Mary Hayley Bell

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Mary Hayley Bell, Lady Mills (January 22, 1911 – December 1, 2005) was an English actress, writer and dramatist.

Mary Hayley Bell was born in Shanghai, China on January 22, 1911. Her father served in the Chinese Maritime Customs Service and the family later moved to Tientsin, China (now Tianjin). It was there that she first met John Mills. Her age at the time is variously reported as 14 and 16 and the date is variously reported as 1929, 1930 and 1931. Mills was on tour at the time. Hayley Bell reported that she beat John in a tennis match at her father's home, but Mills could not remember this. They next met in early 1939 when she was appearing in Tony Draws a Horse at the Comedy Theatre. She recalled having strawberries and cream in Mills' dressing room after one of his performances as George in Of Mice and Men at the Apollo Theatre.

Hayley Bell first appeared on Broadway on April 9, 1928, in the comedy Volpone. In 1935 she appeared in the film Vintage Wine. She subsequently played the part of Miss Wingate in the film The Shrike (1955), which starred Jose Ferrer and June Allyson; a part she recreated on Broadway in 1958. She had a brief uncredited role as a nursing home resident in The Big Freeze (1993).

Hayley Bell wrote four plays: Men in Shadow (1942), Angel (1947), Duet for Two Hands (1945), and The Uninvited Guest (1953); Mills appeared in all of them.

She wrote the novel Whistle Down the Wind (1961), cowrote the screenplay and story of Sky West and Crooked (1966) (released as Gypsy Girl in the United States) and wrote additional dialogue for Scott of the Antarctic (1948). Whistle Down the Wind was made into a film in 1961 (starring daughter Hayley Mills) and an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Hayley Bell also featured in her son's video documentary of her husband's Moving Memories (2000).

[edit] Marriage & Children

They married at Marylebone Registry Office in London on January 16, 1941. Mills had a 48-hour pass from the Royal Engineers so their honeymoon at Duke's Hotel was only a single night. The survival of the marriage for the 64 years until his death on April 23, 2005 was said to be unique in showbiz. Mills said that he regretted that his divorce from his first wife prevented Hayley Bell from having a church wedding. They renewed their marriage vows at St. Mary's Church in Denham, Buckinghamshire on January 16, 2001.

After her marriage, Hayley Bell stopped acting apart from occasional brief roles because she felt that with two actors in the family they would not have enough time together.

The Mills had three children: Juliet Mills (b. 1941), Hayley Mills (b. 1946), and Jonathan Mills (b. 1949). Both daughters are notable actresses. Juliet was star of television's Nanny and the Professor. Hayley was the Disney child star made iconic by starring in the original The Parent Trap. Son Jonathan is a writer and film producer. Hayley Mills's son, Crispian Mills, became a successful singer with the pop group Kula Shaker.

[edit] Death

The Wick on Richmond Hill in Richmond, Surrey, was the family home for many years.

The Mills family bought named Hills House, Denham in 1975. A 17th century house with a four acre (16 000 m²) garden, by 2003 it was too big and the stairs were too challenging for Hayley Bell and her husband. They moved to a bungalow in the village in 2003. Hayley Bell suffered from Alzheimer's disease and was wheelchair-bound in her final years. Her husband died on Saturday, 23 April, 2005 at the age of 97 from a chest infection. Lady Mills followed him 8 months later: she died 1 December 2005.