While campaigning for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1960, Wills took out a series of ads with the declaration "Win, lose or draw, you're all my cousins and I love you."It was signed "Your cousin, Chill Wills". One member of the Academy placed a response ad stating: "Dear Mr. Chill Wills, I am delighted to be your cousin but I voted for Sal Mineo. "It was signed, Groucho Marx.
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Fact
1
According to 1942 MGM publicity, it was a sweltering hot day when Chill Wills was born, so his parents were inspired to name him "Chill".
2
Chill Wills claimed to have won a degree from the "Minsky College of Burlesque".
3
Chill Wills composed the song "The Blue-Eyed Sailor Man" that he performed in the 1942 MGM Feature "Stand By for Action".
4
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6923 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.
5
Following his death, he was interred at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
6
Endorsed George Wallace in the 1968 presidential election.
7
Had two children: Jill Wills (born 1939) and Will Wills (born 1942).
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Hec Ramsey
1974
TV Series
Sam McDade
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
1973
Lemuel
Guns of a Stranger
1973
Tom Duncan
Alias Smith and Jones
1972
TV Series
Bixby
The Steagle
1971
Tall-Guy McCoy
The Virginian
1971
TV Series
Pat Reedy
Marcus Welby, M.D.
1971
TV Series
Night Gallery
1970
TV Series
Heppelwhite (segment "The Little Black Bag")
The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again
1970
TV Movie
Gentleman George Agnew
The Liberation of L.B. Jones
1970
Mr. Ike
The Over-the-Hill Gang
1969
TV Movie
Gentleman George Agnew
Big Daddy
1969
Gunsmoke
1962-1968
TV Series
Elihu Gorman / Red Conniston / Abe Blocker
Tarzan
1968
TV Series
Ronald Montrose
Judd for the Defense
1967
TV Series
Simpson Youngert
The Rounders
1966-1967
TV Series
Jim Ed Love
Fireball 500
1966
Big Jaw Harris
Burke's Law
1963-1965
TV Series
General Hector Harder / Stanton Custer / Harry Riggs
The Rounders
1965
Jim Ed Love
Rawhide
1964
TV Series
Sheriff Asa Tanner
Route 66
1964
TV Series
Monty Musgrave
The Cardinal
1963
Monsignor Whittle
The Wheeler Dealers
1963
Jay Ray Spinelby
McLintock!
1963
Drago
Young Guns of Texas
1962
Preacher Sam Shelby
Frontier Circus
1961-1962
TV Series
Colonel Casey Thompson
Col. Casey Thompson
The Deadly Companions
1961
Turk
The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come
1961
Major Buford
Gold of the Seven Saints
1961
Doc Wilson Gates, MD
Where the Boys Are
1960
Police Captain
Assignment: Underwater
1960
TV Series
Boyd Crosby
The Alamo
1960
Beekeeper
Playhouse 90
1960
TV Series
Ed Pruitt
The Sad Horse
1959
Capt Connors
The Texan
1959
TV Series
Captain Wylie
Trackdown
1959
TV Series
Zebulon Hunt
Wagon Train
1958
TV Series
Bije Wilcox
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1958
TV Series
Mr. Kilmer
From Hell to Texas
1958
Amos Bradley
Gun Glory
1957
Preacher
Gun for a Coward
1957
Loving
Giant
1956
Uncle Bawley
Santiago
1956
Captain 'Sidewheel' Jones
Francis in the Navy
1955
Francis the Talking Mule (voice, uncredited)
Kentucky Rifle
1955
Tobias Taylor
Timberjack
1955
Steve Riika
Hell's Outpost
1954
Kevin Russel
Ricochet Romance
1954
Tom Williams
Francis Joins the WACS
1954
Gen. Benjamin Kaye
Francis the Talking Mule (voice)
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 the Talking Mule (voice, uncredited)
Small Town Girl
1953
'Happy', Jailer (uncredited)
Ride the Man Down
1952
Ike Adams
Francis Goes to West Point
1952
Francis the Talking Mule (voice, uncredited)
Bronco Buster
1952
Dan Bream
The Sea Hornet
1951
Swede
Cattle Drive
1951
Dallas
Francis Goes to the Races
1951
Francis the Talking Mule (voice, uncredited)
Oh! Susanna
1951
Sergeant Barhydt
The Gene Autry Show
1950
TV Series
Sheriff Chill Wills
Rio Grande
1950
Dr. Wilkins (regimental surgeon)
High Lonesome
1950
Boatwhistle, Ranch Cook
Stella
1950
Chief Clark (uncredited)
Rock Island Trail
1950
Hogger McCoy
The Sundowners
1950
Sam Beers
Francis
1950
Francis the Talking Mule (voice, uncredited)
The Grass Is Always Greener
1950
Short
