Born Alfred Reginald Jones in Neath Port Talbot in 1907, Ray Milland, inherently athletic would spend a good portion of his youth involving himself in sport and had little if any inclination towards the actor's life. And while many contemporaneous stars both sides of the Atlantic, hailed from ever so humble beginnings, Milland was born into an affluent family. During his university days he worked on his uncle's famous horse-breeding estate in Cardiff, Wales.
By his 21st year, he was mandated to London to become a member of the prestigious Household Cavalry, (those very same fellas that guard the Royal Family.) Milland would endure a grueling and daunting two years of training, it was there that the young Milland would become adroit at boxing, fencing and shooting. skills that would in future be quite apposite for Milland's partiality to method acting.
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| Look out Astaire and Rogers, it's Milland and Neagle . A couple of swells. |
After the goose laid the last of it's golden eggs, Milland, now in dire need of dosh while possessing movie-star looks, resolved his quandaries and decided to take up acting and acting he did, he secured a handful of minor roles on the London stage.
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| The great woman behind the great man - Miss Estelle Brody. |
In 1929, during a very eventful brunch, his friend, the silent great- Estelle Brody recommended him to a well-known producer and Milland's charisma bowled him over, he soon landed a bit part in his first feature and was subsequently cast as the lead role of Tom Roberts in The Lady From The Sea (1929) based on the Ibsen work, it co-starred Moore Marriot. In 1930, MGM had the actor sign the dotted line and it was hooray for Hollywood, albeit he was only cast in a pittance of films - he would finally gain momentum when cast as Charles Laughton's inauspicious nephew James in Lothar Mendes' pre-code Payment Deferred (1932). Milland was released from his contract at MGM the following year and returned to the UK.
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| Hey Bulldog |
By 1934, Paramount was calling and Universal and Columbia wanted a piece of the actor too. He was cast as the titular character in 1937's Bulldog Drummond Escapes. Although he had formidable theater chops, was often cast in light-hearted fare during the decade.
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| Don't worry, Monday's coming. |
One of his most noteworthy appearances would come in Fritz Lang's espio- thriller Ministry of Fear in 1944 before his arguably greatest performance in Billy Wilder's intense classic The Lost Weekend (1945) an Oscar and Golden Globe Award would ensue and rightfully so, for the actor's steadfast portrayal of Don Birman. Milland cultivated his Lost Weekend character by literally spending nights in a hospital and taking notes from real-life tramps. He lost nearly three stone for the role, appearing wan and walking the streets of Manhattan's east side, Milland was spotted by a mutual friend of he and his wife, looking disheveled and stumbling as he walked up Third avenue; the friend presumed that Milland was living a life of over- consumption. His wife Muriel was none too impressed, believing her husband was essentially a skid-row bum, a rumor which would later be demystified in Milland's 1974 autobiography Wide Eyed in Babylon. Milland also participated in extra-marital affairs, notably the dalliance with Grace Kelly during the filming of 1954's The Rear Window. You could say Muriel was certainly a good sport - they remained married until the actor left our earth in the year 1986, at the age of 79.
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| 1905-1986 |