
Milton Sills
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.
Acting (57 movies)

As Man Desires
1925

The Hushed Hour
1919

The Claw
1918

The Woman Thou Gavest Me
1919

The Last Hour
1923

Seeing Stars
1922

Eyes of Youth
1919

The Sea Hawk
1924

The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
1961

The Barker
1928

The Forgotten Law
1922

Flowing Gold
1924

Under Southern Skies
1915

The Faith Healer
1921

A Trip to Paramountown
1922

Miss Lulu Bett
1921

The Circus: Premiere
1928

Man Trouble
1930

His Captive Woman
1929

The Hell Cat
1918

The Stronger Vow
1919

Paradise
1926

The Sea Tiger
1927

Souls for Sale
1923

Adam's Rib
1923

Patria
1917

The Valley of the Giants
1927

Flaming Youth
1923

The Street Called Straight
1920

Men of Steel
1926

The Honor System
1917

The Isle of Lost Ships
1923

The Crash
1928

A Lady of Quality
1924

The Sea Wolf
1930

Skin Deep
1922

At the End of the World
1921

Love and the Devil
1929

One Clear Call
1922

The Silent Lover
1926

The Spoilers
1923

Burning Daylight
1928

The Furnace
1920

The Making of O'Malley
1925

The Knockout
1925

Madonna of the Streets
1924

Satan Junior
1919

The Yellow Ticket
1918

The Great Moment
1921

What a Wife Learned
1923

Married in Name Only
1917

Burning Sands
1922

The Woman Who Walked Alone
1922

The Heart Bandit
1924

Sweet Lavender
1920

The Savage Woman
1918

Single Wives
1924
| Title | Year | Job | 
|---|---|---|
| A Lover's Oath | 1925 | Writer | 
| Men of Steel | 1926 | Writer |