Born in Texas in 1903, there is some dispute about how he got his name, but it is what is listed for the man. Chill Wills got started in his show business career singing with his brothers in Texas, and then went on to Vaudeville.
He appeared with his group “His Avalon Boys” in a Hopalong Cassidy film, “The Bar 20 Rides Again” and in six pictures with George O’Brien in 1938 and 1939.
Wills also appeared in “Boom Town” with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy. He played in the TV series “Frontier Circus” and “The Rounders” plus big movies like Rio Grande, Giant, The Alamo, (in which he was nominated for a supporting role Oscar) and McLintock, like the movie “Alamo” where he was again teamed with John Wayne. He died in California in 1978.