Ray Milland was a British-American actor and film director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend and also for such roles as a sophisticated leading man opposite John Wayne's corrupt character in Reap the Wild Wind, the murder-plotting husband in Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder, and Oliver Barrett III in Love Story.
Before becoming an actor, Milland served in the Household Cavalry of the British Army, becoming a proficient marksman, horseman, and aeroplane pilot. He left the army to pursue a career in acting and appeared as an extra in several British productions before getting his first major role in The Flying Scotsman. This led to a nine-month contract with MGM, and he moved to the United States, where he worked as a stock actor. After being released by MGM, Milland was picked up by Paramount, which used him in a range of lesser speaking parts, usually as an English character.