Sir John Mills Dies Aged 97
Hi all,
I don’t know if this is the best place to post this here or in The Lounge as it doesn't relate to sci fi/fantasy BUT seeing that it covers film and TV it seemed a resonable bet to put it here.
Great British actor, Sir John Mills has recently passed away (Saturday 23rd april UK time) at the age of 97.
Following is a sadly short bio tribute to his life.
Sir John Mills (1908-2005)
John Mills was born with the name “Lewis Ernest Watts” on 22nd February 1908 in Felixstoe, Suffolk, the son of a schoolmaster.
While still in his teens, his elder sister Annette, a dancer at a London nightclub at the time, got him interested in acting and in 1928 he moved to London working as a door-to-door salesman in addition to taking dancing lessons. He soon changed his name to John Mills.
In 1929 he got a gig as a Chorus boy at the Hippodrome. During this time, when in Singapore with a traveling troupe, he was “discovered” by the legendary Noel Coward who placed in a number of his song and dance revues before he made his movie debut in 1932 in The Midshipmaid.
Like for many West End actors, life was something of a slog until he made his first real impact in 1935 with the military film Forever England.
In 1939 his film star well and truly brightened with his appearance in the classic Goodbye Mr. Chips, the film credited with catapulting him into international standing.
After the beginning of World War II, his military career in the Royal Engineers was cut short when he was declared unfit due to health reasons.
On January 16 1941 he married actress and playwright Mary Bell having been previously married to actress Aileen Raymond before their divorce, the beginning of what would prove to be a life long partnership.
During Word War II and after he appeared in several additional war films including the classic 1942 film In Which We Serve, his first association with director great David Lean, as well as We Dive At Dawn (1943), Above Us The Waves (1945), The October Man (1947), War And Peace (1956), Dunkirk (1958) Ice Cold In Alex (1958) and King Rat (1965) to name just a few. It his war films above all others that most critics agree his name was really made.
In 1946 he starred as Pip in Dickens’s Great Expectations and in 1948 in his popular role as famous arctic explorer Scott in Scott Of The Antarctic.
During the late 1940s and into the 1950s there was something of a boom in wartime films in England and Sir John found plenty of employment as alluded to already. He also appeared in film versions of Around The World In 80 Days (1956), Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll (9159) and Swiss Family Robinson (1960).
In 1959 he played the role of Superintendent Graham in his daughter Haley’s debut film Tiger Bay. Interestingly enough his other daughter Juliet made her debut as a baby in David Lean’s In Which We Serve (1942).
In 1960 he starred in the acclaimed war movie Tunes Of Glory and received his CBE.
As the 1960s rolled on John Mills career in film arguably began its gradual decline where he appeared in a number of films as a support to his daughter Hayley’s burgeoning career. In 1966 he directed his only film Sky West and Crooked in which Hayley also appeared, based on a book by his wife Mary Bell, well and truly a family affair!
In 1970 he won his only academy award for Best Supporting Actor in Ryan’s Daugher as Michael, the village idiot in which he ironically spoke no lines.
In 1976 he received his Knighthood for his contribution to film by which stage he was appearing in less and les films and much more in TV programs albeit to mixed acclaim.
Some of his more memorable TV roles during the late 70s and into the 1980s were as Prof. Bernard Quatermass in the 1979 TV series Quatermass, the 80s sitcom Young At Heart in addition to the animated movie of Raymond Brig’s classic anti-nuclear story When The wind Blows in 1985, where he was the voice over for husband Jim.
In the 1990s he continued making appearances in several quality series including the 1994 production of Dicken’s Martin Chuzzlewit and Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet in 1996 as well as the 1997 Mr. Bean movie.
In 2002 at the age of 94 he was given the prestigious Bafta (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award for a career of over 60 years. By this stage his eyesight, which had previously been in decline, began to worsen with his health beginning to fail him.
In 2005 he played his final role in Lights2 as a tramp. He died this Saturday, April 23rd at home in Buckinghamshire following a prolonged chest infection at the age of 97.
During his career Sir John Mills made well over 100 films and will surely be remembered as a great of the silverscreen.
He is survived by his wife Lady Mills, his son Jonathan who is unsurprisingly a screenwriter and his actress daughters Juliette and Hayley.
A funeral will be held this coming Wednesday 27th April at St Mary's Church in his hometown of Denham. As reported, a memorial service is expected to occur towards the end of June.
Hope this is of some interest??
