Happy Birthday, Ray Milland!!!

Today is the birthday of one of my top 16 favorite actors---the wonderful Ray Milland.  (January 3, 1907-March 10, 1986)  NOTE:  IMDB has his year of birth listed as 1905, but nearly everywhere else it is listed as 1907.

This Welsh-born actor, who was equally successful at both dramatic and comedic roles, hovers between 12 and 16 on my all-time favorite actor list, putting him very solidly on my top 20 list.  My favorite Milland film is The Lost Weekend, the film for which he won the Best Actor Academy Award.  His work in that movie was really spectacular and very deserving of the Oscar.  (Reviewed HERE)

With considerable effort, I managed to round out my list of 5 favorite Ray Milland films.  (There could easily be at least another five films on the list, but I'm forcing myself to stop at 5.)

2.  Close to My Heart  (with Gene Tierney...reviewed HERE)

3.  The Major and the Minor (with Ginger Rogers...reviewed HERE)

4.  Dial M for Murder (with Grace Kelly and Robert Cummings)

5.  The Doctor Takes a Wife (with Loretta Young---reviewed HERE)

There is a Milland film I'm absolutely dying to see...Something to Live For, in which he stars with Joan Fontaine and Teresa Wright.  This film has been on my want-to-see list for a couple years now, but since it's not out on DVD nor ever on the TCM schedule, I've not yet had a chance to catch it.   Elisa over at Elisa's Classic Films has blogged about it twice recently, so she has my curiosity majorly going wild.  Sure wish TCM would decide to air it.

Interestingly, I remember that Milland was my maternal grandmother's favorite actor. I lived with my grandparents for a few years before getting married, and although I wasn't into classic films at the time, I SO recall that my grandmother used to rave about him. I think it would thrill her to know that I, too, have come to love her beloved.

So, on this, his 105th birthday, here's to you, Ray Milland!!  Thanks for making so many great movies!!