'The Parent Trap's Hayley Mills: A '60s Disney Movie Phenomenon

By | October 10, 2017

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Portrait of Hayley Mills circa 1965, and on her 1962 album cover 'Let's Get Together With Hayley Mills.' Source: Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images; discogs.com

In the early 1960s, Walt Disney's live-action  movies were dominated by one charming British actress: Hayley Mills. The Parent Trap was the most famous of the six films she made for the studio. For the rest of the '60s and into the '70s, Mills acted in various movies, but was semi-retiredby 1975. She later returned to reprise her Parent Trap roles in successful sequels.

Born Into An Acting Family

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The youngest daughter of British actor Sir John Mills and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, Hayley began her acting career as a child. Her first film was Tiger Bay in 1959. She starred in Disney’s Pollyanna in the following year. For Tiger Bay, she won a BAFTA award for Most Promising Newcomer; for Pollyanna she won a newcomer Golden Globe and a special juvenile Academy Award.