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 - Justice of the Peace - Monroe Township
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
Trailin' West
1944
Short
Old Man Coffey
Sunday Dinner for a Soldier
1944
Mr. York
I'll Be Seeing You
1944
Swanson
Meet Me in St. Louis
1944
Mr. Neely
Barbary Coast Gent
1944
Sheriff Hightower
The Immortal Blacksmith
1944
Short
Tom Davenport
Rationing
1944
Bus Driver (scenes deleted)
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
Chief Boatswain's Mate Jenks
Apache Trail
1942
'Pike' Skelton
The Omaha Trail
1942
Henry Hawkins
Her Cardboard Lover
1942
Judge
Mister Gardenia Jones
1942
Documentary short
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
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
1940
Shiftless
Sky Murder
1940
Sheriff Beckwith
The Westerner
1940
Southeast
Wyoming
1940
Lafe (uncredited)
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
Block-Heads
1938
Midget in Elevator (voice, uncredited)
Nobody's Baby
1937
Amateur Hour Lead Quartet Singer (as The Avalon Boys)
Way Out West
1937
Lead Singer of the Avalon Boys / Stan's Bass Singing (uncredited)
Hideaway Girl
1936
Lead Singer of Avalon Boys (as The Avalon Boys)
At Sea Ashore
1936
Short
Leader of The Avalon Four (uncredited)
Anything Goes
1936
Member of The Avalon Boys (uncredited)
Bar 20 Rides Again
1935
Background Singer / Henchman (as Chill Wills and His Avalon Boys)
It's a Gift
1934
Campfire Singer (uncredited)
Stubby Pringle's Christmas
1978
TV Movie
Janitor
Poco... Little Dog Lost
1977
Big Burt
Mr. Billion
1977
Col. Clayton T. Winkle
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again
1970
TV Movie performer: "Come All You Texas Rangers" - uncredited
The Porter Wagoner Show
1970
TV Series performer - 2 episodes
The Over-the-Hill Gang
1969
TV Movie performer: "Texas Rangers" - uncredited
Frontier Circus
1961
TV Series performer - 1 episode
The Alamo
1960
performer: "Here's to the Ladies"
Francis in the Navy
1955
performer: "Blow the Man Down", "La Cucaracha" - uncredited
Kentucky Rifle
1955
performer: "Sweet Betsy From Pike" - uncredited
Hell's Outpost
1954
writer: "Packin' the Mail"
Francis Joins the WACS
1954
performer: "I WANT TO ENLIST IN THE WACS" - uncredited
Francis Covers the Big Town
1953
performer: "Missouri Waltz Way down in Missouri"
Bronco Buster
1952
writer: "Rodeo, Oh!"
Francis Goes to the Races
1951
performer: "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean", "La Cucaracha" - uncredited
High Lonesome
1950
"20 Miles From Carson" / writer: "20 Miles From Carson"
Francis
1950
performer: "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean"
The Grass Is Always Greener
1950
Short performer: "Big Blue Eyes" - uncredited / writer: "Big Blue Eyes" - uncredited
Tulsa
1949
performer: "TULSA", "Old Faithful", "Three O'Clock in the Morning"
Leave Her to Heaven
1945
performer: "Chickens in the Garden", "Deedle Deedle Dum Dum" - uncredited
Stand by for Action
1942
"The Oceana Roll" 1911, uncredited / lyrics: "The Blue-Eyed Sailor Man" - uncredited / music: "The Blue-Eyed Sailor Man" - uncredited / performer: "The Blue-Eyed Sailor Man" - uncredited
The Omaha Trail
1942
performer: "'Taters and Corn" 1942
Boom Town
1940
performer: "Polly Wolly Doodle" - uncredited
Racketeers of the Range
1939
"Red River Valley" / performer: "Caboose on the Red ball Train" 1939, "Red River Valley", "'Cause I'm the Man", "Sleepy Wrangler" 1939
Arizona Legion
1939
performer: "I'd Rather Be Footloose" - uncredited
Nobody's Baby
1937
writer: "The West Ain't Wild and Woolly Anymore"
Way Out West
1937
performer: "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" 1913 - uncredited
Bar 20 Rides Again
1935
performer: "The Moon Hangs High"
It's a Gift
1934
performer: "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" 1897 - uncredited
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Dinah!
1977
TV Series
Himself
The Porter Wagoner Show
1970
TV Series
Himself / Himself - Guest
The Merv Griffin Show
1969
TV Series
Himself
That Regis Philbin Show
1965
TV Series
Himself
Here's Hollywood
1962
TV Series
Himself
The 33rd Annual Academy Awards
1961
TV Special
Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
