Chill Wills's Greatest Hollywood Role?

Copyright 2020 by Gary L. Pullman

Sometimes, the stories of the actors behind the figures of the Old West—at least, as they are portrayed in Hollywood Westerns—are as interesting as those of the cowboys, gunfighters, outlaws, and sheriffs themselves.

A case in point: character actor Chill Wills, who was known as much for his gravely voice and his gruff demeanor as he was for his rugged appearance. 

He starred in many Westerns, alongside some of the most famous leading men of the genre, including John Wayne, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Robert Taylor, Gene Autry, and Robert Preston.

It was after his role as Bee Keeper in the 1960 film The Alamo, starring John Wayne, that Wills got into trouble. Bee Keeper was the sidekick of Davy Crockett (John Wayne). According to Cynthia Brideson and Sara Brideson, authors of the highly recommended Also Starring Forty Biographical Essays on the Greatest Character Actors of Hollywood's Golden Era, 130-1965, Wills's role won him “his first Oscar nomination,” and he wanted the award badly enough to hire a publicity agent to conduct a campaign for him.

His agent, W. S. Wocjiechowicz, conceived the idea of blanketing “Hollywood trade papers” with an ad containing the copy, “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.”

Wayne, who had great respect for the real men of the West, was offended. Not only did he deny that “any of the cast had condoned” Wills's slick campaign, but he also “condemned” it.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science also found the campaign offensive. As a result, the Academy forbade any future such campaigns by stars who were nominated for the award.

Wills didn't win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Instead, he lost to Peter Ustinov, who won for his part as Lentulus Batiatus, the owner of the gladiator school in Spartacus.

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