Juliet Mills

Juliet Maryon Mills (born 21 November 1941) is an English and American actress. The daughter of actor Sir John Mills and older sister of actress Hayley Mills, she began her career as a child actress and was nominated at age 18 for a Tony Award for her stage performance in Five Finger Exercise in 1960. She progressed to film work and then to television, playing the lead role on the sitcom Nanny and the Professor in the early 1970s. She received Golden Globe Award nominations for her work in this series and for her role in the film Avanti! in 1972. She won an Emmy Award for her performance in the television miniseries QB VII.

In 1983, Mills joined The Mirror Theater Ltd's Mirror Repertory Company, performing in repertory productions such as Rain, Paradise Lost, Inheritors and The Hasty Heart throughout their seasons. From 1999 until 2008, she starred as Tabitha Lenox on the television soap opera Passions, for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award.

Early life

Mills was born on 21 November 1941 in London during World War II, though her parents, the actor John Mills and playwright Mary Hayley Bell, soon moved the family to the country to be away from the Luftwaffe bombing raids. She is the elder sister of the actress Hayley Mills and director Jonathan Mills.

Because of her parents' careers, Mills grew up surrounded by famous actors, including Rex Harrison, David Niven and Marlon Brando. She recalled her childhood in the 2000 documentary film Sir John Mills' Moving Memories, written by her brother. Her godmother was actress Vivien Leigh, and her godfather was playwright Noël Coward.

Career As a child, Mills appeared as an extra in various films, including a credited role as Freda's 11-week-old baby in the 1942 film In Which We Serve, starring her father. In 1955, aged 14, while boarding at Elmhurst Ballet School, she appeared in a starring role as Alice in a London stage production of Alice Through the Looking Glass at the Chelsea Palace Theatre.

Her first major film role came in 1958, when she was 16, as Pamela Harrington in the Peter Shaffer play Five Finger Exercise. The show ran one year in London, and then moved to the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. In 1960, Mills was nominated for a Tony Award as "Best Featured Actress" for her performance as Pamela.

In 1961, Mills appeared as a stowaway, dressed as a man but the daughter of a ship's gunner, in episode 2 of Sir Francis Drake. This was one of her first TV appearances, and was echoed by an almost identical role in the 1964 film Carry On Jack.

In the 1960s, Mills would appear both in films and on television. She had a role in the film, The Rare Breed with James Stewart and Maureen O'Hara, and on television series such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Ben Casey and 12 O'Clock High. She has stated that the highlight of her film career was Avanti! (1972), directed by Billy Wilder, in which she starred opposite Jack Lemmon and for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination in 1973. In 1974, Mills starred alongside fellow English actor Richard Johnson in the Italian horror film Beyond the Door, playing the role of Jessica Barrett, a woman who becomes demonically possessed after an unplanned pregnancy. The movie was a major success, making over $15 million at the box office, though the producers were sued by Warner Bros due to similarities to The Exorcist. Mills also appeared in a two-part 1978 episode of the TV series The Love Boat, playing Barbara Danver, wife of Alan Danver, played by Dan Rowan.

In 1969, Mills was cast in the American television series Nanny and the Professor, which premiered on ABC in January, 1970. Mills played Phoebe Figalilly, a nanny with seemingly magical powers, reminiscent of Mary Poppins. Mills has stated that she herself believes in magic, witches and fairies: "There's a lot more, you know, in the aether and around us ... We have guides, and we have angels taking care of us ... I believe in metaphysics, in a big way." Mills was nominated for her first Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Lead Actress" for the role.

Passions ended in August, 2008. In 2009, Mills joined the cast the ITV drama Wild at Heart, playing Georgina, the sister of a character played in the previous series by her real-life sister Hayley. She also guest-starred in two episodes of Hot in Cleveland as Philipa Scroggs, the mother of Joy (played by Jane Leeves).

Personal life

Mills has been married three times. The first time was from 1961 to 1964, to Russell Alquist, Jr.,

Stage credits

Filmography

Film

Television

TV films, miniseries, and specials

Audio

Awards and nominations