The Hindu : International : Sir John Mills is dead

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 25, 2005

International

International

Sir John Mills is dead

David Smith and Anushka Asthana

Sir John Mills

LONDON: Sir John Mills, one of Britain's best-loved and most enduring screen actors, has died at the age of 97.

Mr. Mills, who won an Oscar for his groundbreaking role in Ryan's Daughter, had been suffering from pneumonia and died at his home in Denham, west London.

Fair-haired, with a boyish face and blue eyes, Mr. Mills's film career spanned 73 years and more than 100 films.

He was an archetypal English gentleman celebrated for patriotic roles in The Colditz Story, In Which We Serve, Dunkirk, Scott of the Antarctic and Tunes of Glory, which was one of his personal favourites.

Despite suffering deafness and near blindness, he continued working to the end, playing a coke-snorting cameo role in 2003's Bright Young Things, and performing at a 100th birthday pageant for the Queen Mother.Buckingham Palace said: "The Queen will be very sad to learn of his death." The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair and Cherie Blair and their children, Kathryn and Leo, were among recent visitors for tea at the Mills home. Actors and directors joined tributes to the elder statesman of acting, whose closest friends included Laurence Olivier and the legendary Noel Coward, who first spotted his talent.

Sir Michael Gambon, who worked with Mills in an episode of the TV series Tales of the Unexpected, said: "He was a gentleman.

He was entertaining because he was always telling stories. He was a joy to be with and got on well with everyone."

- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

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