Milton Sills | WatchedThis
Milton Sills
Acting
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 Movies
Acting
As Man Desires
The story of a man who was robbed of his greatest love and the South Seas wildflower who found it for him, in the land of pawn trees where men of all nations gather; some seeking vengeance and some forgiveness.
The Hushed Hour
Judge Robert Appleton (Winter Hall) has led an exemplary life. His four children, however, fell short once they grew up and had to fend for themselves. When Appleton dies, his widow (Lydia Knott) explains that his last request was that each child spend one hour of contemplation with his body. The first is the youngest daughter, Daisy (Rosemary Theby), an artist of note who was betrayed and left with a son to raise out of wedlock. Next is Luke (Milton Sills), a wild young man who ran away at 19, and even though he is now married and a father, he still can't quite settle down. The eldest son, Bob (Wilfred Lucas), is next -- he wed a wealthy woman, but the marriage has no love.
The Claw
Clara Kimball Young stars as Mary Saurin, a British gentlewoman who journeys to South Africa to visit her district-commissioner brother Dick (Henry Woodward). Upon arriving, she is introduced to Major Anthony "Kim" Kinsella (Milton Sills), the most important and influential Army officer in the region. Falling in love with Kinsella, Mary agrees to marry him, but he is apparently killed in a native uprising.
The Woman Thou Gavest Me
Mary Mac Neill (Katherine MacDonald), whose father (Theodore Roberts) marries her off to Lord Raa (Jack Holt) in order to satisfy an old grudge. But Mary wants nothing to do with the dissolute Lord and tells him so on their wedding night. So he takes his mistress, Alma Lier (Fritzi Brunette), to India and passes her off as Lady Raa, while Mary disappears to a French village, where she spends time with the man she loved all along, explorer Martin Conrad (Milton Sills).
The Last Hour
Steve Cline returns to the U.S. after earning his fortune in South America. He reads in the paper that his brother Tom was arrested for safecracking. Tom escapes and runs to the home of Sadie McCall, whose father Reever heads a forgery ring. Steve rushes to meet his brother, but Tom is killed in a police raid. Reever gets away and Steve falls for Sadie, but Steve takes the blame for the murder and faces death by hanging. Reported by some to be Gary Cooper's first film as an extra. However this is not confirmed in any way.
Seeing Stars
First National gala celebrity banquet with stars.
Eyes of Youth
A young woman, confronted by four options for proceeding in her life, is granted the ability to see what results would come from her choice of of the options. After she sees her future along three of the roads, she makes her choice.
The Sea Hawk
The adventures of Oliver Tressilian, who goes from English gentry to galley slave to captain of a Moorish fighting ship.
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
A documentary of Hollywood's first great Latin Lover, the contradictions in his personal life, and his premature death.
The Barker
A successful carnival barker deals with the arrival of his eager son, who he'd hoped would stay far from the carnival world, his son's entanglement with a showgirl, and his own jealous mistress.
Production
A Lover's Oath
"The plot introduces Omar as a leader of his people but deals rather with the love of his nephew, Ben Ali, for the fairest daughter of the tribe" (Variety, 7 Oct 1925, p44).
A Lover's Oath
"The plot introduces Omar as a leader of his people but deals rather with the love of his nephew, Ben Ali, for the fairest daughter of the tribe" (Variety, 7 Oct 1925, p44).
Men of Steel
Jan Bokak is a self-educated steelworker who finds himself in the middle of a romantic triangle. Two different girls -- wealthy socialite Claire Pitt and blue-collar worker Mary Berwick -- simultaneously fall for Bokak. It later develops that Claire and Mary are actually sisters, the first of a series of surprising plot twists leading to Bokak being accused of a murder he didn't commit.
Gallery
