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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.

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 (1939
film)|Goodbye, Mr Chips, opposite Robert Donat. 
He took the lead in Great Expectations
(movie)|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 film)|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
Mills|Juliet and Hayley Mills|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 Commander of
Order of the British Empire|CBE in 1960, and in
1976 he was Knight Bachelor|knighted by Elizabeth
II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II.  His
most famous television role was probably as the
title character in Quatermass (1979)|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 (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 film)|King Rat (1965)
*The Wrong Box (1966 film)|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 (movie)|Who's That Girl (1987) -
(in this movie he performed together with the
singer Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna)
*Hamlet (1996 movie)|Hamlet (1996) as Old Norway

==Stage performances==
*Cats (1998)
*Goodbye, Mr. Chips
*Of Mice and Men

== External links ==
wikinews|Sir John Mills dies at 97
* imdb|id=0590055|name=John Mills