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Show MOVIES r w TT'v s i " The Woman Behind HAYLEY MILLS Mrs. Mary Mills is a no-nonse- mother who nse lets her actress-daughter- 's figure blossom but keeps a tight rein on everything else By PEER J. OPPENHEIMER if. : 4Av ur.v A after her daughter finished her starring part in "The Chalk Garden" for don a few days Universa- l-International AT 17, HAYLEY mills is the world's actress, yet highest paid teen-ag- e she still has both feet firmly on the ground. The credit belongs primarily to her mother. Actress, authoress, and playwright Mary Hay-le- y Bell Mills is the power behind the throne, the fire brigade who makes sure that every member of the famous Mills family is properly looked after. Her attitude toward her brood can be both shocking and revealing. In speaking of her older daughter Juliet, who also is an actress, Mary said, "She's married to an American song writer. She thinks the world of him and is very happy.". But then she added with startling frankness, "In two years he has sold one song, and I arranged that" Her son Jonathan is in boarding school. Mary visits him frequently "to make sure he doesn't feel left out" Understandably, however, Hayley has demanded the lion's share of her attention. Because Hayley has turned out to be the most prominent member of the family (even eclipsing her actor-fathJohn Mills), she also has become the most vulnerable. Success could easily that's one thing Mary won't go to ner head--anstand for. She has a attitude about Hayley that includes every phase of her upbringing, including cooking. "Hayley is, terrible at cooking, but I feel she ought to know enough to get by," Mary told me over luncheon at the family's farm south of Lon one-wom- an "So what happens," Hayley burst out. "The first time I offered to cook dinner for the family everybody insisted on cold cuts!" "I Mary turned to Hayley said I wanted you to be able to cook. That doesn't mean we have to eat what you prepare." Hayley's allowance amounts to roughly $15 a week in American money. For a girl who earns a quarter of a million dollars a year that isn't .very much. Moreover, from this she has to buy her own stockings and eye make-u- p, ("I make good-naturedl- y. up my eyelids because they look as pink, and bare as a pig's stomach," Hayley elaborated), pay for visits to the cinema, and take care of other incidentals. "But now I've got it licked," she told me happily. "Two weeks ago Mummy let me have my first checkbook." "And all the checks have to be countersigned by me," Mrs. Mills added. Mary's biggest problem is to keep a sound family relationship in the face of Hayley's growing popularity. Father and daughter have made only two pictures together, five years apart The first was "Tiger Bay," in which John Mills starred and Hayley got her start Now, in "The Chalk Garden," Hayley's name precedes that of her famous father in the credits. down-to-ear- th 1 p could seemed TO me that this kind of result in Hayley losing respect for her father or John becoming uneasy about his daughter's success. But Hayley told me, "Daddy's thrilled by it all, and he's terribly generous. There's no feeling of competition between us. Going to work with him is as if we were partners in business, and I adore him for it There's so much he has taught me already." During the filming of "The Chalk Garden," her father's help took place each morning while driving to work with his daughter, in the dressing room they shared on the set, and at night while returning home. They carefully analyzed each scene and discussed the motivations for their performances. Still, one incident proved that Hayley was more concerned about her father's feelings than she admitted. When the reviews of "Tiger Bay" raved about Hayley while hardly mentioning her father, Hayley hid the papers because "I couldn't bear to have him read such nonsense." ITeasily f er d - i'i no-nonse- nse Hayley Mills joins her actor-fathfamily song fest with playivright-mothe- r er John in a Mary. flip-flo- (Continued on page 14) 1 2 Family Weekly, September 29, 1 963 |