Mary Hayley Bell

Mary Hayley Bell (born January 22 1911) is an English actress, writer and dramatist.

Related Topics:
January 22 - 1911 - English

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Mary Hayley Bell was born in Shanghai, China on January 22 1911. Her father became the Commissioner of 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. 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.

Related Topics:
Shanghai, China - January 22 - 1911 - Commissioner - Chinese Maritime Customs Service - Tientsin - China - Tianjin - John Mills - Tony Draws a Horse - Comedy Theatre - Of Mice and Men - Apollo Theatre

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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

Related Topics:
Marylebone - January 16 - 1941 - Royal Engineers - Duke's Hotel - April 23 - 2005 - Denham, Buckinghamshire - 2001

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Before her marriage, Bell was an actress but she stopped acting apart from occasional brief roles because she felt that with two actors in the family they would not have enough time together. They had three children: Juliet Maryon Mills (born 1941), Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (1946), and Jonathan Mills (1949). Both daughters are notable actresses and Jonathan is a writer and film producer.

Related Topics:
Juliet Maryon Mills - Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills - Jonathan Mills

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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 Shrike (1955), a part she recreated on Broadway in 1958, and was an uncredited nursing home resident in The Big Freeze (1993).

Related Topics:
April 9 - 1928 - Volpone - Vintage Wine - The Shrike - The Big Freeze

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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 and an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Bell also featured in her son's video documentary of her husband's Moving Memories (2000).

Related Topics:
Whistle Down the Wind - Sky West and Crooked - Scott of the Antarctic - Andrew Lloyd Webber - Moving Memories

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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 Bell and her husband. They moved to a bungalow in the village in 2003. Bell suffers from Alzheimer's disease and is wheelchair-bound. Her husband died in 2005 at the age of 97 from a chest infection.

Related Topics:
Bungalow - Alzheimer's disease

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