Trivia of Ray Milland

Trivia of Ray Milland (3 January 1907 - 10 March 1986)

*Was born with birth name Reginald Alfred John Truscott-Jones in the Welsh town of Neath, Glamorgan.At 21, he went to London as a member of the elite Household Cavalry (Guard for the Royal Family).Undergoing a rigorous 19-months training, further honing his equestrian skills, as well as becoming adept at fencing, boxing and shooting.

*There are several stories as to how he derived his stage name. It is known, that during his teens he called himself "Mullane", using his stepfather's surname. He may later have suffused "Mullane" with "mill-lands", an area near his hometown. When he first appeared on screen in British films, he was billed first as Spike Milland, then Raymond Milland.

*In 1929, he befriended the popular actress Estelle Brody at a party and, later that year, visited her on the set of her latest film, The Plaything (1929). While having lunch, they were joined by a producer who persuaded the handsome Welshman to appear in a motion picture bit part. He rose to the challenge and bigger roles followed, including the male lead in The Lady from the Sea (1929). The following year, he was signed by MGM and went to Hollywood.

*Had a terrible accident during the filming of Hotel Imperial (1939), when, taking his horse over a jump, the saddle-girth broke and he landed head-first on a pile of bricks. His most serious injuries were a concussion that left him unconscious for 24 hours, a 3-inch gash in his skull that took 9 stitches to close, and numerous fractures and lacerations on his left hand.

*A licensed pilot, he tried to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, but was rejected due to an "impaired left hand." Instead he worked as a civilian flight instructor for the Army and also toured with the USO in the South Pacific.

*He was paired romantically with actress Paulette Goddard in four films : Reap the Wild Wind (1942), The Lady Has Plan (1942), Crystal Ball (1943), and Kitty (1945). In his autobiography, he wrote that Goddard was "wise, humorous, and with absolutely no illusions". He further claimed that she was the hardest working actress that he had ever worked with.

*Dial for Murder (1954) was Alfred Hitchcock's dream cast for included Deborah Kerr, William Holden, and Cary Grant. Kerr and Holden were busy making other movies. Grant refused to play a villain, so the role took by Ray Milland.A role that made him happy to play.