EARLY DAYS PRODUCTIONS
Milland was born on January 3, 1907 as Alfred Reginald Jones in Neath, Wales, UK. He was the son of Elizabeth Annie (née Truscott) and Alfred Jones. Before becoming an actor, Milland served in the Household Cavalry. An expert shot, he became a member of his company's rifle team, winning many prestigious competitions, including the Bisley Match in England. While stationed in London, he was introduced to American actress Estelle Brody. Brody queried Milland's commitment to an army career, which led to Milland buying himself out of the forces in 1928 in the hope of becoming an actor.
1907-1986
Stats:
Real Name:
Alfred Reginald Jones
Height: 6' 2"
Hair: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname: None Found
Quote: "I go to the cinema to be entertained, not depressed."
Real Name:
Alfred Reginald Jones
Height: 6' 2"
Hair: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname: None Found
Quote: "I go to the cinema to be entertained, not depressed."
It was his reputed prowess as a marksman that earned him work as an extra at the British International Pictures studio on Arthur Robison's 1929 production of The Informer. While he was working on The Informer he was asked to test for a production being shot on a neighbouring stage. Milland made a good impression on director Castleton Knight and was hired for his first acting role as Jim Edwards, in The Flying Scotsman. It was on this film that it was suggested he adopt a stage name; and chose Milland from the Mill lands area of his Welsh home town of Neath.
Milland was approached by MGM vice-president Robert Rubin, who had seen the film The Flying Scotsman. MGM offered Milland a nine-month contract, based in Hollywood. When working on I Wanted Wings (1941), with Brian Donlevy and William Holden, he went up with a pilot to test a plane for filming. While up in the air, Ray decided to do a parachute jump (being an avid amateur parachutist) but, just before he could disembark, the plane began to sputter, and the pilot told Milland not to jump as they were running low on gas and needed to land. Once on the ground and in the hangar, Ray began to tell his story of how he had wanted to jump. As he did so, the color ran out of the costume man's face. When asked why, he told Ray that the parachute he had worn up in the plane was "just a prop", and that there had been no parachute.
During the filming of Reap the Wild Wind (1942), Milland's character was to have curly hair. Milland's hair was naturally straight, so the studio used hot curling irons on his hair to achieve the effect. Milland felt that it was this procedure that caused him to go prematurely bald, forcing him to go from leading man to supporting player earlier than he would have wished.
The pinnacle of Milland's career and acknowledgment of his serious dramatic abilities came in 1946 when he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of an alcoholic in Billy Wilder's film The Lost Weekend (1945). He was the first Welsh actor to ever win an Oscar. Milland gave the shortest acceptance speech of any Oscar winner. He was also given an award at the first Cannes Film Festival for his performance. His performance had been so convincing that Milland was beleaguered for years by rumors that he actually was an alcoholic despite the fact that he wasn't.
In 1951, he gave a strong performance in Close to My Heart, starring with Gene Tierney as a couple trying to adopt a child. The next year he appeared in The Thief in a role with no dialogue, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe. In 1954, he starred opposite Grace Kelly and Robert Cummings in Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder.
He concentrated on directing starting wih the 1955 film A Man Alone. From directing film, he achieved even more success directing for television. He returned as a film character actor in the late 60s and the 70s, notably in the cult classic Daughter of the Mind (1969), in which he was reunited with Gene Tierney, and in Love Story (1970) with Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw .
Toward the end of his life, Milland appeared twice as Jennifer Hart's father in ABC's Hart to Hart, with Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers. He also guest starred as Sire Uri in the pilot episode of the original Battlestar Galactica television series. Ray Milland died of lung cancer in Torrance, California, in 1986, aged 79.
He concentrated on directing starting wih the 1955 film A Man Alone. From directing film, he achieved even more success directing for television. He returned as a film character actor in the late 60s and the 70s, notably in the cult classic Daughter of the Mind (1969), in which he was reunited with Gene Tierney, and in Love Story (1970) with Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw .
