Summary
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.
Shirley Mills | |
|---|---|
 Shirley Mills in Child Bride | |
| Born | April 8, 1926 |
| Died | March 31, 2010 (aged 83) |
| Other names | Shirley O'Mills |
| Years active | 1938–1956 |
| Spouse |
Mel Hanson
(m. 1977; died 1994) |
Biography edit
Born in Tacoma, Washington, Mills started her career as a child dancer, and later appeared in films such as Child Bride (1938[a]) 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 edit
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1938 | Child Bride | Jennie Colton | Alternative 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 girl | Uncredited | |
| Young People | Mary Ann | ||
| Five Little Peppers in Trouble | June | ||
| Diamond Frontier | Girl in Bonnet playing in Street | Uncredited | |
| 1942 | Miss Annie Rooney | Audrey Hollis | |
| 1943 | Shadow of a Doubt | Shirley | Alternative title: Shadow of Doubt |
| Reveille with Beverly | Laura Jean Oliver | Uncredited | |
| Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour | Hortense | Uncredited Alternative title: Henry Gets Glamour | |
| Mister Big | Member, Jivin' Jacks and Jills | Uncredited | |
| Top Man | Dancer | Uncredited Alternative title: Man of the Family | |
| Always a Bride's Maid | Member of The Jivin' Jacks and Jills | Uncredited | |
| True to Life | Radio Sister | Uncredited | |
| 1944 | Chip Off the Old Block | Member, Jivin' Jacks and Jills | Uncredited |
| None Shall Escape | Anna Oremska | ||
| Nine Girls | "Tennessee" Collingwood | ||
| 1945 | Patrick the Great | Member, Jivin' Jacks and Jills | Uncredited |
| Snafu | Student | Uncredited Alternative title: Welcome Home | |
| 1946 | Blondie's Lucky Day | Grace Perkins | (scenes deleted) |
| Betty Co-ed | Gloria Campbell | Alternative title: The Melting Pot | |
| That Brennan Girl | Olivette the Babysitter | Uncredited Alternative title: Tough Girl | |
| 1949 | An Old-Fashioned Girl | Belle | |
| 1950 | It's a Small World | Susan Musk at Age 16 | Credited as Shirley O. Mills |
| What Happened to Jo Jo | Jennifer Van Zandt | Short Credited as Shirley O. Mills | |
| 1951 | Fighting Coast Guard | Verna | Uncredited |
| The Family Secret | File Girl | Uncredited | |
| The Model and the Marriage Broker | Ina Kuschner | Uncredited | |
| 1952 | My Six Convicts | Blonde Tilly | Uncredited Alternative title: My 6 Convicts |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1954 | My Little Margie | Muriel Joyner | 1 episode Credited as Shirley O'Mills |
| 1956 | Ford Star Jubilee | 1 episode | |
Notes edit
References edit
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Child Bride (1938)". AllMovie. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
- ^ Schaefer, Eric (1999). "Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!": A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959. Duke University Press. pp. 282–283. ISBN 9780822323747.
- ^ "Child Bride (1943) AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- ^ "Shirley Mills Obituary « HOLLYWOODLAND". allanellenberger.com. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
- ^ a b 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 edit
- Goldrup, Tom and Jim (2002). Growing Up on the Set: Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Film and Television. McFarland & Co. pp. 200–209. ISBN 1476613702.
External links edit