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Ray Milland is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter, Associate Producer and Technical Advisor British born on 4 january 1907 at Wales (United-kingdom)

Ray Milland

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Birth name Reginald Alfred John Truscott-Jones
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 4 january 1907 at Wales (United-kingdom)
Death 10 march 1986 (at 79 years) at Torrance (USA)
Awards Academy Award for Best Actor

Ray Milland (3 January 1907
– 10 March 1986) was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend (1945), a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind (1942), the murder-plotting husband in Dial M for Murder (1954), and as Oliver Barrett III in Love Story (1970).

Before becoming an actor, Milland served in the Household Cavalry of the British Army, becoming a proficient marksman, horse-rider and aeroplane pilot. He left the army to follow a career in acting and appeared as an extra in several British productions before getting his first major role in The Flying Scotsman. This led to a nine-month contract with MGM and he moved to the United States where he appeared as a stock actor. After being released by MGM he was picked up by Paramount, who used Milland in a range of lesser speaking parts, normally as an English character. He was loaned out to Universal in 1936 for a film called Three Smart Girls, and its success saw Milland given a lead role in The Jungle Princess alongside new starlet Dorothy Lamour. The film was a big success and catapulted both to stardom. Milland remained with Paramount for almost 20 years and as well as his Oscar winning role in The Lost Weekend he is remembered for the films The Big Clock, The Major and the Minor and The Thief, the last of which saw him nominated for a Golden Globe. After leaving Paramount he began directing and ended his career moving into television.

Milland, who was at one time Paramount Pictures highest paid actor, co-starred alongside many of the most popular actresses of the time including Gene Tierney, Grace Kelly, Lana Turner, Marlene Dietrich, Ginger Rogers, Jane Wyman, Loretta Young and Veronica Lake.

Biography

Milland was married to Muriel Frances Weber, from 1932 until his death in 1986. They had a son, Daniel (b.1940) and an adopted daughter, Victoria. Milland was rumoured to have had an affair with co-star Grace Kelly, whilst filming Dial M for Murder.

Milland had a tattoo on his upper right arm of a skull with a snake curled up on top of it with the tail of the snake sticking out through one of the eyes. The tattoo can be seen for a brief moment in the movie Her Jungle Love (1938).

Milland's son, Daniel Milland, appeared in several minor acting roles in the 1960s. He died in March 1981, at the age of 41, in an apparent suicide. An AR-7 .22 calibre Survival Rifle was found next to him on his bed and he had a wound to his head.

Milland died of lung cancer in Torrance, California, on 10 March 1986, aged 79. He was survived by his wife, the former Muriel Weber, and his daughter.