Shirley Olivia Mills was born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1926, and relocated to southern California as a child. She rose to fame at the tender age of 12 as the star of the independent film Child Bride (1938),which achieved great renown. This experience is documented in detail on her official website, along with still photos from the film.
Prior to her breakout role, Mills received extensive training in the performing arts, which served her well in her subsequent success. Her discipline and professionalism from a young age were evident in her mastery of various skills, including dancing, declamation, recitation, and public speaking.
As a dancer, Mills was accomplished and appeared in seven World War II-era movies with the "Jivin' Jacks And Jills" dance group, performing as a "Jivin' Jill" dancer. She collaborated with a young Donald O'Connor, who would later become a teen dance star in the early 1940s.
Mills continued to appear in major Hollywood studio movies throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s, also making appearances on major network television programs. She worked alongside notable actors, including Henry Fonda, Errol Flynn, Shirley Temple, Donald O'Connor, and the Andrews Sisters.
She worked with renowned directors, such as John Ford, Michael Curtiz, Alfred Hitchcock, George Cukor, Alan Dwan, Charles Burton, Andre De Toth, George Marshall, William Castle, and Joseph Kane.
In addition to her acting career, Mills worked as a professional dancer, photo and advertising model for companies like Coca-Cola, Russell Stover Candies, and many others. She appeared on magazine covers frequently during the 1940s and transitioned to a career as a nightclub performer, stage personality, and marketing and public relations sales specialist in the early 1960s.
Mills became an independent businesswoman, founding a company specializing in party and social event-planning called "A Party For All Seasons." She gained prominence as a specialist in Jewish weddings, despite not being born Jewish.
She cared for her aged parents until their passing, with her father dying in 1976 after suffering several strokes and her mother passing away in 1979 due to kidney failure.
In 1977, Mills married retired clergyman Mel Hanson, and the couple lived on a cattle ranch in Southern California. She also owned an alfalfa ranch in Northern California, which she later sold. Her husband tragically passed away in an automobile accident 18 years after their marriage.
During her retirement years, Mills frequently appeared at movie nostalgia and memorabilia conventions. A photo on her website captures her in 2005, at the age of 79, with Darryl Hickman, the child actor who appeared as her screen brother in The Grapes Of Wrath (1940).
In 2005, a 13-minute documentary was produced, featuring Mills recalling her work on The Grapes of Wrath in 1940.
By 2009, her website reported that she had become bedridden and no longer made public appearances, at the age of 83.
