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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
July 18, 1902
Died
December 15, 1978
Place of Birth
Seagoville, Texas, USA
Also Known As
- Theodore Childress Wills
Chill Wills
0.9 Popularity
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
7.8
Self (archive footage)
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
2004
7.3
Drive-In Movie Memories
2001
7.0
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment! III
1994
🎬
6.0
Beekeeper
John Wayne's 'The Alamo'
1992
0.0
The Janitor
Stubby Pringle's Christmas
1978
4.0
Big Burt
Poco… Little Dog Lost
1977
5.5
Col. Clayton T. Winkle
Mr. Billion
1977
7.0
Self (archive footage)
It's Showtime
1976
7.2
Lemuel
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
1973
3.0
Tom Duncan
Guns of a Stranger
1973
Credits
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
as Self (archive footage)
2004
7.8
Drive-In Movie Memories
2001
7.3
That's Entertainment! III
as (archive footage)
1994
7.0
🎬
John Wayne's 'The Alamo'
as Beekeeper
1992
6.0
Stubby Pringle's Christmas
as The Janitor
1978
0.0
Poco… Little Dog Lost
as Big Burt
1977
4.0
Mr. Billion
as Col. Clayton T. Winkle
1977
5.5
It's Showtime
as Self (archive footage)
1976
7.0
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
as Lemuel
1973
7.2
Guns of a Stranger
as Tom Duncan
1973
3.0
The Steagle
as Tall Guy McCoy
1971
4.1
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
7.0
Night Gallery
as Heppelwhite (segment "The Little Black Bag")
1970
7.8
The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again
as Gentleman George Agnew
1970
5.0
The Liberation of L.B. Jones
as Mr. Ike
1970
5.8
The Over the Hill Gang
as Gentleman George Agnew
1969
5.6
Big Daddy
1969
0.0
Judd for the Defense
1967
7.5
Tarzan
1966
6.7
The Rounders
1966
4.0
Fireball 500
as Big Jaw
1966
4.9
The Rounders
as Jim Ed Love
1965
5.5
The Cardinal
as Monsignor
1963
6.6
The Wheeler Dealers
as Jay Ray Spinelby
1963
6.2
McLintock!
as Drago
1963
6.6
Burke's Law
as Harry Riggs
1963
6.0
Burke's Law
as Stanton Custer
1963
6.0
Burke's Law
as General Hector Harder
1963
6.0
Young Guns of Texas
as Preacher Sam Shelby
1962
3.5
The Merv Griffin Show
as Self
1962
6.2
Frontier Circus
as Colonel Casey Thompson /Col. Casey Thompson
1961
4.7
The Deadly Companions
as Turk
1961
5.6
The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
as Major Buford
1961
3.3
Gold of the Seven Saints
as Doc Wilson Gates, M.D.
1961
7.0
Where the Boys Are
as Police Captain
1960
5.9
The Alamo
as Beekeeper
1960
7.1
Route 66
1960
6.3
Disneyland '59
as Self
1959
6.5
The Sad Horse
as Capt. Connors
1959
0.0
Rawhide
as Sheriff Asa Tanner
1959
7.2
The Texan
1958
5.5
The Western: A Lost TV Special
as Self
1958
0.0
From Hell to Texas
as Amos Bradley
1958
5.9
Trackdown
1957
6.4
Gun Glory
as Preacher
1957
5.8
Gun for a Coward
as Loving
1956
5.6
Giant
as Uncle Bawley
1956
7.6
New York Premiere Telecast 'Giant'
as Host
1956
6.0
Santiago
as Captain 'Sidewheel' Jones
1956
5.2
Kentucky Rifle
as Tobias Taylor
1956
5.1
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Mr. Kilmer
1955
7.8
Gunsmoke
as Abe Blocker
1955
6.6
Gunsmoke
as Elihu Gorman
1955
6.6
Gunsmoke
as Red Conniston
1955
6.6
Francis in the Navy
as Francis (voice) (uncredited)
1955
5.4
Timberjack
as Steve Riika
1955
3.2
Hell's Outpost
as Kevin Russell
1954
5.0
Ricochet Romance
as Tom Williams
1954
7.0
Francis Joins the WACS