Toward the end of his life, Milland appeared twice as Jennifer Hart's father in ABC's Hart to Hart, with Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers. He also guest starred as Sire Uri in the pilot episode of the original Battlestar Galactica television series. Ray Milland died of lung cancer in Torrance, California, in 1986, aged 79.
For more information about Ray Milland please visit: Wikipedia
Ray Milland's Filmography
1984 The Sea Serpent
1980 The Attic
1979 Game for Vultures
1979 Spree
1978 Oliver's Story
1978 Cuibul salamandrelor
1978 Blackout
1978 Slavers
1977 La ragazza dal pigiama giallo
1977 The Uncanny
1977 The House in Nightmare Park
1976 The Last Tycoon
1976 Aces High
1976 The Swiss Conspiracy
1975 Escape to Witch Mountain
1974 The Great Gold Conspiracy
1974 The Student Connection
1974 The Big Game
1973 Terror in the Wax Museum
1973 Embassy
1972 The Thing with Two Heads
1972 Frogs
1970 Love Story
1968 Hostile Witness
1964 The Confession
1963 X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes
1962 Panic in Year Zero!
1962 Premature Burial
1958 The Safecracker
1957 High Flight
1957 The River's Edge
1956 Three Brave Men
1956 Lisbon
1955 A Man Alone
1955 The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing
1954 Dial M for Murder
1953 Let's Do It Again
1953 Jamaica Run
1952 The Thief
1952 Something to Live For
1952 Bugles in the Afternoon
1951 Rhubarb
1951 Night Into Morning
1951 Circle of Danger
1951 Close to My Heart
1950 Copper Canyon
1950 A Life of Her Own
1950 A Woman of Distinction
1949 It Happens Every Spring
1949 Alias Nick Beal
1948 Miss Tatlock's Millions
1948 Sealed Verdict
1948 The Big Clock
1948 So Evil My Love
1947 Golden Earrings
1947 The Trouble with Women
1947 The Imperfect Lady
1947 California
1946 The Well-Groomed Bride
1945 The Lost Weekend
1945 Kitty
1944 Ministry of Fear
1944 Till We Meet Again
1944 The Uninvited
1944 Lady in the Dark
1943 The Crystal Ball
1943 Forever and a Day
1942 Star Spangled Rhythm
1942 The Major and the Minor
1942 Are Husbands Necessary?
1942 Reap the Wild Wind
1942 The Lady Has Plans
1941 Skylark
1941 I Wanted Wings
1940 Arise, My Love
1940 Untamed
1940 The Doctor Takes a Wife
1940 Irene
1940 French Without Tears
1939 Everything Happens at Night
1939 Beau Geste
1939 Hotel Imperial
1938 Say It in French
1938 Men with Wings
1938 Tropic Holiday
1938 Her Jungle Love
1937 Wise Girl
1937 Ebb Tide
1937 Easy Living
1937 Wings Over Honolulu
1937 Bulldog Drummond Escapes
1936 The Jungle Princess
1936 Three Smart Girls
1936 The Big Broadcast of 1937
1936 The Return of Sophie Lang
1936 Next Time We Love
1935 The Glass Key
1935 Alias Mary Dow
1935 Four Hours to Kill!
1935 The Gilded Lily
1934 One Hour Late
1934 Menace
1934 Charlie Chan in London
1934 Many Happy Returns
1934 Orders Is Orders
1934 We're Not Dressing
1934 Bolero
1933 This Is the Life
1932 Payment Deferred
1932 -But the Flesh Is Weak
1932 Polly of the Circus
1932 The Man Who Played God
1931 Blonde Crazy
1931 Ambassador Bill
1931 Bought!
1931 Just a Gigolo
1931 Strangers May Kiss
1931 The Bachelor Father
1930 Passion Flower
1930 Way for a Sailor
1929 The Informer
1929 The Plaything
1929 The Lady from the Sea
1929 Piccadilly
