Ray Milland
Ray Milland (
January 3,
1905 –
March 10,
1986) was a successful
Welsh actor and director who worked primarily in the
United States. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985.
He was born
Reginald Truscott-Jones in
Neath,
Wales, and took his stage surname from an area of the town. He married Malvinia Warner on
September 30,
1932, and they remained together until his death. They had a son, Daniel, and an adopted daughter, Victoria.
The pinnacle of his career came in 1946 when he won an
Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of an alcoholic in the film
The Lost Weekend (1945). He achieved some success as a director, before his popularity later slumped and he was reduced to acting in low-budget horror movies such as
X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes.
He died of
lung cancer in
Torrance,
California in 1986, aged 81.
Gave the shortest acceptance speech of any Oscar winner: he simply bowed and left the stage.
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Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Ray Milland
