean Lerier | 1918-08-12 |
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The Claw | Major Anthony Kinsella | 1918-06-10 |
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The Yellow Ticket | Julian Rolfe | 1918-05-26 |
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The Hell Cat | Sheriff Jack Webb | 1918-11-24 |
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Patria | Capt. Donald Parr | 1917-01-14 |
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Making Monkey Business | The Flea | 1917-06-12 |
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The Honor System | Joseph Stanton | 1917-02-12 |
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Married in Name Only | Robert Worthing | 1917-10-01 |
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The Woman Who Lied | Jack Stanley | 1915-10-06 |
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The Arrival of Perpetua | Thaddeus Curzon | 1915-03-29 |
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The Taming of Mary | Harry Benton | 1915-08-20 |
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Under Southern Skies | Burleigh Mavor | 1915-09-20 |
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The Pit | Corthell | 1914-12-28 |