1929 The Flying Scotsman
1980 The Attic
1979 Game for Vultures
1979 Spree
1978 Oliver's Story
1978 Cuibul salamandrelor
1978 Blackout
1978 Slavers
1977 La ragazza dal pigiama giallo
1977 The Uncanny
1977 The House in Nightmare Park
1976 The Last Tycoon
1976 Aces High
1976 The Swiss Conspiracy
1975 Escape to Witch Mountain
1974 The Great Gold Conspiracy
1974 The Student Connection
1974 The Big Game
1973 Terror in the Wax Museum
1973 Embassy
1972 The Thing with Two Heads
1972 Frogs
1970 Love Story
1968 Hostile Witness
1964 The Confession
1963 X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes
1962 Panic in Year Zero!
1962 Premature Burial
1958 The Safecracker
1957 High Flight
1957 The River's Edge
1956 Three Brave Men
1956 Lisbon
1955 A Man Alone
1955 The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing
1954 Dial M for Murder
1953 Let's Do It Again
1953 Jamaica Run
1952 The Thief
1952 Something to Live For
1952 Bugles in the Afternoon
1951 Rhubarb
1951 Night Into Morning
1951 Circle of Danger
1951 Close to My Heart
1950 Copper Canyon
1950 A Life of Her Own
1950 A Woman of Distinction
1949 It Happens Every Spring
1949 Alias Nick Beal
1948 Miss Tatlock's Millions
1948 Sealed Verdict
1948 The Big Clock
1948 So Evil My Love
1947 Golden Earrings
1947 The Trouble with Women
1947 The Imperfect Lady
1947 California
1946 The Well-Groomed Bride
1945 The Lost Weekend
1945 Kitty
1944 Ministry of Fear
1944 Till We Meet Again
1944 The Uninvited
1944 Lady in the Dark
1943 The Crystal Ball
1943 Forever and a Day
1942 Star Spangled Rhythm
1942 The Major and the Minor
1942 Are Husbands Necessary?
1942 Reap the Wild Wind
1942 The Lady Has Plans
1941 Skylark
1941 I Wanted Wings
1940 Arise, My Love
1940 Untamed
1940 The Doctor Takes a Wife
1940 Irene
1940 French Without Tears
1939 Everything Happens at Night
1939 Beau Geste
1939 Hotel Imperial
1938 Say It in French
1938 Men with Wings
1938 Tropic Holiday
1938 Her Jungle Love
1937 Wise Girl
1937 Ebb Tide
1937 Easy Living
1937 Wings Over Honolulu
1937 Bulldog Drummond Escapes
1936 The Jungle Princess
1936 Three Smart Girls
1936 The Big Broadcast of 1937
1936 The Return of Sophie Lang
1936 Next Time We Love
1935 The Glass Key
1935 Alias Mary Dow
1935 Four Hours to Kill!
1935 The Gilded Lily
1934 One Hour Late
1934 Menace
1934 Charlie Chan in London
1934 Many Happy Returns
1934 Orders Is Orders
1934 We're Not Dressing
1934 Bolero
1933 This Is the Life
1932 Payment Deferred
1932 -But the Flesh Is Weak
1932 Polly of the Circus
1932 The Man Who Played God
1931 Blonde Crazy
1931 Ambassador Bill
1931 Bought!
1931 Just a Gigolo
1931 Strangers May Kiss
1931 The Bachelor Father
1930 Passion Flower
1930 Way for a Sailor
1929 The Informer
1929 The Plaything
1929 The Lady from the Sea
1929 Piccadilly
1929 The Flying Scotsman
Early Days Productions: Ray Milland 01/02/2012
Full Movie: The Girl in the Velvet Swing (1955)
It is the fictionalized story of Evelyn Nesbit, a model and actress, and the widely publicized scandal surrounding the murder of her former lover, architect Stanford White, by her current husband, rail and coal tycoon Harry Kendall Thaw. Nesbit served as a technical adviser on the film. - Wikipedia
