Milton Sills was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 12, 1882 to a prominent family. He entered the University of Chicago and became a professor of philosophy there. In his early thirties, he decided to pursue a career in acting and eventually achieved success first as a stage actor, then as a silent film actor, and even some degree of success as a sound film actor. Sills died of a heart attack on Sept. 15, 1930.