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