John Mills
For other people with this or similar names, see John Mills (disambiguation).Sir John Mills,
CBE (
22 February 1908 –
23 April 2005), born
Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an
Academy Award winning
English actor whose career spanned seventy years and more than 120 films.
Mills was born at the
Watts Naval School in
North Elmham,
Norfolk, and grew up in
Felixstowe,
Suffolk. He was educated at Norwich High School for Boys, Norwich where it is said that his initials can still be seen carved into the brickwork on the side of the building in Upper St Giles Street.
Mills took an early interest in acting, making his professional debut at the
London Hippodrome in "The Five O'Clock Girl"
1929. He made his film debut in
The Midshipmaid (
1932), and came to prominence as Colley in the
1939 film version of
Goodbye, Mr Chips, opposite
Robert Donat. He took the lead in
Great Expectations in
1946, and subsequently made his career playing traditionally British heroes such as Captain
Robert Falcon Scott in
Scott of the Antarctic (
1948). Over the next decade he became particularly associated with
war dramas, such as
The Colditz Story (
1954) and
Ice Cold in Alex (
1958). He often acted in the roles of people who are not at all exceptional, but become heroes due to their
common sense, generosity and right
judgement. Altogether he appeared in over a hundred films.
For his role as the village idiot in
Ryan's Daughter (
1970) â€" a complete departure from his usual style â€" Mills won an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was appointed a
CBE in
1960, and in
1976 he was
knighted by
Queen Elizabeth II. His most famous television role was probably as the title character in
Quatermass for
ITV in
1979. Also on the small screen, in 1974 he starred as Capt. Tommy "The Elephant" Devon in the six-part television drama series
The Zoo Gang, about a group of former underground freedom fighters from
World War II, with
Brian Keith,
Lilli Palmer, and
Barry Morse.
He also starred as
Gus the
Theatre Cat in the filmed version of the musical
Cats in
1998. In
2002 he received a
Fellowship of the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), the highest award given by the
Academy, and was named a
Disney Legend by
The Walt Disney Company.
|
The Wick on Richmond Hill in Richmond, Surrey, was the family home for many years. |
His first wife was the actress
Aileen Raymond, whom he married in
1927 and divorced in
1941.
His second wife was the dramatist
Mary Hayley Bell. Their marriage on
16 January,
1941 lasted 64 years till his death in
2005. They had two daughters,
Juliet, star of television's "Nanny and the Professor" and
Hayley, the Disney child star made iconic by starring in the original "Parent Trap", and one son Jonathan Mills.
Hayley Mills's son,
Crispian Mills, became a successful
singer with the pop group
Kula Shaker.
In the later years before his death, he appeared on
television only on special occasions, his sight having failed almost completely in
1992. After that, all his film roles were brief but notable cameos. He died aged 97 on
23 April,
2005 at his home in Denham,
Buckinghamshire following a chest infection. A few months after Sir John's death,
Mary Hayley Bell died on
1 December,
2005.
Forever England (1935)
In Which We Serve (1942)
We Dive at Dawn (1943)
This Happy Breed (1944)
Waterloo Road (1944)
The Way to the Stars (1945)
Great Expectations (1946)
Scott of the Antarctic (1948) as
Robert Falcon ScottThe History of Mr Polly (1949)
Hobson's Choice (1954)
The Colditz Story (1955)
Ice Cold in Alex (1958)
I was Monty's Double (1958)
Tiger Bay (1959) â€" (with daughter
Hayley Mills)
Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
Tunes of Glory (1960)
King Rat (1965)
The Wrong Box (1966)
Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) as
Douglas HaigRyan's Daughter (1970)
Young Winston (1972) as
Lord KitchenerOklahoma Crude (1973)
The Thirty-Nine Steps (1978)
Zulu Dawn (1979)
Gandhi (1982)
Who's That Girl (1987)
Hamlet (1996)
Bean (1998)
Bright Young Things (2003)
Cats (musical) (
1998)
Goodbye, Mr. ChipsOf Mice and Men*
Classic Movies (1939â€"1969): Actors: John Mills*
It's Not Just Michael Powell: British Films of the 30s 40s and 50s
