Biography for
Chill Wills More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

18 July 1903, Seagoville, Texas, USA

Date of Death

15 December 1978, Encino, California, USA (cancer)

Birth Name

Chill Theodore Wills

Height

6' 2" (1.88 m)

Mini Biography

Colorful character actor of American Westerns. Named "Chill" as an ironic comment on his birth date being the hottest day of 1903. A musician from his youth, he performed from the age of 12 with tent shows, in vaudeville, and with stock companies. While performing in vaudeville in Kansas City, he married ballet dancer Betty Chappelle, with whom he had two children. He formed a musical group, Chill Wills and His Avalon Boys. During an appearance at the Trocadero in Hollywood, they were spotted by an RKO executive, subsequently appearing as a group in several low-budget Westerns. After a prominent appearance with The Avalon Boys as both himself and the bass-singing voice of Stan Laurel in Way Out West (1937), Wills disbanded the group and began a solo career as a usually jovial (but occasionally sinister) character actor, primarily in Westerns. His delightful portrayal of Beekeeper in The Alamo (1960) won him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, but his blatant and embarrassing campaign for the Oscar cost him the award and subjected him to a great deal of humiliation -- and probably cost the film a number of awards as well. His wife died in 1971, and he remarried, to Novadeen Googe, in 1973. He continued to work in films and television, usually in roguishly lovable good-ol'-boy parts, up until his death in 1978.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver

Spouse

Novadeen Googe	(7 December 1973 - 15 December 1978) (his death) 2 children
Hattie Elizabeth Betty' Chappelle'	(1928 - 11 November 1971) (her death) 2 children

Trivia

Daughter, Jill Wills (b.1939)

Son, Will Wills (b.1942)

Endorsed George Wallace in the 1968 presidential election.

Personal Quotes

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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