Born Chill Theodore Wills in Seagoville, TX. A performer since early childhood, he appeared in tent shows, vaudeville, and stock theater throughout the Southwest. In the 1930s he formed a singing group, Chill Wills and the Avalon Boys, with which he appeared in several Westerns from 1935. In 1938 he disbanded the group, of which he was leader and bass vocalist, and began a long career as a character player, appearing in numerous Westerns and many films of other genres. He was nominated for an Oscar® as best supporting actor for his performance in THE ALAMO (1960). In an unprecedented campaign to secure an award, Wills's press agent -- W.S. "Bow-Wow" Wojciechowicz, hired especially for this ad campaign -- ran a series of ads in the trades listing every member of the Academy alphabetically with a picture of Chill and the comment, "Win, lose or draw, you're all my cousins and I love you all." After the ad with the M's ran, Groucho Marx placed his own ad: "Dear Mr. Chill Wills: I am delighted to be your cousin, but I voted for Sal Mineo. Groucho Marx." Unfortunately, on the Friday that Groucho's ad was printed in the Hollywood Reporter, the facing page featured a photo of the ALAMO cast, a picture of Chill in his buckskin costume superimposed over them, and the copy line, "We of the Alamo cast are praying harder -- than the real Texans prayed for their lives in the Alamo -- for Chill Wills to win the Oscar as the Best Supporting Actor -- Cousin Chill's acting was great. Your Alamo Cousins." Daily Variety had refused to run the ad. This latest ad provoked the printing of an angry open letter from Alamo producer/director/star John Wayne in Daily Variety. According to the Duke, "the Chill Wills ad published in the Hollywood Reporter, of which we had no advance knowledge, [contained] an untrue and reprehensible claim. No one in the Batjac organization [Wayne's production company] or in the Russell Birdwell office has been a party to his trade paper advertising. I refrain from using stronger language because I am sure his intentions were not as bad as his taste." By now, Bow-Wow had realized he had gone too far and publicly apologized with his own ad. He later confessed that "Wills did not know anything whatsoever about this ad and when he saw it he was madder than Wayne and Birdwell put together. I informed Wayne and Birdwell after the ad appeared that I was fully responsible." Chill was not satisfied. The actor, best known as the voice of Francis the Talking Mule, told Sheilah Graham, "I always had a very reputable name in this town. One day I'll get even with that so-and-so [Bow-Wow] if it's the last thing I do."1 All this furor amounted to nothing, however. Peter Ustinov won the award for best supporting actor for his performance in SPARTACUS. He accepted his award by saying, "Having been educated in English schools, we were taught for at least fifteen years of our lives how to lose gracefully and I've been preparing myself for that all afternoon... Now I don't know quite what to say." Wills appeared in over 100 feature films. Notable credits include THE WESTERNER (1940), BELLE STARR (1941), MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944), LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (1945), THE HARVEY GIRLS and THE YEARLING (1946), THE SUNDOWNERS (1950), GIANT (1956), WHERE THE BOYS ARE (1960), McLINTOCK! and THE WHEELER DEALERS (both 1963) and PAT GARRET AND BILLY THE KID (1973). His last project was the TV movie "Stubby Pringle's Christmas" (1978). In 1975 Wills released a first singing album.  Nominated for Supporting Actor 1960: THE ALAMO 1 nomination 1  Wiley and Bona, Inside Oscar, pp. 323-324.