Chill Wills
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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
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Photos
Movies (115)
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
2004 · Self (archive footage)
Drive-In Movie Memories
2001
That's Entertainment! III
1994 · (archive footage) (uncredited)
John Wayne's 'The Alamo'
1992 · Beekeeper
Stubby Pringle's Christmas
1978 · The Janitor
Poco… Little Dog Lost
1977 · Big Burt
Mr. Billion
1977 · Col. Clayton T. Winkle
It's Showtime
1976 · Self (archive footage)
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
1973 · Lemuel
Guns of a Stranger
1973 · Tom Duncan
The Steagle
1971 · Tall Guy McCoy
The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again
1970 · Gentleman George Agnew
The Liberation of L.B. Jones
1970 · Mr. Ike
The Over the Hill Gang
1969 · Gentleman George Agnew
Big Daddy
1969
Fireball 500
1966 · Big Jaw
The Rounders
1965 · Jim Ed Love
The Cardinal
1963 · Monsignor
The Wheeler Dealers
1963 · Jay Ray Spinelby
McLintock!
1963 · Drago
Young Guns of Texas
1962 · Preacher Sam Shelby
The Deadly Companions
1961 · Turk
The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
1961 · Major Buford
Gold of the Seven Saints
1961 · Doc Wilson Gates, M.D.
Where the Boys Are
1960 · Police Captain
The Alamo
1960 · Beekeeper
Disneyland '59
1959 · Self
The Sad Horse
1959 · Capt. Connors
The Western: A Lost TV Special
1958 · Self
From Hell to Texas
1958 · Amos Bradley
Gun Glory
1957 · Preacher
Gun for a Coward
1956 · Loving
Giant
1956 · Uncle Bawley
New York Premiere Telecast 'Giant'
1956 · Host
Santiago
1956 · Captain 'Sidewheel' Jones
Kentucky Rifle
1956 · Tobias Taylor
Francis in the Navy
1955 · Francis (voice) (uncredited)
Timberjack
1955 · Steve Riika
Hell's Outpost
1954 · Kevin Russell
Ricochet Romance
1954 · Tom Williams
Francis Joins the WACS
1954 · Francis (voice) (uncredited)
Tumbleweed
1953 · Sheriff Murchoree
The Man from the Alamo
1953 · John Gage
City That Never Sleeps
1953 · Sgt. Joe, the 'Voice of Chicago'
Francis Covers the Big Town
1953 · Francis (voice) (uncredited)
Small Town Girl
1953 · Happy
Ride the Man Down
1952 · Ike Adams
Francis Goes to West Point
1952 · Francis (voice) (uncredited)
Bronco Buster
1952 · Dan Bream
The Sea Hornet
1951 · Swede
Cattle Drive
1951 · Dallas
Francis Goes to the Races
1951 · Francis (voice) (uncredited)
Oh! Susanna
1951 · Sgt. Barhydt
Rio Grande
1950 · Dr. Wilkins
High Lonesome
1950 · Boatwhistle
Stella
1950 · Chief Clark
Rock Island Trail
1950 · Hogger McCoy
Francis
1950 · Francis the Talking Mule (voice)
The Sundowners
1950 · Sam Beers
The Grass Is Always Greener
1950 · Windy
Red Canyon
1949 · Marshal G.T. Brackton
Tulsa
1949 · Pinky Jimpson (Narrator)
Loaded Pistols
1948 · Sheriff Cramer
Family Honeymoon
1948 · Fred
That Wonderful Urge
1948 · Homer Beggs
The Saxon Charm
1948 · Captain Chatham
Northwest Stampede
1948 · Mileaway
The Sainted Sisters
1948 · Will Twitchell
Heartaches
1947 · 'Breezie' Mann
High Barbaree
1947 · Lars (uncredited)
The Yearling
1946 · Buck Forrester
Gallant Bess
1946 · Chief Petty Officer
The Harvey Girls
1946 · H.H. Hartsey
Leave Her to Heaven
1945 · Leick Thome
What Next, Corporal Hargrove?
1945 · Sgt. Cramp
I'll Be Seeing You
1944 · Swanson
Sunday Dinner for a Soldier
1944 · Mr. York
Meet Me in St. Louis
1944 · Mr. Neely
Barbary Coast Gent
1944 · Sheriff Hightower
The Immortal Blacksmith
1944 · Tom Davenport
See Here, Private Hargrove
1944 · First Sgt. Cramp
Best Foot Forward
1943 · Chester Short
A Stranger in Town
1943 · Charles Craig
Stand by for Action
1942 · Mate Jenks, Chef-Bootsmann
Apache Trail
1942 · 'Pike' Skelton
The Omaha Trail
1942 · Henry Hawkins
Her Cardboard Lover
1942 · Judge
Mr. Gardenia Jones
1942 · Hotel Employee
Tarzan's New York Adventure
1942 · Manchester Montford
The Bugle Sounds
1942 · Sgt. Larry Dillon
Honky Tonk
1941 · The Sniper
Belle Starr
1941 · Blue Duck
Billy the Kid
1941 · Tom Patterson
The Bad Man
1941 · 'Red' Giddings
Western Union
1941 · Homer Kettle
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
1940 · Shiftless
Sky Murder
1940 · Sheriff Beckwith
The Westerner
1940 · Southeast
Wyoming
1940 · Lafe
Boom Town
1940 · Harmony Jones
Allegheny Uprising
1939 · M'Cammon
The Day the Bookies Wept
1939 · Man on Bus (uncredited)
Timber Stampede
1939 · Whopper Hatch
Racketeers of the Range
1939 · Whopper Hatch
Sorority House
1939 · Mr. Johnson
Trouble in Sundown
1939 · Whopper
Arizona Legion
1939 · Whopper Hatch
Lawless Valley
1938 · Deputy Speedy McGow
Nobody's Baby
1937 · Amateur Hour Quartet Singer
Way Out West
1937 · Lead Singer of the Avalon Boys / Stan's Bass Singing (uncredited)
Hideaway Girl
1936 · Lead Singer of Avalon Boys
At Sea Ashore
1936 · Leader of The Avalon Four (uncredited)
Call of the Prairie
1936 · Singing Cowhand
Anything Goes
1936 · Quartette Member
Bar 20 Rides Again
1935 · Henchman
TV shows (15)
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
Night Gallery
1970 · Heppelwhite (segment "The Little Black Bag")
Judd, for the Defense
1967
Tarzan
1966
The Rounders
1966
Burke's Law
1963 · Harry Riggs, Stanton Custer, General Hector Harder
The Merv Griffin Show
1962 · Self
Frontier Circus
1961 · Colonel Casey Thompson /Col. Casey Thompson
Route 66
1960
Rawhide
1959 · Sheriff Asa Tanner
The Texan
1958
Trackdown
1957
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955 · Mr. Kilmer
Gunsmoke
1955 · Abe Blocker, Red Conniston, Elihu Gorman
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951 · The Janitor