For Juliet Mills, acting is part of the family business. The daughter of British actor Sir John Mills and older sister of Haley Mills, Juliet has starred in film, TV, and the stage since she was a teenager in the UK. Mills will be a guest this week at Pensacon along with her sister, Haley, and her husband actor Maxwell Caufield. We spoke this week about working with members of her family, including one particular episode of "The Love Boat."
Juliet Mills: Yes, that was dear Aaron Spelling, (he) did that for us. He wrote a special script. You know, 'Love Boat' always had three stories. And so he wrote three stories. One for Haley, one for me, one for Daddy. And he made it around the Christmas show. And so he flew them all out from England so we would all have Christmas together. He was the most wonderful, loyal producer. I worked for him many, many times. I did eight 'Love Boats' and many other things. Maxwell and I worked together for him on 'Hotel.' It was one of the few TV shows we actually ever did together. And that, that was “Father Aaron." So I was very, very fond of him. He was a very wonderful producer.
Bob Barrett: I'd like to go back to your early career. You got your start on the British stage. Talk about that first real big success, 'Five Finger Exercise.'
Mills: Yes, well, that was a wonderful experience for me. It was my first professional job. I was 16. I did an audition in the theatre for Sir John Gielgud and the producer Binky Beaumont. I was really doing the audition to get some experience in auditions because I'd never done one in the theatre. My father said, 'go along and just do the audition. Good for you.' Anyway, I got the part. It was Peter Shaffer's first play. That great contemporary playwright of ours. It was his very first play. It was a huge hit in London, ran for a year and a half and then it transferred to Broadway where it played for another year. I was nominated for a Tony, and I was 18. So it was altogether a most wonderful, wonderful experience working with John Gilgood and Brian Bedford, a great classical actor he became. We played brother and sister and we stayed friends forever after that. Yeah, it was a wonderful springboard for me, no question.
Barrett: Last night we sat in our living room and rewatched 'Avanti' because it's always been one of my favorite movies. How did you get involved with (legendary director) Billy Wilder?
Mills: Funny you should segue into that because Billy Wilder came and saw 'Five Finger Exercise' in London. Everybody saw it. I mean, I had an autograph book in my dressing room so that I could get people to sign their autographs when they came 'round. And I got amazing people, because, you know, when you have a hit play in London or New York, everybody goes to see it. So anyway, Billy came to see it in London, and he came round afterwards. Of course, I was absolutely amazed and floored to meet him. And he said to me at that time, 'One day we'll work together.' Well, you know, years and years went by, and I didn't really ever think about that, or dream about it. But after I finished Nanny, my agent called me and said 'Billy Wilder wants to meet you at his office, at Goldman Studios. We really don't know much about it. But anyway, here's the meeting and blah, blah, blah.' So I went along and he was in the office with I.A.L Diamond, who he was his writing partner. And he said 'it's a wonderful part for you. Here's the script and I hope you want to do it.' I mean, it was that easy. You know, nowadays you have to audition for three lines on TV. But anyway, I, of course, took the script and it was the most wonderful part. And Jack Lemon was cast. And, it was a dream come true. Absolutely. The whole experience from beginning to end, as you can imagine. You know, we shot the whole film in Italy. Cinecittà Studios in Rome and fabulous locations. The Sorrento, the Amalfi coast and Ischia. It was fantastic. and when I met with Billy again he took me out to the Brown Derby for lunch, and he said, 'there is just one catch.' And I said, 'oh, what?' He said, 'yeah, you've got to put on 35 pounds. Because I don't want her to be a sort of, quintessential kind of bimbet on the Riviera that the executive falls for. I want you to be an oddball, not a woman who has a lot of confidence, and she doesn't dress well, she's a bit heavy and all this.' And so I did. I put on 35 pounds. My father always said that he didn't like it. He said it's ridiculous. He said you've had to put on all this weight just for that one joke: “Fat ass." (Both Laugh) In some ways, I'm not sure I looked fat enough, but I was certainly fat enough for myself. It was quite hard to put on that much weight. The first 20 pounds went on very easily. But the last 15, that was a real struggle, actually. I was stuffing myself all day, all long, ice cream every night. And, you know, I mean, it was awful.
Barrett: I'm sure keeping it on while working in Italy wasn't hard.
Mills: No, especially with Billy always taking me out to dinner with his wife every night to make sure I had plenty of pasta and finished up with some profiteroles or something. You know, he just, like, fed me all the time.
Barrett: How did you get involved with, the big TV show that most people remember you from, 'Nanny and the Professor?'
Mills: Well, I was doing a play in London, called “She Stoops to Conquer” with Tom Courtney, which was very successful, and David Gerber came and saw it, and, came round afterwards and said he had a series that he was doing called “Nanny and the Professor." Would I do a screen test for it? And so I did. I did a test in London. I got the role, and actually the production, the theater let me out for three weeks to fly to Los Angeles to do the pilot. And when I finished the pilot before we knew it was picked up or anything, I went back into the play in London, which actually ran almost a year. So, I did test for that role. I remember I dressed myself up as a sort of Norland Nanny with a sort of pudding bowl hat on. And I don't think his idea of a nanny at all. But anyway, I got the part. And that was, of course, another wonderful time of my life and my career too, because it was a wonderful part for me. (She) was a magical little person who believed in ESP and magic and all of that. And, so it suited me well because I do believe in ESP and I do believe in magic. We did 64 shows. Richard Long was an absolute angel. We loved working together. He and his family embraced me. I spent a lot of time with them in their house in Encino because, of course, I didn't really know anybody when I came to do that series. So it was a very happy time and a lovely show that I'm still very proud of.
Barrett: How about 'Passions?' What is the difference between doing a weekly show like that and a daily soap opera?
Mills: Oh, a, huge difference as far as work. A huge difference as far as learning lines. I've never worked so hard in my life as doing that show. I enjoyed it very much. Of course, it was a great time in my life, but the workload was unbelievable. I don't think I could do it again. One of the reasons being Tabitha the Witch, I was always talking to myself or talking to inanimate objects or, you know, animals or dolls or something. So I'd have these long, long speeches, and I used to go home at the weekend on Fridays with five scripts under my arm to learn for the next week. We did an hour show (each) day on a soap. That's what you do. Of course, it's not an hour because of all the commercials, but it's 48 minutes of film, basically. And that's a lot! You know, we'd have these long scenes and it was quite a challenge, but it was a great fun part. And at the beginning, the first two or three years, NBC spent a fortune on the show, production-wise. I mean, we had the most amazing sets and events. I mean, you know, the sinking of the Titanic and God knows what else. It was the most extraordinary show and had a very, very big audience. I think our greatest compliment was that we were told that the Washington Post staff were taking a different lunch hour so they could watch 'Passions.'
Barrett: When you go to events like Pensacon or other such things, what do fans mainly want to talk to you about?
Mills: They want to talk to me about what you talked to me about. Those three things more than anything. 'Nanny,' 'Avanti,' and 'Passions.' And then fourth, I'd have to say, which is, is a film I did called “Beyond the Door," which was a horror film made by an Italian director/creator and, was hugely successful. It was the only horror film really I've ever done and it really was horror. But it's got a very big audience. It's become a sort of cult horror film. And, it surprises me how many people come up to me with the most horrendous photographs of me in the throes of, you know, demonic possession and, saying they love the film, they watch it all the time and all that. And then, of course, people come and talk to me about (husband) Maxwell (Caufield) and our relationship, which, you know, is amazing and inspiring and wonderful and we're both very, very lucky. We've been married 45 years this year. And, we have the most wonderful life together and we are still, you know, very much in love and just feel very, very fortunate.
