Shirley Olivia Mills (April 8, 1926 – March 31, 2010) was an American actress. She played the roles of the youngest daughter in The Grapes of Wrath and the title character in Child Bride. In the latter, she is shown nude in a nude swimming scene, filmed when she was about 12 years old, which became the basis for Child Bride being classified for many years as an exploitation film.
Biography Born on April 8, 1926, 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 (1940), and the Shirley Temple film Young People (1940).
She stopped making films in her early twenties but was later a pioneer in selling data-processing services in the 1960s, becoming the first female president of the Data Processing Management Association in Los Angeles and later vice president of marketing and public relations for Management Applied Programming, a major data processing center, for which she started a division for nonprofit organizations. Hanson also launched her own wedding planning company, A Party for All Seasons.
Mills married Mel Hanson, a minister, in 1977 who died 18 years later; they had no children.
Mills died from complications of pneumonia in Arcadia, California, on March 31, 2010.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1938 Child Bride Jennie Colton Alternative titles: Child Bride of the OzarksChild BridesDust to Dust 1939 The Under-Pup Cecilia Layton1940 The Grapes of Wrath Ruth "Ruthie" 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 Hollis1943 Shadow of a Doubt Shirley Alternative title: Shadow of Doubt Reveille with Beverly Laura Jean Oliver Uncredited Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour Hortense UncreditedAlternative title: Henry Gets Glamour Mister Big Member, Jivin' Jacks and Jills Uncredited Top Man Dancer UncreditedAlternative title: Man of the Family Always a Bride's Maid Member of The Jivin' Jacks and Jills Uncredited True to Life Radio Sister Uncredited1944 Chip Off the Old Block Member, Jivin' Jacks and Jills Uncredited None Shall Escape Anna Oremska Nine Girls "Tennessee" Collingwood1945 Patrick the Great Member, Jivin' Jacks and Jills Uncredited Snafu Student UncreditedAlternative title: Welcome Home1946 Blondie's Lucky Day Grace Perkins (scenes deleted) Betty Co-Ed Gloria Campbell Alternative title: The Melting Pot That Brennan Girl Olivette the Babysitter UncreditedAlternative title: Tough Girl 1949 An Old-Fashioned Girl Belle1950 It's a Small World Susan Musk at Age 16 Credited as Shirley O. Mills What Happened to Jo Jo Jennifer Van Zandt ShortCredited as Shirley O. Mills1951 Fighting Coast Guard Verna Uncredited The Family Secret File Girl Uncredited The Model and the Marriage Broker Ina Kuschner Uncredited 1952 My Six Convicts Blonde Tilly UncreditedAlternative title: My 6 Convicts Television Year Title Role Notes 1954 My Little Margie Muriel Joyner 1 episodeCredited as Shirley O'Mills 1956 Ford Star Jubilee 1 episode
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Classic Movie Kids