Shirley Mills

Shirley Mills
File:Shirley Mills.jpg Shirley Mills in Child Bride
Born	(1926-04-08)April 8, 1926 Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
Died	Arcadia, California, U.S.
Other names	Shirley O. Mills Shirley O'Mills
Years active	1938–1956
Spouse(s)	Mel Hanson (1977–1995; his death)

Shirley Olivia Mills (April 8, 1926 – March 31, 2010) was an American actress, best known for her roles as the youngest daughter in The Grapes of Wrath and as the titular character in Child Bride. In the latter, she is shown nude in a "skinny dipping" scene, filmed when she was about 12 years old, which became the basis for Child Bride being exhibited for many years as an exploitation film.

Biography

Born in Tacoma, Washington, Mills started her career as a child dancer, and later appeared in films such as Child Bride (1938) at the age of 12, The Grapes of Wrath (1939), and the Shirley Temple film Young People (1940). She stopped making films in her early twenties, and went on to be a singer and a data processing salesperson. She married Mel Hanson in 1977 who died in 1995; they had no children.

Shirley Hanson died in Arcadia, California on March 31, 2010, eight days before her 84th birthday, from complications of pneumonia. She was a devout Christian.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	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 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	Young girl	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' Jills	Uncredited
	Top Man	Dancer	Uncredited Alternative title: Man of the Family
	Always a Bridesmaid		Uncredited
	True to Life	Radio Sister	Uncredited
1944	Chip Off the Old Block	Member, Jivin' Jills	Uncredited
	None Shall Escape	Anna Oremska
	Nice Girls	"Tennessee" Collingwood
1945	Patrick the Great	Member, Jivin' 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		Credited as Shirley O. Mills
1951	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

External links

• Official website (Archive)
• Shirley Mills at the Internet Movie Database
• Shirley Mills at AllMovie
• Classic Movie Kids