Career

As a child, Mills appeared as an extra in various films, including a role as Freda's 11-week-old baby in the 1942 film In Which We Serve, starring her father. Her first major role came in 1958, when she was 16, in the Peter Shaffer play Five Finger Exercise, as "Pamela Harrington". The show ran one year in London, and then moved to the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. In 1960, Mills was nominated for a Tony Award as "Best Featured Actress" for her performance as Pamela.

In the 1960s she would act both in films and on television, including the film, The Rare Breed with James Stewart and Maureen O'Hara, and on television shows such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Ben Casey, and 12 O'clock High. The 1970s saw her working mostly in television, although she has stated that the highlight of her film career was the 1972 film Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, in which she starred with Jack Lemmon, and for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination in 1973.

She is perhaps best known for starring in the American television series Nanny and the Professor, which was called an American version of Mary Poppins. She played Phoebe Figalilly, a nanny with magical powers. Mills has stated that she herself believes in magic, witches and fairies: "There's a lot more, you know, in the aether and around us ... We have guides, and we have angels taking care of us ... I believe in metaphysics, in a big way." She was again nominated for another Golden Globe Award in 1971 for the same role. Despite strong ratings, the series ran only two seasons, in 1970 and 1971. When it moved from a timeslot near The Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch, two hugely successful sitcoms, to a different night of the week, ratings fell eventually leading to its cancellation.

In 1974, she won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Special" for her performance in the miniseries adaptation of QB VII. During the 1974-75 television season, she also had a recurring role as Dr. Claire Hanley on NBC's Born Free. In 1980, Mills returned to the stage, starring in The Elephant Man, with Maxwell Caulfield. The two actors hit it off, and the younger Caulfield became her third husband, leading Mills to withdraw from acting for a time. In 1999, she was cast in the daytime drama Passions as Tabitha Lenox, a witch who was burned at the stake in the 17th century. Initially, the character wished harm on other people, but in a June 2007 episode, the character was declared a "good witch." Mills was nominated for her first Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Lead Actress" for the role.

The series ended in August 2008. In 2009, Mills joined the cast the ITV drama Wild at Heart, playing "Georgina", the sister of a character played in the previous series by her real-life sister Hayley. She also guest-starred in two episodes of Hot in Cleveland as Philipa Scroggs, Joy (played by Jane Leeves)'s mother.

Personal life

Mills was born in London during World War II (1941), though her parents, actor Sir John Mills and playwright Mary Hayley Bell, soon moved the family to the country to be away from the German Luftwaffe raids. She is the elder sister of actress Hayley Mills and director Jonathan Mills. Because of her parents' fame, Mills grew up surrounded by famous actors, including Rex Harrison, David Niven and Marlon Brando. She recalled her childhood in the 2000 documentary film Sir John Mills' Moving Memories, written by her brother. Her godmother was actress Vivien Leigh, and her godfather was playwright Noël Coward. She attended the Elmhurst Ballet School, in Camberley, Surrey.

Mills has been married three times. The first time was from 1961 to 1964, to Russell Alquist, Jr., with whom she had a son, Sean. Her second marriage was from 1975 to 1980 to Michael Miklenda, with whom she had a second child, a daughter, Melissa. In 1980, Mills married Maxwell Caulfield, 18 years her junior. Mills said of the age difference, "Everybody is always interested in the fact that I am married to someone who is a lot younger than I am ... There are no rules, and that's what I believe, because age doesn't really matter. If you meet someone that you're really close to, someone that you love, stick with that."

Caulfield is stepfather to Melissa Miklenda; Mills' daughter from her second marriage and Sean Alquist; Mills' son from her first marriage. Mills became a naturalized United States citizen on 10 October 1975.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1942	In Which We Serve	Freda's Baby
1947	So Well Remembered	Young Julie
1947	The October Man	Young girl
1949	History of Mr. Polly, TheThe History of Mr. Polly	Little Polly
1961	No My Darling Daughter	Tansy Carr
1962	Twice Round the Daffodils	Catty
1963	Nurse on Wheels	Joanna Jones
1963	Carry On Jack	Sally
1966	Rare Breed, TheThe Rare Breed	Hilary Price
1966	The Wrong Box	Woman on Train	No credit
1969	Oh! What a Lovely War	Nurse
1971	The Pebbles of Etratat	Florence
1972	Avanti!	Pamela Piggott
1973	Jonathan Livingston Seagull
1974	Beyond the Door	Jessica Barrett
1976	Second Power, TheThe Second Power	Estefanía
1992	Waxwork II: Lost in Time	The Defense Lawyer
1999	Other Sister, TheThe Other Sister	Winnie
2013	Lucky Stiff	Miss Thorsby
2014	Some Kind of Beautiful	Joan

