John Mills
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- This article is about the British actor. For the 18th-century British encyclopedist, see John Mills (encyclopedist). For the philosopher with a similar name, see John Stuart Mill.
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Mills took an early interest in acting, making his professional debut at the London Hippodrome in 1927. 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). 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.
He was married twice:
- (1) The actress Aileen Raymond (1927-1941)
- (2) The dramatist Mary Hayley Bell (16 January 1941-23 April 2005); two daughters Juliet and Hayley and one son Jonathan Mills.
- Hayley Mills's son, Crispian Mills, became a successful singer with the pop group Kula Shaker.
For his role as the village idiot in Ryan's Daughter (1970) - a complete departure from his usual style - Mills won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Altogether he appeared in over a hundred films. 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, but in 1974 he starred as Capt. Tommy 'The Elephant' Devon in a TV series The Zoo Gang, about a group of ageing adventurers, all of whom had been spies during the war.
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.
In the years before his death, he appeared on television only on special occasions, his sight having failed almost completely in 1992. He died aged 97 on 23 April 2005 at his home in Denham, Buckinghamshire following a chest infection.
Major films
- Forever England (1935)
- In Which We Serve (1942)
- This Happy Breed (1944)
- Waterloo Road (1944)
- The Way to the Stars (1945) - (one of the most popular war films,as the teacher Peter Penrose,who became a RAF pilot)
- Great Expectations (1946)
- Scott of the Antarctic (1948) as Robert Falcon Scott
- The History of Mr Polly (1949)
- Hobson's Choice (1954) as Willie Mossop
- The Colditz Story (1955) as Pat Reid
- Ice Cold in Alex (1958)
- Tiger Bay (1959) - (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 Haig
- Ryan's Daughter (1970)
- Young Winston (1972)
- Oklahoma Crude (1973)
- The Thirty-Nine Steps (1978)
- Who's That Girl (1987) - (in this movie he performed together with the singer Madonna)
- Hamlet (1996) as Old Norway
Stage performances
External links
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