Chill Theodore Wills (July 18, 1902 – December 15, 1978) was an American film and television actor and a singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet.
| # | 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). |
| 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 |
| 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 |
