Sir John Mills
His first professional job was as a chorus dancer in The Five O'Clock Revue in 1929. Making as many contacts as possible, Mills was able to secure work on the legitimate stage, and in 1932 appeared in his first film, the Jessie Matthews vehicle The Midshipmaid. Learning his craft in "quota quickies," Mills rose to leading man in such prestige productions as Brown on Resolution (1935), Tudor Rose (1936), and The Green Cockatoo (1938).
In 1939, he appeared in his first
American film, Goodbye Mr. Chips, playing student Peter Colley. He
starred in a number of morale-boosting World War II films, usually playing the
personification of the calm, resourceful young British military officer; any chance
for a real life career in uniform, however, was scuttled by Mills' duodenal
ulcer. However, he contributed to morale by fighting the war on-screen, playing
authoritative characters in such popular and important
films as Noël Coward's In Which We Serve (1942, his first
encounter with co-director and Croydon's finest, David Lean), We Dive
at Dawn (1943), and This Happy Breed (1944, again for
Coward and Lean).
The Way to the Stars (1945) was the third film Mills made with the
director Anthony Asquith (1902-68). It was made in the hope that it would help Anglo-American relations.
After the war, he starred in Great Expectations (1946). This movie
gave Mills one of his greatest parts, as Pip, the former
orphan who becomes a gentleman of means. Indeed, the movie is probaly the
best screen rendering of a Dickens' novel.
Mills knew they were onto something special with Great Expectations halfway through
when they were shooting the river scenes with the paddle-steamer; when he saw the rushes he
thought they were sensational. Indeed, Mills went on record to say that he felt it was
Lean's best picture, in spite of the bigger films later on.
Also in 1966, Mills directed Sky West and Crooked (aka Gypsy Girl), his sole effort behind the camera, which again starred his daughter, Hayley Mills, and was written by his second wife, Mary Hayley Bell.
Hayley and her partner Firdous, currently split their time between the U.S.and the UK.
Mills' other daughter, Juliet (born 1941), is likewise an actress of note. She is married to the actor Maxwell Caulfield, currently to be seen in the BBC hospital drama Casualty.
Juliet made her film debut as an infant in his In Which We Serve and also played with him in So Well Remembered, The October Man, The History of Mr. Polly and The Last Straw. Mills also has a son, Jonathan (born 1949), who lives in Australia. Jonathan's son, Henry is a champion surfer.
The 1960s saw Mills evolve from leading man to character actor, with seeming ease, in films like The Singer Not the Song (1961), Tiara Tahiti (1962), King Rat (1965), The Wrong Box (1966, a very funny comic outing), Africa-Texas Style!, Chuka (both 1967), Lady Hamilton (1968), Oh! What a Lovely War and Run Wild, Run Free (both 1969).
In 1970, Mills won a long overdue Oscar for his performance as the village idiot in Ryan's Daughter (1970), directed by David Lean. When he won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award, Mills was the only winner present at the ceremony to accept his acting award. The other three winners of Academy Awards for acting that year, George C. Scott, Glenda Jackson, and Helen Hayes, didn't attend the awards. ceremony.
Since the early 1970s Mills has chosen to keep as busy as possible, taking supporting (and even cameo) roles in films of extremely variable quality: Lady Caroline Lamb (1972), Oklahoma Crude (1973), The Human Factor (1975), Dirty Knight's Work (1976), The Big Sleep, The Thirty-Nine Steps (both 1978), Zulu Dawn (1979), Gandhi (1982, one of his best latter-day appearances), Sherlock Holmes and the Masks of Death (1984 telefilm, as an aging Dr. Watson), Sahara (also 1984 and utterly awful), Who's That Girl? (1987), and The Last Straw (1991). In 1993 he played the Blind Man in the cable-TV remake of Frankenstein.
Mills has also done stage work. His Broadway work has included Ross, a 1961 dramatization of the life of T.E. Lawrence.
In 1967, he made his American series-TV debut as British attorney Dundee in the weekly Western Dundee and the Culhane.
In 1977, John Mills was made a knight of the British Empire; his very full life, both offscreen and on, was summed up three years later in his autobiography Up in the Clouds, Gentlemen, Please.
His grandson, Crispian Mills (born 1973), son of Hayley, was lead singer of the psychedelic rock group, Kula Shaker from the mid to late 1990s. They signed with Sony; their second single went straight to number 2 in the UK charts, their flame burnt briefly until their 2nd album had disappointing sales and they split up. He was lead singer of The Jeevas, who were big in Japan before reforming Kula Shaker.
In 2000 and at the age of 92, he and frail wife Mary, age 89, renewed their marriage vows at St. Mary's Church, next to their home, Hills House, in the vilage of Denham, Buckinghamshire, England. When they had wed 60 years earlier, he was denied a church service because he was serving in the Army during World War II.
