John Mills - Biography, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Filmography (Read)
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John Mills - Biography, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Filmography
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John Mills - biography, date of birth, place of birth, filmography, clips, Actor, Producer, Director.
February 22, 1908, North Elmham, Norfolk, UK - April 23, 2005, Chiltern, Buckinghamshire, UK is a popular English actor who has played in over 120 films over 70 years.
He attended a high school for boys in Norwich. He played his first role in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
After leaving school he went to London. Debuting in a London theater in 1929, Mills performed in numerous revues, musicals and full-fledged theatrical plays throughout the 1930s. Then he met the famous playwright, actor and screenwriter Noel Coward, performing in his revue "Words and Music".
His film debut took place in 1932. Starting off with passing roles in low-budget films, he soon became a leading actor. His most significant pre-war films include the historical film The Tudor Rose (1934) and the melodrama Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939), opposite Robert Donath. In 1939 he was drafted into the army, but in 1942 he was discharged due to a duodenal ulcer. Subsequently, the actor played a lot of different military ranks and military arms. One of these roles was the sailor Shorty in the film In Which We Serve (1942), directed by his friend Noel Coward and the future classic of British cinema, David Lin. In the same year, he starred with Carol Reed in Young Mr. Pitt.
In 1946, he starred in the film adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations and then the national hero, polar explorer, Captain Robert Scott in the film Scott from Antarctica (1948). Over the next ten years, he played mainly in war films such as The Story of Golditz (1954), Waves Above Us (1955) and The Hard Way to Alexandria (1958). During this period, his hero was formed: an ordinary, ordinary person, who, nevertheless, under the pressure of circumstances, demonstrates the best qualities of his nature: courage, endurance and devotion.
Mills was able to show the inconsistency of the human character. One of the best roles of this kind was the battalion commander Basil Barrow in the psychological drama Melodies of Glory (1960). The famous Alec Guinness became Mills' partner in this film. For this role, Mills was awarded the Best Actor Award at the 1960 Venice Film Festival.
No less interesting were his supporting roles - the shoemaker Will Mossop in the romantic comedy Hobson's Choice (1953), private detective Albert Parkis in the romantic drama The End of the Affair (1955) based on the novel by Graham Green, Platon Karataev in the film adaptation of Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" (1956) and many others.
In the early 60s, Mills starred in several films with his youngest daughter Hayley: in the crime drama Tiger's Bay (1959), the family comedy The Parent Trap (1961), the adventure film The Truth About Spring (1966) ), the drama "Chalk Garden" (1964) and the comedy drama "Family Matters" (1966).
In 1970, Mills played one of his most famous roles - the country idiot Michael in the historical drama Ryan's Daughter, for which he received an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
All subsequent years the actor was filmed mainly in small character roles and episodes. Among the most famous films with his participation: "Oh, what a wonderful war" (1969), "Lady Caroline Lam" (1972), "Oklahoma as it is" (1973), "Gandhi" (1982).
Mills has also starred in television series, most notably the science fiction series Quatermass (1979) and in the 1998 film version of the acclaimed musical Cats.
In 2002, director Marcus Dillistone directed the documentary Memoirs of John Mills, which includes interviews with Mills himself, his children and director Richard Attenborough, as well as stories and scenes from his films The Hard Way to Alexandria and Dunkirk ... The film also features Mills' friends and colleagues: actors Laurence Olivier, Walt Disney, David Niven, Dirk Bogard, Rex Harrison and others.
Despite his deteriorating health (in 1992 he was practically blind and had poor hearing), the actor continued to appear on the screen until his death.
