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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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Theodore Childress Wills (Seagoville, Texas, 18 de juliol de 1903 - Encino, Califòrnia, 15 de desembre de 1978), més conegut com a Chill Wills, va ser un actor i cantant estatunidenc.

奇尔·西奥多·威尔斯（1902 年 7 月 18 日 - 1978 年 12 月 15 日）是美国电影演员，也是阿瓦隆男孩四重奏的歌手。

他从小就是一名表演者，在 1930 年代组建并领导了 Avalon Boys 歌唱团。在出演了几部西部片后，他于 1938 年解散了乐队，并开始了自己的演艺生涯。

他最令人难忘的角色之一是在一系列流行电影中扮演骡子弗朗西斯的独特声音。威尔斯低沉、粗犷的嗓音，带着西式的嗓音，与愤世嫉俗、讽刺的骡子的个性相得益彰。按照当时的惯例，威尔斯的声乐作品没有得到任何报酬，尽管他在第四部作品《弗朗西斯加入 WACS》中作为咆哮的本凯将军在银幕上占据了突出地位。他为斯坦·劳雷尔（Stan Laurel）在《Way Out West》（1937年）中表演的“寂寞松树的踪迹”（The Trail of the Lonesome Pine）提供了深沉的声音，其中出现了阿瓦隆男孩四重奏。

威尔斯出演了许多严肃的电影角色，包括在黑色电影《不眠之城》（1953 年）中饰演的幽灵警长化身为“芝加哥市”，以及在《巨人》（1956 年）中饰演鲍利叔叔，该片还由洛克·哈德森、伊丽莎白·泰勒和詹姆斯·迪恩主演。威尔斯因在电影《阿拉莫》（1960 年）中饰演戴维·克罗克特的同伴“养蜂人”而获得奥斯卡最佳男配角奖提名。然而，他为该奖项而激进的竞选活动被许多人认为毫无品味，包括这部电影的明星/导演/制片人约翰韦恩，他公开为威尔斯道歉。威尔斯的宣传代理人 W.S. “Bow-Wow” Wojciechowicz 接受了对这一不明智努力的指责，声称威尔斯对此一无所知。奥斯卡奖由彼得·乌斯季诺夫（Peter Ustinov）获得，因为他在《斯巴达克斯》中饰演Lentulus Batiatus。

在罗里·卡尔霍恩 （Rory Calhoun） 的哥伦比亚广播公司 （CBS） 西部连续剧《德克萨斯人》中，威尔斯在 1960 年名为“威利船长的眼睛”的剧集中担任主角。

威尔斯出演了短剧《边境马戏团》，该剧在哥伦比亚广播公司只播出了一季（1961-62 年）。1966 年，他在短命的 ABC 喜剧/西部剧《The Rounders》中饰演阴暗的德克萨斯州牧场主吉姆·埃德·洛夫（Jim Ed Love）（在 1965 年由亨利·方达主演的电影《The Rounders》中重新扮演他的角色），与罗恩·海耶斯、帕特里克·韦恩和沃克·埃德米斯顿联合主演。

1963-64 年，威尔斯与威廉·伦迪根、沃尔特·布伦南和小埃夫雷姆·津巴利斯特一起代表美国参议员巴里·戈德华特出庭，巴里·戈德华特是反对美国总统林登·约翰逊的竞选中的共和党候选人。

1968年，威尔斯拒绝支持理查德·尼克松（Richard Nixon）担任总统职位，并担任阿拉巴马州前州长乔治·C·华莱士（George C. Wallace）在华莱士总统竞选期间的加州竞选活动的司仪。[5]威尔斯是少数支持华莱士反对尼克松和休伯特·汉弗莱的好莱坞名人之一;另一位是沃尔特·布伦南（Walter Brennan）。

同样在 1968 年，他出演了《硝烟》剧集“多比·普莱斯的绞索”，他在剧中饰演前亡命之徒伊莱胡·戈尔曼，他与詹姆斯·阿内斯饰演的马特·狄龙元帅联手，追查一名越狱的前帮派成员。他的最后一个角色是在 1978 年，在 Stubby Pringle 的圣诞节担任看门人。CLR（CLR）