THOMASVILLE — Mildred Huey Willis never starred in a motion picture, but the closing credits are rolling on her life in the movie theater industry.

Willis, 88, recently retired after 66 years in the business, a career that began when the United States entered World War II.

“The war started in 1941 and my husband Winston joined the Air Force in 1942,” Willis said. “He taught me to do projection work so I could do his job while he was gone. I did it three years, three months and 21 days until he came home. He was made manager of the Pine Theater in Pelham and I kept doing projection work.”

When Park Theater was built, Willis was its first projectionist and, after the Pike Drive-In was constructed (both in Pelham), she helped operate it for the three months it opened in the summer.

“I like projection work,” Willis said. “I like being up there keeping the shows going. I prefer that to being downstairs.”

The projectionist job included splicing reels and packing and shipping them when it was time to change shows, she said.

“Back then, the reels came in a can and each movie was usually five to seven reels,” Willis recalled. “You spliced them together. There were also two projectors and you went reel-to-reel. Now, we have the platter system where every reel is spliced together and put on the platter.”

Today, many theaters have gone to digital projection, she said.

Gateway Cinemas, then called The Rise, was built in 1969 and opened June 1970, with Willis sent from Pelham to run it.

“I’ve been here ever since,” she said. “I was manager and operator; I ran the shows and managed it. The only other staff I had in the beginning was a cashier and a concessions person.”

Nat Williams Sr., owned 17 area theaters, Willis said, before his son took over. Eventually, John and Bill Stembler bought the theaters from Williams Jr. They later sold to United Artists for a brief period before it decided to sell all smaller theaters. Then, Bill Stembler purchased The Rise.

Now, Willis’s son, Winston Jr., runs Gateway Cinemas, but she stayed on, stocking, inventorying and checking up on operations. Her last day on the schedule was May 29.

“I’m going to miss her a lot,” Winston Willis Jr., 50, said. “My dad showed me how to do the projection work, but I learned how to do the paper work and stocking from her. She’s been a lot of help. She tells it exactly like she thinks and she’s been a very loyal employee. Back when she was at the Park, she knew everyone. If she had trouble with any of the kids, she’d tell the parents and there wouldn’t be any trouble come the next show.”

Willis said there are far too many memories to name them all, but did recall how Williams Jr. used to run a free late show for kids after prom.

“The house would always be full,” she said.

A lot has changed in her 66 years with the movies, she said.

“Patrons were usually nice, but we’ve had to add security on Friday and Saturday evenings,” she said. “Projection work has also changed. A lot of times, back then, it was hard to find someone to work in the projection booth. You’d get guys to come in and learn it, but, back then, they stayed in the booth all day. You had a fountain and a john. They saw how it was and wouldn’t stay up there for nothing. People wouldn’t work there because it was too confining.”

The movies themselves are also different and not to Willis’s taste.

“I don’t like the movies now,” she admitted. “I don’t like the content. The movies back then were good and were mostly westerns. Plus, you had shows like ‘Gone with the Wind’ — everyone knows that one — but movies aren’t like that today. There’s too much nudity, violence and language.”

A special dinner will be held for Willis on Wednesday at Ryan’s. Stembler, Aubrey Stone (president of Georgia Theatre Company), Jeff Mobley (vice-president of operations), Scott Bagwell (vice-president of construction), Mrs. Nat Williams Jr. and Willis’s children are expected to attend the event.

“I’m old and it’s time I quit,” Willis said. “I’ve enjoyed being here and tried to do a good job. I don’t know if I have, but I’m ready to move on.”

Her son praised Willis for her years on the job.

“I don’t see how she did it all those years,” he said. “I don’t know how I’m going to do it without her.”