Bell, Mary Hayley (1911–2005)

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Bell, Mary Hayley (1911–2005)

English actress, playwright and novelist. Name variations: Mary Hayley Mills. Born Jan 22, 1911, in Shanghai, China; died Dec 1, 2005, in England; m. John Mills (actor), 1941; children: Juliet Mills (b. 1941) and Hayley Mills (b. 1946), both actresses, and Jonathan Mills (b. 1949).

Made stage debut in Shanghai in The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1932); made London debut in Vintage Wine (1934), followed by Summer's Lease, The Composite Man and The Peaceful Inn, among others; wrote plays Men in Shadow, Duet for Two Hands, Angel, Dear Enemy, The Uninvited Guest, Foreign Field, Feather on the Water and Treble Key; wrote novels Arolena, Whistle Down the Wind and Far Morning, and the film Bats with Baby Faces.