Milton Sills
Acting • Born 1882-01-11 – Died 1930-09-15
Biography
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.
Filmography
77 credits
As Man Desires
Movie • 1925
Major John Craig
The Hushed Hour
Movie • 1919
Luke Appleton
The Claw
Movie • 1918
Major Anthony Kinsella
The Woman Thou Gavest Me
Movie • 1919
Conrad
The Last Hour
Movie • 1923
Steve Cline
Seeing Stars
Movie • 1922
Self
Eyes of Youth
Movie • 1919
Louis Anthony
The Sea Hawk
Movie • 1924
Sir Oliver Tressilian
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
Movie • 1961
Self (archive footage)
The Barker
Movie • 1928
Nifty Miller
The Forgotten Law
Movie • 1922
Richard Jarnette
Flowing Gold
Movie • 1924
Calvin Gray
Under Southern Skies
Movie • 1915
Burleigh Mavor
The Faith Healer
Movie • 1921
Michaelis
A Trip to Paramountown
Movie • 1922
Self
Miss Lulu Bett
Movie • 1921
Neil Cornish
The Circus: Premiere
Movie • 1928
Self
Man Trouble
Movie • 1930
Mac
His Captive Woman
Movie • 1929
The Hell Cat
Movie • 1918
Sheriff Jack Webb
The Stronger Vow
Movie • 1919
Juan Estudillo
Puppets
Movie • 1926
Nicola Riccobini
Paradise
Movie • 1926
Tony
The Sea Tiger
Movie • 1927
Justin Ramos
Framed
Movie • 1927
Etienne Hilaire
The Hawk's Nest
Movie • 1928
The Hawk/John Finchley
Souls for Sale
Movie • 1923
Self - Celebrity Actor (uncredited)
Hard-Boiled Haggerty
Movie • 1927
Hard-Boiled Haggerty
Adam's Rib
Movie • 1923
Michael Ramsay
Patria
Movie • 1917
Capt. Donald Parr
The Valley of the Giants
Movie • 1927
Bryce Cardigan
Making Monkey Business
Movie • 1917
The Flea
Flaming Youth
Movie • 1923
Cary Scott
The Street Called Straight
Movie • 1920
Peter Devenant
Men of Steel
Movie • 1926
Jan Bokak
The Honor System
Movie • 1917
Joseph Stanton
The Isle of Lost Ships
Movie • 1923
Frank Howard
Legally Dead
Movie • 1923
Will Campbell / George Brown
The Crash
Movie • 1928
Jim Flannagan
A Lady of Quality
Movie • 1924
Gerald Mertoun, Duke of Osmonde
The Sea Wolf
Movie • 1930
'Wolf' Larsen
Skin Deep
Movie • 1922
Bud Doyle
At the End of the World
Movie • 1921
Gordon Deane
Love and the Devil
Movie • 1929
One Clear Call
Movie • 1922
Dr. Alan Hamilton
The Silent Lover
Movie • 1926
Count Pierre Tornal
The Spoilers
Movie • 1923
Roy Glennister
Burning Daylight
Movie • 1928
Elam 'Burning Daylight' Harnish
The Furnace
Movie • 1920
Keene Mordaunt
The Making of O'Malley
Movie • 1925
O'Malley
The Knockout
Movie • 1925
Sandy Donlin
Madonna of the Streets
Movie • 1924
Reverend John Morton
Satan Junior
Movie • 1919
Paul Worden
The Yellow Ticket
Movie • 1918
Julian Rolfe
The Great Moment
Movie • 1921
Bayard Delaval
The Woman Who Lied
Movie • 1915
Jack Stanley
What a Wife Learned
Movie • 1923
Rudolph Martin
The Arrival of Perpetua
Movie • 1915
Thaddeus Curzon
The Pit
Movie • 1914
Corthell
Married in Name Only
Movie • 1917
Robert Worthing
The Taming of Mary
Movie • 1915
Harry Benton
Burning Sands
Movie • 1922
Daniel Lane
The Woman Who Walked Alone
Movie • 1922
Clement Gaunt
The Heart Bandit
Movie • 1924
John Rand
Sweet Lavender
Movie • 1920
Horace Weatherburn
The Savage Woman
Movie • 1918
Jean Lerier
Single Wives
Movie • 1924
Perry Jordan
The Unguarded Hour
Movie • 1925
Andrea
Environment
Movie • 1922
Steve MacLaren
What Every Woman Learns
Movie • 1919
Walter Melrose
Behold My Wife
Movie • 1920
Frank Armour
The Inferior Sex
Movie • 1920
Knox Randall
Dangerous to Men
Movie • 1920
Sandy Verrall
The Little Fool
Movie • 1921
Richard Forrest
I Want My Man
Movie • 1925
Gulian Eyre
The Fear Woman
Movie • 1919
Robert Craig
Salvage
Movie • 1921
Fred Martin