Actor
British Actor
JOHN MILLS
John Mills
- (John Mills in In Which We Serve, 1942)
Biography
BIO
John Mills was born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills in North Elmham, Norfolk, England, in 1908. He was raised in Belton and Felixstowe, Suffolk. His father was a mathematics teacher and his mother a theatre box-office manager. His older sister was the children’s television entertainer/songwriter Annette Mills (1894-1955).
Mills made his London stage debut in Noel Coward’s 1931 play Cavalcade, at the age of 23. He went on to grace the English stage in several productions through the 1930s.
Mills first appeared on Broadway in 1961 and received a Tony Award nomination for his performance in Ross (1961-1962). He returned for the last time in 1987 with a starring role in a revival of Pygmalion.
His first film appearance, for Gaumont-British Pictures, was 1932.
Mills enlisted in the British Army in 1939 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He received a medical discharge in 1942 due to a persistent stomach ulcer. That same year, he appeared in four films, including In Which We Serve (1942).
He appeared in more than 100 features during his career and received a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Ryan’s Daughter (1970). His last feature film was released in 2003.
He received his knighthood in 1976.
He married the actress Aileen Raymond (1910-2005) in 1927. They were divorced in 1941. He then married the playwright and actress Mary Hayley Bell (1911-2005) that same year. The couple raised three children who include the actresses Juliet Mills (1941-) and Hayley Mills (1946-).
Mills died from a chest infection in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, in 2005. He was 97 years old.
Additional English stage history is available at: 
Additional Broadway stage history is available at: 
Additional biographical information is available at: 
Other Pictures
- © Carolina Bank and National Film Development
- (John Mills in Gandhi, 1982)
