Chill Wills


Theodore Childress "Chill" Wills was an American actor and a singer in the Avalon Boys quartet.

Early life

Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas, on July 18, 1902.

Career

Wills was a performer from early childhood, forming and leading the Avalon Boys singing group in the 1930s. He provided the deep voice for Stan Laurel's performance of "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" in Way Out West, in which the Avalon Boys Quartet appeared. After appearing in a few Westerns, he disbanded the group in 1938, and struck out on a solo acting career.
File:McLintock! 4.jpg|right|thumb|370px|Jack Kruschen, John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, and Wills in McLintock!
During the 1940s, Wills was a contract player for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, appearing in Westerns. He was also cast in a number of dramatic roles, including "the City of Chicago" as personified by a phantom police sergeant in the film noir City That Never Sleeps, and Uncle Bawley in Giant.
For his role as Davy Crockett's companion Beekeeper in The Alamo, Wills was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. 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. His publicity agent, Wojciechowicz "Bow Wow" Wojtkiewicz, accepted blame for the ill-advised effort, claiming Wills knew nothing about it. The Oscar was won by Peter Ustinov for his role as Lentulus Batiatus in Spartacus.
Wills voiced Francis the Talking Mule in a series of 1950s comedy films. His 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.
In 1959, he starred as Bije Wilcox in "The Bije Wilcox Story" on Wagon Train. In Rory Calhoun's Western series The Texan, Wills appeared in the lead role in the 1960 episode titled "The Eyes of Captain Wylie". Wills starred in the series Frontier Circus, which aired for only one season on CBS.
Wills guest-starred as title character "Abe Blocker" on Gunsmoke in 1962 as a deranged mountain man and old friend of Matt Dillon, preying on homesteaders. In 1966, he was cast in the role of a shady Texas rancher, Jim Ed Love, in the short-lived comedy/Western series The Rounders, with co-stars Ron Hayes, Patrick Wayne, and Walker Edmiston.
Two years later, Wills starred in the 1968 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. In 1971, he appeared as Pat Reedy on The Men from Shiloh in the episode titled "The Angus Killer".
His last role was in 1978, as a janitor in Stubby Pringle's Christmas.

Political involvement

In 19631964, 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.
Later, 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. Wills and Walter Brennan were among the few Hollywood celebrities to endorse Wallace's bid against Nixon and Hubert H. Humphrey.

Other interests

Wills was a poker player and friend of Benny Binion, founder of the World Series of Poker and former owner of Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Wills participated in the first World Series held in 1970, and is seated in the center of a photo taken at the event.

Death

On December 15, 1978, Wills died of cancer in Encino, California, aged 76. He was cremated and interred at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Partial filmography

