John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 1908 – 23 April 2005)[1] was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portrayed guileless, wounded war heroes. In 1971, he received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Ryan's Daughter.
For other people with this or similar names, see John Mills (disambiguation).
John Mills
23 April 2005 (aged 97)
St Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Denham
Actor
1929–2004
- Annette Mills (sister)
- Crispian Mills (grandson)
- Molly Blake (niece)
For his work in film, Mills was knighted by Elizabeth II in 1976. In 2002, he received a BAFTA Fellowship from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and was named a Disney Legend by The Walt Disney Company.
Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
Mills took an early interest in acting, making his professional début at the London Hippodrome in The Five O'Clock Girl in 1929. He followed this with a cabaret act.
Mills then got a job with a theatrical company that toured India, China and the Far East performing a number of plays. Noël Coward saw him appear in a production of Journey's End in Singapore and wrote Mills a letter of introduction to use back in London.[6]
On his return Mills starred in The 1931 Revue, Coward's Cavalcade (1931) and the Noël Coward revue Words and Music (1932).
He made his film debut in The Midshipmaid (1932). He also appeared in The Ghost Camera (1933) with Ida Lupino and Britannia of Billingsgate (1934).
Mills was promoted to leading roles in A Political Party (1934), a comedy. He was in a series of quota quickies: The River Wolves (1934); Those Were the Days (1934), the first film of Will Hay; The Lash (1934); Blind Justice (1934); Doctor's Orders (1934); and Car of Dreams (1935). He did Jill Darling (1934) on stage and was one of many names in Royal Cavalcade (1935).
"A" movies[edit]
Mills had the star role in an A film, Brown on Resolution (1935). It was back to quota quickies for Charing Cross Road (1935) and The First Offence (1936). He had another excellent part in an "A", playing Lord Guildford Dudley in Tudor Rose (1936). He did Aren't Men Beasts? (1936) on stage and worked for Hollywood director Raoul Walsh in O.H.M.S. (1937).
Mills starred in The Green Cockatoo (1937) directed by William Cameron Menzies. He appeared as Colley in the hugely popular 1939 film version of Goodbye, Mr Chips, opposite Robert Donat.
World War II[edit]
At the Old Vic he was in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1939), She Stoops to Conquer (1939) and Of Mice and Men (1939–40). He joined the army in 1939 but occasionally made films on leave. He went back to movies with Old Bill and Son (1940) and made Cottage to Let (1941), a war film for Anthony Asquith. Mills went back to supporting Will Hay in The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942) and he was one of many names in the war film, The Big Blockade (1942).
He was in Men in Shadow (1942) on stage, written by his wife. He achieved acclaim for his performance as an able seaman in Noël Coward's In Which We Serve (1942), a huge hit. Mills had another good support role in The Young Mr. Pitt (1942) playing William Wilberforce opposite Robert Donat. He was invalided out of the army in 1942.[7]
Stardom[edit]
Mills's climb to stardom began when he had the lead role in We Dive at Dawn (1943), a film directed by Asquith about submariners. He was top billed in This Happy Breed (1944), directed by David Lean and adapted from a Noël Coward play.
Also popular was Waterloo Road (1945), from Sidney Gilliat, in which Mills played a man who goes AWOL to retrieve his wife from a draft-dodger (played by Stewart Granger). Mills played a pilot in The Way to the Stars (1945), directed by Asquith from a script by Terence Rattigan, and another big hit in Britain. He did Duet for Two Hands (1945) on stage.
Mills had his greatest success to date as Pip in Great Expectations (1946), directed by David Lean. It was the third biggest hit at the British box office that year and Mills was voted the sixth most popular star.[8]
Less successful critically and financially was So Well Remembered (1947) which used American writers and directors.[9] The October Man (1947) was a mildly popular thriller from Roy Ward Baker.
Mills played the title role in Scott of the Antarctic (1948), a biopic of Captain Scott. It was the fourth-most-watched film of the year in Britain and Mills was voted the eighth-biggest star in an exhibitors' poll.[10]
Producer[edit]
Mills turned producer with The History of Mr Polly (1949) from the novel by H. G. Wells.[11] It was directed by Anthony Pelissier and Mills said it was his favorite film.[12] Pelisse also made The Rocking Horse Winner (1949) which Mills produced; he also played a small role. More liked at the box office was a submarine drama, Morning Departure (1950), directed by Baker. By this stage his fee was a reported £20,000 a film.[13]
Career slump[edit]
After Morning Departure Mills took almost two years off.[14] The films he made on his return were not popular: a thriller, Mr Denning Drives North (1951); The Gentle Gunman (1952), where he and Dirk Bogarde played IRA gunmen for Basil Dearden; and The Long Memory (1953), a thriller from Robert Hamer.[15]
Honours[edit]
Mills was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1960.[2] In 1976 he was knighted[2] by Queen Elizabeth II.
In 1999, at 91 years of age, Mills became the oldest joining member of the entertainment charitable fraternity, the Grand Order of Water Rats.[21]
In 2002, he received a Fellowship of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), their highest award, and was named a Disney Legend by the Walt Disney Company.
For a number of years, British film exhibitors voted him among the top ten British stars at the box office via an annual poll in the Motion Picture Herald.