RAY MILLAND BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Ray Milland was born on January 3rd, 1905 in Neath, Glamorgan in Wales with the birth name Reginald Alfred John Truscott-Jones.  As a child he was very involved in sports and became interested in horse back riding.  He studied at Kings College in Cardiff and when he turned twenty one he went to London as a member of the Household Cavalry, where he trained for nineteen months to be a guard for the Royal Family.  Ray was also trained in the skills of boxing, fencing and shooting.  He stayed with them for four years and then his step father discontinued his allowance and so financially struggling, he decided to try acting on the London stage.
 
In 1929, he became friends with a female actress by the name of Estelle Brody and when they were on a lunch date, a producer from the film set she was working on persuaded Milland to appear in a motion picture.  Ray agreed to take the small part and this lead to a number of film roles such as, "The Lady from the Sea" (1929).  He then signed a contract with MGM and moved to Hollywood and took a role in the film, "Payment Defense" (1932).  With no substantial work coming to him he ended his contract with MGM and moved back to England.
 
In 1934, he was offered a contract with Paramount and agreed to give film work another try.  This was the smartest career move he made and he ended up becoming one of Paramount's most bankable stars staying under contract with them from 1934 through 1948.  He starred in such film as, "Many Happy Returns" (1934), "The Gilded Lily" (1935), "Alias Mary Dow" (1935), "Bulldog Drummond Escapes" (1937), "Easy Living" (1937), "Ebb Tide" (1937) and "Her Jungle Love" (1938). 
 
He was becoming a desired actor both in the United States and back in England where in 1940, he returned to his homeland to star in the film, "French Without Tears" (1940) for which he received great reviews.  Milland then came back to America to continue to work on more films such as, "Reap the Wild Wind" (1942), "The Major and the Minor" (1942), "The Uninvited" (1944) and "Ministry of Fear" (1944).
 
In 1945 he not only won an Oscar for Best Actor but also the New York Critic's Award for his role in the film, "The Lost Weekend".  Even though he had reached a higher level of success than he ever imagined he did not stop acting and taking on challenging roles.  In the mid 40's all the way through to the mid 70's he continued to star on more films such as, "The Big Clock" (1948), "So Evil My Love" (1948),"The Thief" (1952), Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller "Dial M for Murder" (1954) co-starring with Grace Kelly and Robert Cummings, "The Safecracker" (1958), "Panic in Year Zero!" (1962) and "Battlestar Galactica" (1978).
 
Along with a highly successful career, Milland also had a great personal life.  He married Murial Weber on September 30th, 1932 and they had two children together and stayed married until he passed away on March 10th, 1986 in Torrance, California from lung cancer at the age of eighty one.

He was throughout his life very interested in yachting and he wrote a biography called, "Wide-Eyed in Babylon" (1976).  He was survived by his wife and daughter, he lost his son in 1981 in an apparent suicide.     
 

Filmography

1985 The Gold Key 
1984 Sherlock Holmes and the Masks of Death 
1984 The Sea Serpent 
1982-1983 Hart to Hart
1983 Cave In! 
1983 Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land 
1982 The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana 
1981 Our Family Business 
1980 The Attic 
1980 The Dream Merchants 
1980 Charlie's Angels
1979 The Love Boat 
1979 Game for Vultures 
1979 Spree 
1979 The Darker Side of Terror 
1978 Oliver's Story 
1978 Fantasy Island 
1978 Battlestar Galactica 
1978 Cuibul salamandrelor 
1978 Blackout 
1978 Slavers 
1978 The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
1978 Cruise Into Terror 
1977 La ragazza dal pigiama giallo 
1977 The House in Nightmare Park 
1977 The Uncanny 
1977 Testimony of Two Men 
1977 Seventh Avenue 
1976 The Last Tycoon 
1976 Mayday at 40,000 Feet! 
1976 Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby 
1976 Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II 
1976 Aces High
1976 The Swiss Conspiracy
1976 Rich Man, Poor Man
1975 Ellery Queen
1975 Escape to Witch Mountain 
1975 The Dead Don't Die 
1974 The Great Gold Conspiracy
1974 The Big Game 
1974 The Student Connection 
1973 Embassy 
1973 Terror in the Wax Museum 
1972 Cool Million
1971-1972 Columbo
1972 The Thing with Two Heads 
1972 Frogs 
1971 Black Noon 
1971 Company of Killers 
1971 Rod Serling's Night Gallery
1971 River of Gold 
1970 Love Story
1970 The Name of the Game
1969 Daughter of the Mind 
1969 Bracken's World
1968 Hostile Witness
1964 The Confession
1963 The Silver Burro 
1963 The DuPont Show of the Week
1963 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1963 X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes 
1962 Panic in Year Zero! 
1962 Premature Burial 
1962 Alcoa Premiere
1959-1960 Markham
1959 Goodyear Theatre
1956-1958 G.E. True Theater
1958 Decision
1958 Suspicion  
1958 The Safecracker 
1957 High Flight 
1957 The River's Edge 
1957 Schlitz Playhouse
1956 Three Brave Men 
1956 The Ford Television Theatre
1956 Lisbon 
1956 Screen Directors Playhouse 
1955 A Man Alone 
1955 The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing 
1953-1955 The Ray Milland Show: Meet Mr. McNulty 
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 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 Piccadilly 
1929 The Lady from the Sea
1929 The Flying Scotsman