A01=Gillian Kelly
Accent
Author_Gillian Kelly
Best Actor Academy Award
Billy Wilder
Career performance
Category=ATFA
Category=DNBF
Category=JBCC1
Category=JBSF2
cinema movie film star
Circle of Danger
Classic Hollywood
Claudette Colbert
Dial M for Murder
Dorothy Lamour
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Image persona
legacy
Love Story
Masculinity
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer MGM
Paramount Studios
Paulette Goddard
silent era
Studio Industry machine
Supporting role
television TV appearances
Wales Welshman director
Product details
- ISBN 9781496859136
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 15 Oct 2025
- Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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Ray Milland (1907–1986) was the inaugural Welshman to win the Best Actor Academy Award, as well as a performer boasting a rich and varied oeuvre from the silent era in 1920s Britain to New Hollywood in the 1980s. Despite being one of the most prolific actors in cinema history who left behind a legacy of almost 180 film and television appearances across seven different decades, Milland remains a somewhat forgotten figure of cinematic history. Ray Milland: Identity, Stardom, and the Long Climb to "The Lost Weekend" fills this void in scholarship by offering a detailed examination of Milland as one of Hollywood’s most durable and fascinating performers of the studio era.
The volume begins by exploring Milland’s unique Welsh identity in Hollywood, which was essentially erased by the studios. It then turns to his underexplored early career at MGM prior to signing with Paramount Pictures, where he remained for over two decades. Author Gillian Kelly discusses his early roles as a stereotypical "Brit" in Hollywood as well as his "stardom years" at Paramount where he often provided support for the studio’s leading ladies, including Claudette Colbert, Dorothy Lamour, and Paulette Goddard. A chapter is dedicated to his Oscar-winning performance in The Lost Weekend, and important later films like Dial M for Murder and Love Story also receive detailed analysis. Overall, Ray Milland provides a reappraisal of Milland’s earlier career and situates his performances within the broader tradition of star studies.
The volume begins by exploring Milland’s unique Welsh identity in Hollywood, which was essentially erased by the studios. It then turns to his underexplored early career at MGM prior to signing with Paramount Pictures, where he remained for over two decades. Author Gillian Kelly discusses his early roles as a stereotypical "Brit" in Hollywood as well as his "stardom years" at Paramount where he often provided support for the studio’s leading ladies, including Claudette Colbert, Dorothy Lamour, and Paulette Goddard. A chapter is dedicated to his Oscar-winning performance in The Lost Weekend, and important later films like Dial M for Murder and Love Story also receive detailed analysis. Overall, Ray Milland provides a reappraisal of Milland’s earlier career and situates his performances within the broader tradition of star studies.
Gillian Kelly is author of Robert Taylor: Male Beauty, Masculinity, and Stardom in Hollywood; Tyrone Power: Gender, Genre and Image in Classical Hollywood Cinema; and Ida Lupino: Multifaceted Performer and Cinematic Pioneer. She has written extensively on gender, Hollywood stars, and country music for academic journals and edited collections.