Before moving to Denham in 1976 they had lived at Wick House, on Richmond Hill, Surrey and opposite the park entrance. This is now owned by rock guitarist and Who band member, Pete Townshend.
Sir John and Mary have been attached to Denham since their children were small. Daughter Juliet recalls:
Hills House is now on the market, for offers in excess of £2.5 million, and at the ages of 96 and 93 respectively, Sir John and Mary are finally moving on. Sir John says:
Sir John, the greatest star of his era, still acts in big budget productions, the latest being Martin Scorsese's One Life Later. Shot at Pinewood Studios, and half a day's work for the great man, Sir John plays a sage.
Mary, who he married in 1941, is his second wife. He married Aileen Raymond in 1931 and they divorced in 1941. Aileen is the mother of the Saint actor Ian Ogilvy (born 1943).
His contemporaries are all dead now but their memories are preserved in the photographs and mementoes he will take with him. Stephen Fry gave him Noel Coward's silk dressing gown and that hangs in its plastic wrapper in the downstairs loo, a symbol of the Mills' talent for combining grandeur and informality.
John Mills Dvds @ amazon.co.uk
© - Paul Page (2011)
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Oscar-winning actor Sir John Mills has died at the age of 97, a member
of his staff has confirmed.
(July 2005 | Blog added: details of Sir John's grave and former home can be found by
clicking here)
She said: "Sir John Mills died peacefully at home after a short illness."
Sir John was one of Britain's best-loved actors and had a career spanning more than 100 films.
The archetypal English gentleman, Sir John graced stage and screen for more than 60 years, starting as a £4-a-week chorus boy at the London Hippodrome in 1929.
His greatest triumph was winning a Hollywood Oscar in 1971 for playing a deformed mute in Ryan's Daughter.
Star of more than 100 films, Sir John, who was knighted in 1976, will probably be best-remembered for his patriotic roles in such films as Ice Cold In Alex, Above Us The Waves, Dunkirk, Scott Of The Antarctic and Tunes Of Glory - one of his personal favourites.
Top director Lord Attenborough dubbed him "truly remarkable".
He told BBC's Radio 4 yesterday: 'He was almost unequalled as a world British star. There was nobody who gave such a variety of impeccable performances. He is my oldest friend and he's been a sort of hero to me. I shall miss him very much.'
TV veteran and movie expert Michael Parkinson called him "a wonderful versatile actor and a true Englishman".
Stephen Fry, who directed Bright Young Things and had been visiting Mills in his final days, said: 'It's marvellously typical of him to leave the party on St George's Day and Shakespeare's birthday and death day. He was a remarkable man. He became almost the only actor in the 20th century who was a genuine leading man; Brits can be marvellous at playing Nazis, but such was his authenticity as the English hero, people often forgot how good he was. He was the last of a particular generation, not just of actors, but of Englishmen to whom modesty was more important than ego.'
Corin Redgrave, whose father Michael worked alongside him in Way to the Stars, said: 'He decided to visit my father once, and by total coincidence, he turned up one minute after he died and was there when I was distraught. He was an extraordinarily decent and happy man.'
Michael Gambon, who worked with Mills in the TV series
Tales of the Unexpected, said: 'He was a gentleman. He was entertaining because he was always telling stories.'
Michael Winner, the film director, said: 'He was a very dear friend. He was the great, great professional at all times. The length and variety of his career speaks for itself.'
A spokeswoman at Buckingham Palace said: 'The Queen was sorry to hear of Sir John Mills's death.'
Prime Minister Tony Blair said: 'John Mills was a great actor who inspired us with his ability, warmth and spirit.'
Cilla Black, a former neighbour of Sir John in Denham, said: 'We've lost a true national treasure.'
Dame Vera Lynn said Sir John was 'always a real gentleman'.
Sir John died on Saturday morning (St George's Day) at home in Denham, Buckinghamshire after a chest infection that lasted several weeks.
He is survived by his wife, playwright Mary Hayley Bell, who has Alzheimer's disease, his son, Jonathan, and daughters Juliette and Hayley, both actors.
The couple wed in 1941 and remained devoted to each other. Sir John had previously been married to Aileen Raymond, whom he married aged 19.
Sir John was almost blind after his retinas in both eyes failed while he was touring with a one-man show in 1992.
In 2001, he cracked two ribs in a fall at his home and he spent time in hospital with a chest infection the following year.
His family are travelling from the United States and are expected to arrive by Monday.
There will be a funeral service for family and friends at St Mary's Church in Denham on Wednesday. A memorial service is expected to take place at the end of June.
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