AN EVENING WITH… Hayley Mills in conversation with Christopher Biggins
It is quite a treat to see two national treasures or living legends of the theatre world on stage together chatting about their careers and life, so it was a pleasure to be at the Rhoda McGaw Theatre (the original venue to serve Woking before the New Victoria was built) last night to see Hayley Mills in a reflective chat with Christopher Biggins, especially as we have seen them both on screen and stage on several occasions. In part, it was to promote her book, Forever Young: A Memoir by Hayley Mills, written with her eldest son Crispin during lockdown, and published in 2021.
Hayley Mills was born in April 1946, the daughter of the marvellous actor, Sir John Mills, and authoress Mary Hayley Mills, and was brought up in an exclusive atmosphere where Noel Coward, Sir Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh were close enough family friends to be godparents to her siblings. Her sister, Juliet, appeared as a baby in In Which We Serve when Noel Coward borrowed her from the family home near the studio in Denham. Mills and Biggins agree that a long career in film is a combination of luck, who you know and, of course, an appeal through the lens of the camera. Mills explained when director J Lee Thompson was visiting her father, who was to play a policeman investigating a murder in the British crime drama film Tiger Bay (1959), he was looking for a young boy to play Gillie, who sees the murder. When he saw Hayley playing in the garden, he decided to recast it as a girl and gave her, her screen debut, leading to her getting a most promising newcomer award at the age of thirteen.
Luck played a big part in her next big break as when Walt Disney’s wife, Lillian, was in England, she saw Hayley in Tiger Bay and recommended her for a screen test for Pollyanna (1960) and she tells of meeting Walt Disney at the Dorchester Hotel in London with her small puppy Suki, a gift from Vivien Leigh! She got the part and was awarded an Oscar Academy Juvenile award, although she did not travel to the ceremony. It was the last time they awarded a Juvenile statuette. She went on to appear in six films for Walt Disney, including her dual role as twins Susan and Sharon in the Disney film The Parent Trap (1961), the first film to use split screen technique to capture her in both roles. This also led to the release of ‘Let’s Get Together’, sung by Mills, which reached number eight in the charts!
In 1961, she was cast as Kathy in the Waterhouse and Hall film Whistle Down the Wind opposite Alan Bates and directed by Bryan Forbes, based on a book by her mother. In 1966, she appeared in The Family Way, directed by Roy Boulting, and despite being thirty-two years her senior, they married in 1971 with her son Crispin being born in 1973, now established as a musician in Kula Shaker. After their separation, she has a second son Jason by Leigh Lawson in 1976. She explained that her current partner since 1997 is Firdous Bamji, an actor and writer who she met while playing Anna opposite his King in The King and I in 1991.
Her career had another lucky lift when Amanda Holden saw her on the Eurostar and recommended her to play her mother, Caroline, in Wild at Heart, which ran from 2006 to 2012, and was set in South Africa on ITV.
A couple of times she talked about the roles that got away in her career ,when Walt Disney blocked her from the role in the 1962 film Lolita, the story of a thirteen-year-old girl seduced by Professor Humbert. The part went to fourteen-year-old Sue Lyon. Later, she told the story of an approach by Otto Pretenger for her to be in the 1960 film Exodus about Holocaust survivors in the role of Karen and the offer of a “small renoir” to her parents if they gave permission which they withheld!
Christna Bianco added to the entertainment with a couple of Disney songs including ‘Wish Upon a Star’ and ‘Let It Go’ in her own style using impressions and a gushing appreciation of Mills.
The conversation took on more of a This Is Your Life feel with actress Rula Lenske appearing in a video to congratulate her and ask how she remained so beautiful, and talked about their time together when they toured in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in 2022/23. When we reviewed the play, we wrote “At the centre of the story and giving it real heart is the delightful Hayley Mills as Evelyn. She may be 76 but she is young at heart and still emits a gently enticing aura that wins over all around her. It is a magnificent well-judged performance that charms and moves us reflecting her experience from her wonderful film, stage, and TV career. Rula Lenska plays Madge, a feisty cougar, who has seen off three husbands, on the lookout for a younger man with a fantastic head of red hair and a long, elegant look and a good line in cutting putdowns. She is strong and powerful and a formidable force that is bound to get her way.” Mills emanates that same aura and charm as she talks about her life.
Inevitably, pantomime got a mention, with Matthew Kelly on video and Chris Jarvis in the audience who both appeared with her in the 2015 pantomime Cinderella at Richmond Theatre where she was Fairy Godmother opposite Kelly and his son Matt Rixon as the Sisters, and Jarvis as Buttons and the director. Biggins himself has done over fifty pantomimes so knows what it takes to do a full run and the challenges as you get older. Despite urging from Jarvis to do another one, we were left with the impression that she felt that thoough she loved the experience, it might be too much hard work at 80!
The final video insert was from Hawaii where her sister Juliet Mills and her husband Maxfield Caulfield (who came to fame in 1982 in Grease 2) were enjoying an annual holiday, but it added a lovely family touch to the show.
This was a charming conversation with plenty of family photos and a few clips including her singing of ‘Let’s Get Together’ in The Parent Trap and confirmed her as an authentic national treasure who, even at 79, looks amazing and has plenty of great stories to tell and famous names to drop!