04/18/2026
Happy 80th Birthday Hayley Mills!
Hayley Mills, born on April 18, 1946, in London, England, is one of the most beloved child actresses in cinema history and a Disney legend. The daughter of legendary actor Sir John Mills and playwright Mary Hayley Bell, she was born into theatrical royalty and lived up to it spectacularly. At age twelve, she won a special Academy Juvenile Award for her stunning debut in Tiger Bay (1959), and followed it with an iconic performance in Pollyanna (1960), winning a Golden Globe for Best Newcomer. Her most famous role came as identical twins Sharon and Susan in Walt Disney's The Parent Trap (1961), a film that has charmed generations of audiences and remains one of Disney's most enduring live-action classics. Mills went on to star in several more Disney films, including In Search of the Castaways (1962) and That Darn Cat! (1965). She later transitioned to more mature roles in The Family Way (1966) and Twisted Nerve (1968), and reprised her Parent Trap role in three television sequels. In 2021, she published her acclaimed memoir Forever Young. Now 80, Hayley Mills remains a cherished figure in the history of family entertainment.