Sir John Mills

Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portrayed guileless, wounded war heroes. In 1971, he received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ''Ryan's Daughter''.

For his work in film Mills was knighted by Elizabeth II in 1976. In 2002, he received a BAFTA Fellowship from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and was named a Disney Legend by The Walt Disney Company.

Early life

John Mills was born on 22 February 1908 in North Elmham, Norfolk, the son of Edith Mills (née Baker), a theatre box office manager, and Lewis Mills, a mathematics teacher.
Mills was born at Watts Naval School, where his father was a master.
He spent his early years in the village of Belton where his father was the headmaster of the village school. He first felt the thrill of performing at a concert in the school hall when he was six years old.
He then lived in a modest house on Gainsborough Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk until 1929. His elder sister was Annette Mills, remembered as presenter of BBC Television's ''Muffin the Mule'' (1946–55).

He was educated at Balham Grammar School in London, Sir John Leman High School in Beccles and Norwich High School for Boys,Brian McFarlane, "Mills, Sir John Lewis Ernest Watts (1908–2005)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 200
available online
Retrieved 28 August 2012. where it is said that his initials can still be seen carved into the brickwork on the side of the building in Upper St Giles Street. Upon leaving school he worked as a clerk at a corn merchant's in Ipswich before finding employment in London as a commercial traveller for the Sanitas Disinfectant Company.

Military service

In September 1939, at the start of the Second World War, Mills enlisted in the British Army, joining the Royal Engineers. He was later commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, but in 1942 he received a medical discharge because of a stomach ulcer.

Career

Early career

Mills took an early interest in acting, making his professional début at the London Hippodrome in ''The Five O'Clock Girl'' in 1929. He followed this with a cabaret act.

Mills then got a job with a theatrical company that toured India, China and the Far East performing a number of plays. Noël Coward saw him appear in a production of ''Journey's End'' in Singapore and wrote Mills a letter of introduction to use back in London.

On his return Mills starred in ''The 1931 Revue'', Coward's ''Cavalcade'' (1931) and the Noël Coward revue '' Words and Music'' (1932).

Early films

He made his film debut in ''The Midshipmaid'' (1932). He also appeared in '' The Ghost Camera'' (1933) with Ida Lupino and '' Britannia of Billingsgate'' (1934).

Mills was promoted to leading roles in ''A Political Party'' (1934), a comedy. He was in a series of quota quickies: ''The River Wolves'' (1934); ''Those Were the Days'' (1934), the first film of Will Hay; '' The Lash'' (1934); '' Blind Justice'' (1934); '' Doctor's Orders'' (1934); and ''Car of Dreams'' (1935). He did ''Jill Darling'' (1934) on stage and was one of many names in ''Royal Cavalcade'' (1935).

"A" movies

Mills had the star role in an A film, '' Brown on Resolution'' (1935). It was back to quota quickies for '' Charing Cross Road'' (1935) and '' The First Offence'' (1936). He had another excellent part in an "A", playing Lord Guildford Dudley in ''Tudor Rose'' (1936). He did ''Aren't Men Beasts?'' (1936) on stage and worked for Hollywood director Raoul Walsh in '' O.H.M.S.'' (1937).

Mills starred in ''The Green Cockatoo'' (1937) directed by William Cameron Menzies. He appeared as Colley in the hugely popular 1939 film version of ''Goodbye, Mr Chips'', opposite Robert Donat.

World War II

At the Old Vic he was in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1939), ''She Stoops to Conquer'' (1939) and ''Of Mice and Men'' (1939–40). He joined the army in 1939 but occasionally made films on leave. He went back to movies with ''Old Bill and Son'' (1940) and made ''Cottage to Let'' (1941), a war film for Anthony Asquith. Mills went back to supporting Will Hay in ''The Black Sheep of Whitehall'' (1942) and he was one of many names in the war film, ''The Big Blockade'' (1942).

He was in ''Men in Shadow'' (1942) on stage, written by his wife. He achieved acclaim for his performance as an able seaman in Noël Coward's '' In Which We Serve'' (1942), a huge hit. Mills had another good support role in '' The Young Mr. Pitt'' (1942) playing William Wilberforce opposite Robert Donat. He was invalided out of the army in 1942.

Stardom

Mills's climb to stardom began when he had the lead role in ''We Dive at Dawn'' (1943), a film directed by Asquith about submariners. He was top billed in ''This Happy Breed'' (1944), directed by David Lean and adapted from a Noël Coward play.

Also popular was '' Waterloo Road'' (1945), from Sidney Gilliat, in which Mills played a man who goes AWOL to retrieve his wife from a draft-dodger (played by Stewart Granger). Mills played a pilot in ''The Way to the Stars'' (1945), directed by Asquith from a script by Terence Rattigan, and another big hit in Britain. He did ''Duet for Two Hands'' (1945) on stage.

Mills had his greatest success to date as Pip in '' Great Expectations'' (1946), directed by David Lean. It was the third biggest hit at the British box office that year and Mills was voted the sixth most popular star.

Less successful critically and financially was ''So Well Remembered'' (1947) which used American writers and directors.Richard B. Jewell, ''Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures'', Uni of California, 2016 '' The October Man'' (1947) was a mildly popular thriller from Roy Ward Baker.

Mills played the title role in '' Scott of the Antarctic'' (1948), a biopic of Captain Scott. It was the fourth most watched film of the year in Britain and Mills was the eighth biggest star.

Producer

Mills turned producer with ''The History of Mr Polly'' (1949) from the novel by H. G. Wells