Ray Milland
Ray Milland
04.01.1907 - 10.03.1986 (79 years) (Neath, Glamorgan, Wales, UK)
Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh actor and film director who held both British and American citizenship. 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 John Wayne's corrupt character in Reap the Wild Wind (1942), the murder-plotting husband in Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder (1954), and 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, horseman, 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 (1929). 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, which used Milland in a range of lesser speaking parts, normally as an English character. He was lent to Universal for a film called Three Smart Girls (1936), and its success had Milland given a lead role in The Jungle Princess (also 1936) alongside new starlet Dorothy Lamour. The film was a big success and catapulted both to stardom. Milland remained with Paramount for almost 20 years. In addition to his Oscar-winning role in The Lost Weekend, Milland is also remembered for the films The Major and the Minor (1942), The Big Clock (1948), and The Thief (1952), the last of which had him nominated for his second 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.