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