Chill Wills
110 movies · 14 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jul 18, 1902
- Died
- Dec 15, 1978 (age 76)
- Place of birth
- Seagoville, Texas, USA
- Also known as
- Theodore Childress Wills · The Avalon Boys
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.
Read the full biography
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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Profiles IMDb
Known for
Chill Wills: movies and TV shows
Acting (124)
- 2001
- 1994 That's Entertainment! III
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1992 John Wayne's 'The Alamo'
as Beekeeper
- 1978 Stubby Pringle's Christmas
as The Janitor
- 1977 Poco… Little Dog Lost
as Big Burt
- 1977 Mr. Billion
as Col. Clayton T. Winkle
- 1973 Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
as Lemuel
- 1973 Guns of a Stranger
as Tom Duncan
- 1971 The Steagle
as Tall Guy McCoy
- 1971
- 1970
- 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
- 1967
- 1966
- 1966
- 1966 Fireball 500
as Big Jaw
- 1965 The Rounders
as Jim Ed Love
- 1963 The Cardinal
as Monsignor
- 1963 The Wheeler Dealers
as Jay Ray Spinelby
- 1963 McLintock!
as Drago
- 1963
- 1962 Young Guns of Texas
as Preacher Sam Shelby
- 1961
- 1961 The Deadly Companions
as Turk
- 1961 The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
as Major Buford
- 1961 Gold of the Seven Saints
as Doc Wilson Gates, M.D.
- 1960 Where the Boys Are
as Police Captain
- 1960 The Alamo
as Beekeeper
- 1960
- 1959 The Sad Horse
as Capt. Connors
- 1959
- 1958
- 1958 From Hell to Texas
as Amos Bradley
- 1957
- 1957 Gun Glory
as Preacher
- 1956 Gun for a Coward
as Loving
- 1956 Giant
as Uncle Bawley
- 1956 Santiago
as Captain 'Sidewheel' Jones
- 1956 Kentucky Rifle
as Tobias Taylor
- 1955
- 1955
- 1955 Francis in the Navy
as Francis (voice) (uncredited)
- 1955 Timberjack
as Steve Riika
- 1954 Hell's Outpost
as Kevin Russell
- 1954 Ricochet Romance
as Tom Williams
- 1954 Francis Joins the WACS
as Francis (voice) (uncredited)
- 1953 Tumbleweed
as Sheriff Murchoree
- 1953 The Man from the Alamo
as John Gage
- 1953 City That Never Sleeps
as Sgt. Joe, the 'Voice of Chicago'
- 1953 Francis Covers the Big Town
as Francis (voice) (uncredited)
- 1953 Small Town Girl
as Happy
- 1952 Ride the Man Down
as Ike Adams
- 1952 Francis Goes to West Point
as Francis (voice) (uncredited)
- 1952 Bronco Buster
as Dan Bream
- 1951
- 1951 The Sea Hornet
as Swede
- 1951 Cattle Drive
as Dallas
- 1951 Francis Goes to the Races
as Francis (voice) (uncredited)
- 1951 Oh! Susanna
as Sgt. Barhydt
- 1950 Rio Grande
as Dr. Wilkins
- 1950 High Lonesome
as Boatwhistle
- 1950 Stella
as Chief Clark
- 1950 Rock Island Trail
as Hogger McCoy
- 1950 Francis
as Francis the Talking Mule (voice)
- 1950 The Sundowners
as Sam Beers
- 1950 The Grass Is Always Greener
as Windy
- 1949 Red Canyon
as Marshal G.T. Brackton
- 1949 Tulsa
as Pinky Jimpson (Narrator)
- 1948 Loaded Pistols
as Sheriff Cramer
- 1948 Family Honeymoon
as Fred
- 1948 That Wonderful Urge
as Homer Beggs
- 1948 The Saxon Charm
as Captain Chatham
- 1948 Northwest Stampede
as Mileaway
- 1948 The Sainted Sisters
as Will Twitchell
- 1947 Heartaches
as 'Breezie' Mann
- 1947 High Barbaree
as Lars (uncredited)
- 1946 The Yearling
as Buck Forrester
- 1946 Gallant Bess
as Chief Petty Officer
- 1946 The Harvey Girls
as H.H. Hartsey
- 1945 Leave Her to Heaven
as Leick Thome
- 1945 What Next, Corporal Hargrove?
as Sgt. Cramp
- 1944 I'll Be Seeing You
as Swanson
- 1944 Sunday Dinner for a Soldier
as Mr. York
- 1944 Meet Me in St. Louis
as Mr. Neely
- 1944 Barbary Coast Gent
as Sheriff Hightower
- 1944 The Immortal Blacksmith
as Tom Davenport
- 1944 See Here, Private Hargrove
as First Sgt. Cramp
- 1943 Best Foot Forward
as Chester Short
- 1943 A Stranger in Town
as Charles Craig
- 1942 Stand by for Action
as Mate Jenks, Chef-Bootsmann
- 1942 Apache Trail
as 'Pike' Skelton
- 1942 The Omaha Trail
as Henry Hawkins
- 1942 Her Cardboard Lover
as Judge
- 1942 Mr. Gardenia Jones
as Hotel Employee
- 1942 Tarzan's New York Adventure
as Manchester Montford
- 1942 The Bugle Sounds
as Sgt. Larry Dillon
- 1941 Honky Tonk
as The Sniper
- 1941 Belle Starr
as Blue Duck
- 1941 Billy the Kid
as Tom Patterson
- 1941 The Bad Man
as 'Red' Giddings
- 1941 Western Union
as Homer Kettle
- 1940 Tugboat Annie Sails Again
as Shiftless
- 1940 Sky Murder
as Sheriff Beckwith
- 1940 The Westerner
as Southeast
- 1940 Wyoming
as Lafe
- 1940 Boom Town
as Harmony Jones
- 1939 Allegheny Uprising
as M'Cammon
- 1939 The Day the Bookies Wept
as Man on Bus (uncredited)
- 1939 Timber Stampede
as Whopper Hatch
- 1939 Racketeers of the Range
as Whopper Hatch
- 1939 Sorority House
as Mr. Johnson
- 1939 Trouble in Sundown
as Whopper
- 1939 Arizona Legion
as Whopper Hatch
- 1938 Lawless Valley
as Deputy Speedy McGow
- 1937 Nobody's Baby
as Amateur Hour Quartet Singer
- 1937 Way Out West
as Lead Singer of the Avalon Boys / Stan's Bass Singing (uncredited)
- 1936 Hideaway Girl
as Lead Singer of Avalon Boys
- 1936 At Sea Ashore
as Leader of The Avalon Four (uncredited)
- 1936 Call of the Prairie
as Singing Cowhand
- 1936 Anything Goes
as Quartette Member
- 1935 Bar 20 Rides Again
as Henchman
Talk shows and appearances (6)
- 2004
- 1976
- 1962 The Merv Griffin Show
2 episodes
- 1959
- 1958
- 1956