  • It's a Gift as Campfire Singer
  • Bar 20 Rides Again as Background Singer / Henchman
  • Anything Goes as Member of The Avalon Boys
  • Call of the Prairie as Singing Cowhand
  • Hideaway Girl as Lead Singer of Avalon Boys
  • Way Out West as Lead Singer of the Avalon Boys / Stan's Bass Singing
  • Nobody's Baby as Amateur Hour Lead Quartet Singer
  • Block-Heads as Midget in Elevator
  • Lawless Valley as Deputy Speedy McGow
  • Arizona Legion as Whopper Hatch
  • Trouble in Sundown as Whopper
  • Sorority House as Mr. Johnson
  • Racketeers of the Range as Whopper Hatch
  • Timber Stampede as Whopper Hatch
  • The Day the Bookies Wept as Man on Bus
  • Allegheny Uprising as John M'Cammon
  • Boom Town as Deputy Harmony Jones
  • Wyoming as Lafe
  • The Westerner as Southeast
  • Sky Murder as Sheriff Beckwith
  • Tugboat Annie Sails Again as Shiftless
  • Western Union as Homer Kettle
  • The Bad Man as 'Red' Giddings
  • Billy the Kid as Tom Patterson
  • Belle Starr as Blue Duck
  • Honky Tonk as The Sniper
  • The Bugle Sounds as Sgt. Larry Dillon
  • Tarzan's New York Adventure as Manchester Montford
  • Her Cardboard Lover as Judge
  • The Omaha Trail as Henry Hawkins
  • Apache Trail as 'Pike' Skelton
  • Stand by for Action as Chief Boatswain's Mate Jenks
  • A Stranger in Town as Charles Craig
  • Best Foot Forward as Chester Short
  • See Here, Private Hargrove as First Sergeant Cramp
  • Rationing as Bus Driver
  • Barbary Coast Gent as Sheriff Hightower
  • Meet Me in St. Louis as Mr. Neely
  • I'll Be Seeing You as Swanson
  • Sunday Dinner for a Soldier as Mr. York
  • What Next, Corporal Hargrove? as Sergeant Cramp
  • Leave Her to Heaven as Leick Thome
  • The Harvey Girls as H.H. Hartsey
  • Gallant Bess as Chief Petty Officer
  • The Yearling as Buck Forrester
  • High Barbaree as Lars
  • Heartaches as 'Breezie' Mann
  • The Sainted Sisters as Will Twitchell
  • Northwest Stampede as Mileaway
  • The Saxon Charm as Captain Chatham
  • That Wonderful Urge as Homer Beggs, Justice of the Peace, Monroe Township
  • Family Honeymoon as Fred
  • Loaded Pistols as Sheriff Cramer
  • Tulsa as Pinky Jimpson
  • Red Canyon as Brackton
  • Francis as Francis the Talking Mule
  • The Sundowners as Sam Beers
  • Rock Island Trail as Hogger McCoy
  • Stella as Chief Clark
  • High Lonesome as Boatwhistle, Ranch Cook
  • Rio Grande as Dr. Wilkins
  • Oh! Susanna as Sergeant Barhydt
  • Francis Goes to the Races as Francis the Talking Mule
  • Cattle Drive as Dallas
  • The Sea Hornet as Swede
  • Bronco Buster as Dan Bream
  • Francis Goes to West Point as Francis the Talking Mule
  • Ride the Man Down as Ike Adams
  • Small Town Girl as 'Happy', Jailer
  • Francis Covers the Big Town as Francis the Talking Mule
  • City That Never Sleeps as Sergeant Joe, the 'Voice of Chicago'
  • The Man from the Alamo as John Gage
  • Tumbleweed as Sheriff Murchoree
  • Francis Joins the WACS as General Benjamin Kaye / Francis the Talking Mule
  • Ricochet Romance as Tom Williams
  • Hell's Outpost as Kevin Russel
  • Timberjack as Steve Riika
  • Kentucky Rifle as Tobias Taylor
  • Francis in the Navy as Francis the Talking Mule
  • Santiago as Captain 'Sidewheel' Jones
  • Giant as Uncle Bawley
  • Gun for a Coward as Loving
  • Gun Glory as Preacher
  • From Hell to Texas as Amos Bradley
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Mr. Kilmer
  • The Sad Horse as Captain Connors
  • The Alamo as Beekeeper
  • Where the Boys Are as Police Captain
  • Gold of the Seven Saints as Doc Wilson Gates
  • The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come as Major Buford
  • The Deadly Companions as Turk, "a half-crazed card shark"
  • Gunsmoke as Abe Blocker
  • Young Guns of Texas as Preacher Sam Shelby
  • McLintock! as Drago
  • The Wheeler Dealers as Jay Ray Spinelby
  • The Cardinal as Monsignor Whittle
  • The Rounders as Jim Ed Love
  • Fireball 500 as Big Jaw Harris
  • Big Daddy
  • The Over-the-Hill Gang as George Asque, retired Texas Ranger
  • The Liberation of L.B. Jones as Mr. Ike
  • The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again as George Asque
  • Night Gallery as Heppelwhite
  • The Steagle as Tall-Guy McCoy
  • Alias Smith and Jones in Season 2 Episode 19: "The Biggest Game in the West"
  • Guns of a Stranger as Tom Duncan
  • Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid as Lemuel
  • Mr. Billion as Colonel Clayton T. Winkle
  • Poco... Little Dog Lost as Big Burt