as Francis (voice) (uncredited)
1954
5.8
Tumbleweed
as Sheriff Murchoree
1953
6.1
The Man from the Alamo
as John Gage
1953
6.5
City That Never Sleeps
as Sgt. Joe, the 'Voice of Chicago'
1953
5.9
Francis Covers the Big Town
as Francis (voice) (uncredited)
1953
4.8
Small Town Girl
as Happy
1953
5.4
Ride the Man Down
as Ike Adams
1952
6.5
Francis Goes to West Point
as Francis (voice) (uncredited)
1952
5.8
Bronco Buster
as Dan Bream
1952
5.0
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as The Janitor
1951
8.6
The Sea Hornet
as Swede
1951
5.0
Cattle Drive
as Dallas
1951
6.1
Francis Goes to the Races
as Francis (voice) (uncredited)
1951
6.5
Oh! Susanna
as Sgt. Barhydt
1951
5.0
Rio Grande
as Dr. Wilkins
1950
6.8
High Lonesome
as Boatwhistle
1950
5.1
Stella
as Chief Clark
1950
0.0
Rock Island Trail
as Hogger McCoy
1950
6.0
Francis
as Francis the Talking Mule (voice)
1950
5.6
The Sundowners
as Sam Beers
1950
5.0
The Grass Is Always Greener
as Windy
1950
5.3
Red Canyon
as Marshal G.T. Brackton
1949
5.0
Tulsa
as Pinky Jimpson (Narrator)
1949
6.3
Loaded Pistols
as Sheriff Cramer
1948
5.7
Family Honeymoon
as Fred
1948
5.7
That Wonderful Urge
as Homer Beggs
1948
6.5
The Saxon Charm
as Captain Chatham
1948
3.8
Northwest Stampede
as Mileaway
1948
1.5
The Sainted Sisters
as Will Twitchell
1948
7.0
Heartaches
as 'Breezie' Mann
1947
4.5
High Barbaree
as Lars (uncredited)
1947
5.1
The Yearling
as Buck Forrester
1946
6.6
Gallant Bess
as Chief Petty Officer
1946
6.5
The Harvey Girls
as H.H. Hartsey
1946
6.5
Leave Her to Heaven
as Leick Thome
1945
7.4
What Next, Corporal Hargrove?
as Sgt. Cramp
1945
4.0
I'll Be Seeing You
as Swanson
1944
6.9
Sunday Dinner for a Soldier
as Mr. York
1944
4.8
Meet Me in St. Louis
as Mr. Neely
1944
7.0
Barbary Coast Gent
as Sheriff Hightower
1944
4.6
The Immortal Blacksmith
as Tom Davenport
1944
0.0
See Here, Private Hargrove
as First Sgt. Cramp
1944
6.0
Best Foot Forward
as Chester Short
1943
6.0
A Stranger in Town
as Charles Craig
1943
6.1
Stand by for Action
as Mate Jenks, Chef-Bootsmann
1942
6.8
The Omaha Trail
as Henry Hawkins
1942
7.0
Apache Trail
as 'Pike' Skelton
1942
6.4
Her Cardboard Lover
as Judge
1942
4.4
Mr. Gardenia Jones
as Hotel Employee
1942
4.7
Tarzan's New York Adventure
as Manchester Montford
1942
6.3
The Bugle Sounds
as Sgt. Larry Dillon
1942
6.0
Honky Tonk
as The Sniper
1941
6.4
Belle Starr
as Blue Duck
1941
5.6
Billy the Kid
as Tom Patterson
1941
5.0
The Bad Man
as 'Red' Giddings
1941
5.4
Western Union
as Homer Kettle
1941
6.0
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
as Shiftless
1940
5.5
Sky Murder
as Sheriff Beckwith
1940
6.3
The Westerner
as Southeast
1940
7.1
Wyoming
as Lafe
1940
5.9
Boom Town
as Harmony Jones
1940
6.9
Allegheny Uprising
as M'Cammon
1939
5.6
The Day the Bookies Wept
as Man on Bus (uncredited)
1939
5.0
Timber Stampede
as Whopper Hatch
1939
0.0
Racketeers of the Range
as Whopper Hatch
1939
6.6
Sorority House
as Mr. Johnson
1939
6.8
Trouble in Sundown
as Whopper
1939
0.0
Arizona Legion
as Whopper Hatch
1939
5.0
Lawless Valley
as Deputy Speedy McGow
1938
5.0
Nobody's Baby
as Amateur Hour Quartet Singer
1937
5.7
Way Out West
as Lead Singer of the Avalon Boys / Stan's Bass Singing (uncredited)
1937
7.1
Hideaway Girl
as Lead Singer of Avalon Boys
1936
0.0
At Sea Ashore
as Leader of The Avalon Four (uncredited)
1936
0.0
Call of the Prairie
as Singing Cowhand
1936
4.7
Bar 20 Rides Again
as Henchman
1935
5.0