She was a major star at Disney Studios at age 14, and was loved by millions the world over. Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills was born April 18, 1946, in London, England. She was the daughter of renowned actor Sir John Mills and novelist-playwright Mary Hayley Bell, and the sister of actress Juliet Mills and director Jonathan Mills.

While not classically beautiful, Hayley had clean, clear features that photographed well, and she had inherent intensity and talent as a child actress. She stood out from thousands of young film hopefuls.

She made her film debut at age 13, appearing with father Sir John in Tiger Bay (1959). Originally, the juvenile lead was to be a boy. As the story goes, the film's director, J. Lee Thompson, was lunching at the Mills' farm. As he lamented to John Mills about the difficulty he was having finding the right boy for the lead in his newest film, through a window, he saw a young girl play-acting in the yard. Sparked by her ad libbing, Thompson decided to change the lead to a girl, and Hayley was cast. One difficult scene in Tiger Bay was when police detectives questioned her, to which she had to respond with lies. Thompson anticipated that this scene would require about 20 takes. He was ecstatic when the novice actress did the scene perfectly in just one take.

Her performance in Tiger Bay garnered rave reviews. Walt Disney's wife saw the film and immediately fell in love with her. Hayley was approached and signed to a 5-year contract by Disney. She won a special juvenile Academy Award for her winsome performance in her first Disney film,Pollyanna (1960). She made several other movies for Disney: The Parent Trap (1962),In Search of the Castaways (1964), The Moon-Spinners (1964) (1964),The Truth about Spring (1964), and That Darn Cat! (1965).

At 18, tiring of her virginal and congenial screen image, Hayley was cast as a troubled, violent teen in the British drama The Chalk Garden (1964), again performing with her father and the legendary Deborah Kerr. She had a brief nude scene in the British film comedy The Family Way in 1967; the film at the time was considered risqué (fairly tame by today's film standards). The Family Way sullied her public image, which satisfied the rebellious spirit growing inside her.

In 1971, Hayley, then age 25, headlined another big controversy when she married producer-director Roy Boulting, 33 years older. The marriage was happy for just a few years; the couple separated in 1974. They divorced in 1977 after having one son, Crispian.

Hayley continued to make big-screen films, and appeared in several made-for-TV movies, including Parent Trap II (1986) and its two sequels. For 18 months in the late 1990's, she received good reviews for her performance as British teacher "Mrs. Anna" Leonowens in the touring U.S. stage production of the musical The King and I.

Author: Vicki McClure Davidson

More Behind the Curtains...