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1960	Mrs. Miniver	Carol Beldon	TV film
1962	ITV Television Playhouse	Carol	Episode: "The Morning After"
1962	Man of the World	Carla	Episode: "The Mindreader"
1963	It Happened Like This	Joan	Episode: "Three of a Kind"
1965	Man from U.N.C.L.E., TheThe Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Eva	Episode: "The Adriatic Express Affair"
1966	Ben Casey	Joan Lloyd	Episode: "Pull the Wool Over Your Eyes, Here Comes the Cold Wind of Truth"
1966	Man Called Shenandoah, AA Man Called Shenandoah	Paula	Episode: "The Imposter"
1966	12 O'Clock High	Sydney Vivyan / Helen Conboy	Episodes: "The Slaughter Pen", "Siren Voices"
1966	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Mary Lewis	Episode: "Time of Flight"
1967	Wings of Fire	Lisa	TV film
1967	Revenue Men, TheThe Revenue Men	Jill Lacey	Episode: "Borderline"
1967	Coronet Blue	Margaret Crowell	Episode: "Man Running"
1968	Sherlock Holmes	Grace Dunbar	Episode: "Thor Bridge"
1970	Challengers, TheThe Challengers	Mary McCabe	TV film
1970-1971	Nanny and the Professor	Nanny Phoebe Figalilly	Lead role (54 episodes)
1971	Alias Smith and Jones	Julia Finney	Episode: "The Man Who Murdered Himself"
1971	Stage 2	Kate Hardcastle	Episode: "She Stoops to Conquer"
1973	Letters from Three Lovers	Maggie	TV film
1973	ABC Afternoon Playbreak, TheThe ABC Afternoon Playbreak	Susan Moroni	Episode: "Alone with Terror"
1974	QB VII	Samantha Cady	TV miniseries
1974	Born Free	Dr. Claire Hanley	Episodes: "Pilot", "The Flying Doctor of Kenya"
1974	Harry O	Margaret Ballinger	Episode: "Ballinger's Choice"
1975	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Louise Carpenter	Episode: "Public Secrets"
1975	Hawaii Five-O	Lady Sybil Danby	Episode: "Termination with Extreme Prejudice"
1975	Wide World of Mystery, TheThe Wide World of Mystery	Isobel	Episode: "Demon, Demon"
1975	Matt Helm	Caroline Jeffries	Episode: "Death Rods"
1976	Ellery Queen'	Florence Ames	Episode: "The Adventure of the Hardhearted Huckster"
1976	Once an Eagle	Joyce	TV miniseries
1977	Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn	Myra	TV film
1977	Wonder Woman	Queen Kathryn	Episode: "The Queen and the Thief"
1977	Barnaby and Me	Jennifer	TV film
1978	Switch	Alicia Alden	Episode: "Coronado Circle"
1978	Police Woman	Amy Hollis	Episode: "Sixth Sense"
1978	Fantasy Island	Evelyne Kellino	1 episode
1978-1984	Love Boat, TheThe Love Boat	Various	Recurring (8 episodes)
1979	Cracker Factory, TheThe Cracker Factory	Tinkerbell	TV film
1979	Fantasy Island	Ruth Ewell	1 epiosde
1980	Fantasy Island	Viola Burnstein	1 episode
1980	Hart to Hart	Kate Matthews	Episode: "Downhill to Death"
1984	Fantasy Island	Angela Anderson	1 episode
1984	Dynasty	Rosalind Bedford	Episodes: "The Secret", "That Holiday Spirit"
1985	All My Children	Judge Edith Hogan	TV series
1985	Hotel	Grace Cauldwell	Episode: "Fallen Idols"
1987	Hotel	Joanne Bentley	Episode: "Pitfalls"
1987	Murder, She Wrote	Annette Pirage	Episode: "Witness for the Defense"
1988	Law & Harry McGraw, TheThe Law & Harry McGraw	Isobel McKechnie	Episode: "Maginnis for the People"
1989	Judith Krantz's Till We Meet Again	Vivianne de Biron	TV miniseries
1990	Monsters	Cara Raymond	Episode: "Outpost"
1992	Columbo	Eileen Hacker	Episode: "No Time to Die"
1993	Stranger in the Mirror, AA Stranger in the Mirror	Alice Tanner	TV film
1998	Air America	Helen Vendler	Episode: "The Hit"
1999-2008	Passions	Tabitha Lenox	Main role (990 episodes)
2009	Wild at Heart	Georgina	Recurring role (8 episodes)
2008-2009	Four Seasons	Lady Florence Combe	TV miniseries
2010-2015	Hot in Cleveland	Philipa	Episode: "Meet the Parents", "Magic Diet Candy", "Murder House", "Say Yes to the Mess"
2014-present	From Here on OUT	Dottie Cooper	Series regular (6 episodes)

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	Five Finger Exercise	Pamela Harrington	Comedy Theatre; London, England
1964	Alfie!	Gilda	Broadway
1966	Lady Windermere's Fan		Phoenix Theatre; London, England
1969	She Stoops to Conquer		Garrick Theatre; London, England
1987	Valley of the Dolls	Narrator	Audiobook recording by Phoenix Books
1997	Blithe Spirit	Ruth	Lauren K. Woods Theatre; West Long Branch, NJ
1998	Dial M for Murder		Cape Playhouse; Cape Cod, MA

Awards and nominations

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Production	Result
1966	Laurel Awards	New Faces, Female		Nominated
1971	Golden Globe Award	Best TV Actress — Musical/Comedy	Nanny and the Professor	Nominated
1973	Golden Globe Award	Best Motion Picture Actress — Musical/Comedy	Avanti!	Nominated
1975	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Special	QB VII	Won
2000	Soap Opera Digest Awards	Outstanding Villain	Passions	Nominated
2001	Soap Opera Digest Awards	Outstanding Villainess	Passions	Nominated
2003	Soap Opera Digest Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress	Passions	Nominated
2004	TV Land Award	Superlatively Supernatural	Nanny and the Professor	Nominated
2005	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Passions	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]