Hayley Mills (1) (1946–)

Forever Young by Hayley Mills is a memoir that mostly covers her younger years. I listened to an audio version read by Mills herself and hearing the actress recount her personal stories from her childhood and on into her twenties was both entertaining and enlightening.

She really had nothing bad to say about Walt Disney and her treatment at that studio. She felt protected and secure there and enjoyed acting in the various films that she was given. Her difficulties mostly came when she had left the studio and was on her own. She faced a world that didn’t want to see her grow up or to take on more challenging roles. Her fans wanted to see her as the young ingenue but she did manage a number of interesting films and she particularly liked working on the stage. She also had legal battles to fight as she came of age and found that most of her Disney money was being taken by the Revenue Service. She was married to Roy Boulting from 1971 until 1977 and has one son with him, it was a difficult marriage as he was 32 years her senior. She never remarried but went on to have a second son with Leigh Lawson and has now been with her current partner Firdous Barnji since 1997.

I was a huge fan of Haley Mills and found this book a treat as she came across pretty much as I expected. She is close to her family, enthusiastic about life, and enjoyed the acting profession but was not obsessed with fame or fortune. Although I thought she was very careful in revealing anything about other famous people that she knew, she was very honest about her mother’s alcoholism and her own bout with bulimia. I was surprised at her deep spirituality but this and her love for her children has guided her through life’s ups and downs.… (mehr)

A surprisingly honest and un-selfaggrandizing (surely there's a better word but I can't think of it at the moment) memoir of Hayley Mills' career as a young actress. I needed something to read that did not contain any anxiety or revulsion-triggering revelations, and I read with interest about how Hayley Mills came to be a Disney actor. I mean, it wouldn't have happened without her famous father, John Mills, but still...I guess acting is just in some people's genes. Sure she had a privileged childhood, but she seemed to remain unspoiled through her early life, which is what I suppose shines through in her portrayal of Pollyanna, my first encounter with Hayley. Later in life she would discover the extent to which her early career had been controlled by Walt Disney (and her parents) but she doesn't seem to blame him or them. And when the family accountants failed to protect her childhood earnings from being taxed into oblivion by the British government, she just went back out to work, like everyone else. Although she did not continue to be a star, but a working actress, she does not seem bitter, but is a contented and loving parent and grandparent. Worth reading, if you're interested in Hollywood in the 60's, and the making of movies.… (mehr)

When I was a girl my friends in the neighborhood loved nothing more than to go together to a Haley Mills movie. The Parent Trap , Pollyanna and The Swiss Family Robinson I remember well. So of course when I read Mills had written a memoir I wanted to read it.

She was the daughter of the famous actor John Mills and her mother the writer Mary Haley Bell. Haley worked with both parents, she and her father worked in several movies together including her first one and she starred in the adaptation of her mother's novel Whistle Down the Wind in 1961. That's one I have no memory of.

Walt Disney was at the zenith of his career when he convinced her father to let Hayley star in her first movie with Disney, [Pollyanna] . A large portion of the book is about her relationship and work with Disney whom she writes about with fondness though they had some differences as she grew older. Growing older, wanting control of career decisions, and the effort to grow up when the world wanted her to stay young are covered in depth.

Mills was not the first or last child star to be taken advantage of. Her earnings as a child were put in trust but when she turned twenty-one and thought they were hers, she learned her earnings would be taxed at over 90%. Basically nothing became hers.

The memoirs focus on her childhood and her work during those years. She doesn't use the book as a platform for gossip or intimate adult reveals. She does discuss the fallout from her marriage at twenty to a producer thirty years older and their subsequent divorce. One of her two children is from that marriage, she doesn't divulge the father of the second.

Mills has continued to act but doesn't seem the least interested in celebrity. My impression is that she is intelligent, thoughtful and likeable. I'm one that still likes her.… (mehr)

I idolized Hayley Mills as a preteen, so when I saw this book I knew I had to read it. And even though she is selective in what she shares, Hayley has written a very readable memoir. Thanks to her journals and the editing and encouragement from her oldest son, the book provides a tremendous amount of detail covering her life from her childhood to her early twenties. In addition to Hayley's personal struggles with self-confidence, romantic crushes, family issues with her theatrical parents, we learn so much about Walt Disney, Hayley's transformation into one of the biggest child stars of the 1960's, and the behind-the-scenes antics of Hollywood, the British theater, and even her friendship with the Beatles.

The writing style is warm, honest and charming - just like her earliest classic Disney movies "Pollyanna," "The Parent Trap," and "That Darn Cat." And throughout the book Hayley's attitude remains positive and upbeat. In conclusion she explains "There's no doubt that playing [Pollyanna] at such as early age had a lasting influence on me. It made me aware of the importance of seeing the positive. It's not always easy. We all face the struggle to know ourselves and to find the courage to truly be ourselves."

This book is a well-written, personable and honest examination of a creative life as well as a documentation of the time period.… (mehr)