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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The Sea Wolf | 'Wolf' Larsen | 1930-09-21 |
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Man Trouble | Mac | 1930-08-24 |
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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 Hawk's Nest | The Hawk/John Finchley | 1928-05-27 |
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Burning Daylight | Elam 'Burning Daylight' Harnish | 1928-03-10 |
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The Circus: Premiere | Self | 1928-01-13 |
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The Crash | Jim Flannagan | 1928-10-07 |
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The Valley of the Giants | Bryce Cardigan | 1927-12-04 |
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Framed | Etienne Hilaire | 1927-06-19 |
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The Sea Tiger | Justin Ramos | 1927-02-27 |
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Hard-Boiled Haggerty | Hard-Boiled Haggerty | 1927-08-21 |
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Puppets | Nicola Riccobini | 1926-06-20 |
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The Silent Lover | Count Pierre Tornal | 1926-11-21 |
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Paradise | Tony | 1926-09-26 |
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Men of Steel | Jan Bokak | 1926-07-11 |
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The Making of O'Malley | O'Malley | 1925-06-28 |
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As Man Desires | Major John Craig | 1925-01-11 |
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The Knockout | Sandy Donlin | 1925-08-23 |
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The Sea Hawk | Sir Oliver Tressilian | 1924-06-14 |
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Flowing Gold | Calvin Gray | 1924-03-01 |
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A Lady of Quality | Gerald Mertoun, Duke of Osmonde | 1924-01-14 |
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Madonna of the Streets | Reverend John Morton | 1924-10-19 |
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Flaming Youth | Cary Scott | 1923-11-12 |
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Legally Dead | Will Campbell / George Brown | 1923-07-30 |
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The Last Hour | Steve Cline | 1923-01-01 |
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The Spoilers | Roy Glennister | 1923-08-26 |
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The Isle of Lost Ships | Frank Howard | 1923-03-17 |
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Souls for Sale | Self - Celebrity Actor (uncredited) | 1923-04-22 |
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Adam's Rib | Michael Ramsay | 1923-09-24 |
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What a Wife Learned | Rudolph Martin | 1923-01-28 |
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Skin Deep | Bud Doyle | 1922-09-01 |
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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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Burning Sands | Daniel Lane | 1922-09-03 |
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A Trip to Paramountown | Self | 1922-07-10 |
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The Woman Who Walked Alone | Clement Gaunt | 1922-06-11 |
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One Clear Call | Dr. Alan Hamilton | 1922-05-20 |
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The Faith Healer | Michaelis | 1921-03-13 |
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The Great Moment | Bayard Delaval | 1921-09-03 |
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Miss Lulu Bett | Neil Cornish | 1921-11-01 |
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At the End of the World | Gordon Deane | 1921-08-14 |
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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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The Stronger Vow | Juan Estudillo | 1919-04-27 |
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Satan Junior | Paul Worden | 1919-03-03 |
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Eyes of Youth | Louis Anthony | 1919-11-29 |
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The Woman Thou Gavest Me | Conrad | 1919-05-25 |
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The Hushed Hour | Luke Appleton | 1919-05-18 |
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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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The Claw | Major Anthony Kinsella | 1918-06-10 |
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Married in Name Only | Robert Worthing | 1917-10-01 |
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Making Monkey Business | The Flea | 1917-06-12 |
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Patria | Capt. Donald Parr | 1917-01-14 |
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The Honor System | Joseph Stanton | 1917-02-12 |
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Under Southern Skies | Burleigh Mavor | 1915-09-20 |
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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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The Woman Who Lied | Jack Stanley | 1915-10-06 |
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The Pit | Corthell | 1914-12-28 |
