Milton Sills
From Wikipedia Milton George Gustavus Sills (January 12, 1882 – September 15, 1930) was an American stage and film actor of the early twentieth century. Sills was born in Chicago, Illinois into a wealthy family. He was the son of William Henry Sills, a successful mineral dealer, and Josephine Antoinette Troost Sills, an heiress from a prosperous banking family. Upon completing high school, Sills was offered a one-year scholarship to the University of Chicago, where he studied psychology and philosophy. After graduating, he was offered a position at the university as a researcher and within several years worked his way up to become a professor at the school. In 1905, stage actor Donald Robertson visited the school to lecture on author and playwright Henrik Ibsen and suggested to Sills that he try his hand at acting. On a whim, Sills agreed and left his prestigious teaching career to embark on a stint in acting. Sills joined Robertson's stock theater company and began touring the country. In 1914, Sills decided to conquer the new medium of motion pictures. He made his film debut the same year in the big-budget drama The Pit for the World Film Company and was signed to a contract with film producer William A. Brady. The film was enormously successful, and Sills made three more films for the company, including another huge box-office draw The Deep Purple opposite silent screen star Clara Kimball Young. By the late 1910s, Sills had reached leading man status and parted ways with World Film, taking the then unusual path of freelancing as an actor. By the early 1920s, Sills was enjoying a highly successful acting career and working for such prominent film studios as MGM, Paramount Pictures, and Pathé Exchange. He was often paired with the most popular leading ladies of the era, including: Geraldine Farrar, Gloria Swanson and Viola Dana. His greatest public and commercial successes came with the now lost Flaming Youth (1923) opposite Colleen Moore, and the enormous box-office hit The Sea Hawk (1924). Sills made two sound pictures, showing that he had an excellent voice. Many may have forgotten that Sills had extensive stage training before embarking on his career before the cameras. Sills died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1930 while playing tennis with his wife at his Santa Barbara, California home at the age of 48. He was interred at the Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Chicago, Illinois.
Known For
Credits
- 1961 · The Legend of Rudolph Valentino as Self (archive footage)
- 1930 · The Sea Wolf as 'Wolf' Larsen
- 1930 · Man Trouble as Mac
- 1929 · Love and the Devil as
- 1929 · His Captive Woman as
- 1928 · The Crash as Jim Flannagan
- 1928 · The Barker as Nifty Miller
- 1928 · The Hawk's Nest as The Hawk/John Finchley
- 1928 · Burning Daylight as Elam 'Burning Daylight' Harnish
- 1928 · The Circus: Premiere as Self
- 1927 · The Valley of the Giants as Bryce Cardigan
- 1927 · Hard-Boiled Haggerty as Hard-Boiled Haggerty
- 1927 · Framed as Etienne Hilaire
- 1927 · The Sea Tiger as Justin Ramos
- 1926 · The Silent Lover as Count Pierre Tornal
- 1926 · Paradise as Tony
- 1926 · Men of Steel as Jan Bokak
- 1926 · Puppets as Nicola Riccobini
- 1925 · The Knockout as Sandy Donlin
- 1925 · The Making of O'Malley as O'Malley
- 1925 · As Man Desires as Major John Craig
- 1924 · Madonna of the Streets as Reverend John Morton
- 1924 · The Sea Hawk as Sir Oliver Tressilian
- 1924 · Flowing Gold as Calvin Gray
- 1924 · A Lady of Quality as Gerald Mertoun, Duke of Osmonde
- 1923 · Flaming Youth as Cary Scott
- 1923 · Adam's Rib as Michael Ramsay
- 1923 · The Spoilers as Roy Glennister
- 1923 · Legally Dead as Will Campbell / George Brown
- 1923 · Souls for Sale as Self - Celebrity Actor (uncredited)
- 1923 · The Isle of Lost Ships as Frank Howard
- 1923 · What a Wife Learned as Rudolph Martin
- 1923 · The Last Hour as Steve Cline
- 1922 · The Forgotten Law as Richard Jarnette
- 1922 · Seeing Stars as Self
- 1922 · Skin Deep as Bud Doyle
- 1922 · A Trip to Paramountown as Self
- 1922 · One Clear Call as Dr. Alan Hamilton
- 1921 · Miss Lulu Bett as Neil Cornish
- 1921 · The Great Moment as Bayard Delaval
- 1921 · At the End of the World as Gordon Deane
- 1921 · The Faith Healer as Michaelis
- 1920 · The Furnace as Keene Mordaunt
- 1920 · The Street Called Straight as Peter Devenant
- 1919 · Eyes of Youth as Louis Anthony
- 1919 · The Woman Thou Gavest Me as Conrad
- 1919 · The Hushed Hour as Luke Appleton
- 1919 · The Stronger Vow as Juan Estudillo
- 1919 · Satan Junior as Paul Worden
- 1918 · The Hell Cat as Sheriff Jack Webb
- 1918 · The Claw as Major Anthony Kinsella
- 1918 · The Yellow Ticket as Julian Rolfe
- 1917 · Making Monkey Business as The Flea
- 1917 · The Honor System as Joseph Stanton
- 1917 · Patria as Capt. Donald Parr
- 1915 · The Woman Who Lied as
- 1915 · Under Southern Skies as Burleigh Mavor