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