Shirley Mills

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Shirley Mills
Shirley Mills.jpg
Shirley Mills in Child Bride
Born(1926-04-08)April 8, 1926
DiedMarch 31, 2010(2010-03-31) (aged 83)
Other namesShirley O'Mills
Years active1938–1956
Spouse(s)
Mel Hanson
(m. 1977;died 1995)

Shirley Olivia Mills (April 8, 1926 – March 31, 2010) was an American actress. [1] She played the roles of the youngest daughter in The Grapes of Wrath and the title character in Child Bride . In the latter, she is shown nude in a nude swimming scene, filmed when she was about 12 years old, which became the basis for Child Bride being classified for many years as an exploitation film.

Contents

Biography

Born in Tacoma, Washington, Mills started her career as a child dancer, and later appeared in films such as Child Bride (1938 [lower-alpha 1] ) at the age of 12, The Grapes of Wrath (1940), and the Shirley Temple film Young People (1940).[ citation needed ]

She stopped making films in her early twenties but was later a pioneer in selling data-processing services in the 1960s, becoming the first female president of the Data Processing Management Association in Los Angeles and later vice president of marketing and public relations for Management Applied Programming, a major data processing center, for which she started a division for nonprofit organizations. Hanson also launched her own wedding planning company, A Party for All Seasons. [5]

Mills married Mel Hanson, a minister, [6] in 1977 who died in 1994; they had no children.

Mills died in Arcadia, California, on March 31, 2010, [6] eight days before her 84th birthday, from complications of pneumonia.[ citation needed ]

Filmography

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
1938 Child Bride Jennie ColtonAlternative titles: Child Bride of the Ozarks
Child Brides
Dust to Dust
1939 The Under-Pup Cecilia Layton
1940 The Grapes of Wrath Ruth "Ruthie" Joad
Virginia City Crying young Southern girlUncredited
Young PeopleMary Ann
Five Little Peppers in Trouble June
Diamond FrontierGirl in Bonnet playing in StreetUncredited
1942Miss Annie RooneyAudrey Hollis
1943 Shadow of a Doubt ShirleyAlternative title: Shadow of Doubt
Reveille with Beverly Laura Jean OliverUncredited
Henry Aldrich Gets GlamourHortenseUncredited
Alternative title: Henry Gets Glamour
Mister Big Member, Jivin' Jacks and Jills Uncredited
Top ManDancerUncredited
Alternative title: Man of the Family
Always a Bride's Maid Member of The Jivin' Jacks and JillsUncredited
True to LifeRadio SisterUncredited
1944 Chip Off the Old Block Member, Jivin' Jacks and JillsUncredited
None Shall Escape Anna Oremska
Nine Girls "Tennessee" Collingwood
1945 Patrick the Great Member, Jivin' Jacks and JillsUncredited
SnafuStudentUncredited
Alternative title: Welcome Home
1946Blondie's Lucky DayGrace Perkins(scenes deleted)
Betty Co-edGloria CampbellAlternative title: The Melting Pot
That Brennan GirlOlivette the BabysitterUncredited
Alternative title: Tough Girl
1949An Old-Fashioned GirlBelle
1950 It's a Small World Susan Musk at Age 16Credited as Shirley O. Mills
What Happened to Jo JoJennifer Van ZandtShort
Credited as Shirley O. Mills
1951 Fighting Coast Guard VernaUncredited
The Family Secret File GirlUncredited
The Model and the Marriage Broker Ina KuschnerUncredited
1952 My Six Convicts Blonde TillyUncredited
Alternative title: My 6 Convicts
Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
1954 My Little Margie Muriel Joyner1 episode
Credited as Shirley O'Mills
1956 Ford Star Jubilee 1 episode

Notes

  1. Sources conflict on this year. AllMovie lists 1938, [2] and another source lists 1941, [3] while the American Film Institute catalogs it at 1943. [4]

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References

  1. "Actress in 'The Grapes of Wrath'". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. April 9, 2010. p. AA7. Retrieved October 3, 2018 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  2. "Child Bride (1938)". AllMovie . Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  3. Schaefer, Eric (1999). "Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!": A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959. Duke University Press. pp. 282–283. ISBN   9780822323747.
  4. "Child Bride (1943) AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  5. "Shirley Mills Obituary « HOLLYWOODLAND". allanellenberger.com. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  6. 1 2 Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 518. ISBN   9781476625997 . Retrieved October 4, 2018.

Bibliography