Sir John Mills, one of Britain's best loved and most enduring screen actors, has died at the age of 97.
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. A member of his staff said yesterday: 'Sir John Mills died peacefully at home after a short illness.'
Fair-haired, with a boyish face and blue eyes, 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 last night: 'The Queen will be very sad to learn of his death.' Tony 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. Stephen Fry, who had been visiting him in his final days, said: 'It's marvellously typical of him to leave the party on St George's Day and Shakespeare's birthday and death day. He was a remarkable man. He became almost the only actor in the 20th century who was a genuine leading man; Brits can be marvellous at playing Nazis, but such was his authenticity as the English hero that people often forgot how good he was. To say the end of an era is always a cliché, but he was the last of a particular generation, not just of actors, but of Englishmen to whom modesty was more important than ego.'
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. He was such a nice man and will be much missed. Michael Winner, the film director, said: 'He was a very dear friend. He was the great, great professional at all times. He was utterly dedicated to he work and the length and variety of his career speaks for itself.' He won the 1971 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, playing a deformed mute in Ryan's Daughter, and was knighted in 1976.
Also a talented painter, Mills is survived by his wife, playwright Mary Hayley Bell, his son, Jonathan, and daughters Juliette and Hayley, both actors.
The couple wed in 1941 and remained devoted to each other. Mills had previously been married to Aileen Raymond, whom he married aged 19. His grandson, Crispian Mills, became lead singer of Kula Shaker. The funeral service will be held on April 27 in Denham.