Forever Young

What happens when a girl tries to grow up in a world where everyone wants her to remain a child?

Hayley Mills' teenage decade in Hollywood produced some of the era's greatest coming-of-age family movies: classics like Pollyanna, The Parent Trap and In Search of the Castaways, and in Britain the acclaimed Whistle Down the Wind. These films made Hayley a genuine teen idol and a household name. Now and for the first time, Hayley reveals the truth of her own coming-of-age story, in her own words - a story of incredible twists of fate and fortune, but also mismanagement, bankruptcy, family crisis and dislocation.

Told with characteristic warmth, honesty and humour, Hayley takes us back in time to a bygone era, charting a journey from her carefree childhood innocence in post-war Britain, growing up in the shadow of her famous theatrical family, to being propelled into the Technicolor boomtown of 1960s Hollywood, where she is mentored to stardom by Walt Disney himself.

“An affectionate but clear-eyed memoir of an unusual career that began at the tender age of 12”

INDEPENDENT
As charming on the page as she's ever been on the screen. Her memoir touches on growing up in a family of performers, thoughtfully considers life as a child star, and finds honest, often very funny, ways to examine what it means to live in and around the spotlight . . . Delightful Town & Country
A greatly enjoyable and eye-opening memoir: a showbusiness chronicle which proves equal parts celebration and cautionary tale . . . Forever Young is an unexpected treat: a brave and revealing memoir with nary a dull passage Wall Street Journal
With a novelistic eye for detail and a disarming sense of humor, Mills illuminates her extraordinary past while evoking the lost empire of mid-20th-century Hollywood . . . The result is a luminous work commensurate with the unforgettable movies that made Mills an icon Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A natural storyteller, as so many actors are, Mills takes us on that wide-eyed 12-year-old's journey . . . If you loved those Disney movies, or just want to get a sense of what life was like in a Hollywood very different from how it is today, Forever Young is a pleasure. One of its joys is watching Mills grow up on the page, learning to love her craft Seattle Times
Hayley's insights into Disney and the interaction between Disney and Hayley and the Mills family are worth the price of admission . . . You'll likely love reading this behind-the-scenes account of what our Hayley was really up to during her formative years New York Journal of Books
The iconic star of Pollyanna and The Parent Trap recalls her rise to stardom, her experiences on set, and her friendship with Walt Disney in this endearing memoir . . . A warm-hearted peek behind the curtain at youthful fame and filmmaking in the 1960s Booklist
Child star Mills's charming and eloquent walk down memory lane is a fascinating study of moviemaking in 1960s Britain and the United States . . . Movie buffs will be riveted by Mills's behind the scenes tales Library Journal
This memoir by the English actress who rose to fame as a child star for Disney is rather like a Disney movie: enchanting, entertaining and only fleetingly dark Shelf Awareness
Hayley writes frankly and cogently about her life, her experiences . . . The reader is also treated to the behind the scenes of the movie making process . . . A must read for the Hayley Mills fan, but it is also a salient, relevant chronicle of an actor's life - not only a life against the backdrop of a busy movie making career but a life where conflicts musts be addressed and resolved Post-Gazette
Refreshingly clear-eyed SUNDAY EXPRESS

Hayley Mills began her acting career as a child and won a BAFTA award for her performance in the British crime drama Tiger Bay. Her seven-picture deal with Walt Disney made her an international star and included her dual role as the twins Sharon and Susan in The Parent Trap. She won a special Academy Award at the age of fourteen for Pollyanna. For her success with Disney, she received the Disney Legend Award.

Hayley's role in Whistle Down the Wind, a 1961 adaptation of the novel written by her mother Mary Hayley Bell, secured her a nomination for the BAFTA award for Best British Actress. She has continued to make films and TV drama, among them The Flame Trees of Thika, and featured as Miss Bliss in Saved by the Bell, and as Caroline in Wild at Heart on ITV. She lives in south-west London.

What happens when a girl tries to grow up in a world where everyone wants her to remain a child? Hayley Mills' teenage decade in Hollywood produced some of the era's greatest coming-of-age family movies: classics like Pollyanna , The Parent Trap and In Search of the Castaways, and in Britain the acclaimed Whistle Down the Wind. These films made Hayley a genuine teen idol and a household name. Now and for the first time, Hayley reveals the truth of her own coming-of-age story, in her own words - a story of incredible twists of fate and fortune, but also mismanagement, bankruptcy, family crisis and dislocation.Told with characteristic warmth, honesty and humour, Hayley takes us back in time to a bygone era, charting a journey from her carefree childhood innocence in post-war Britain, growing up in the shadow of her famous theatrical family, to being propelled into the Technicolor boomtown of 1960s Hollywood, where she is mentored to stardom by Walt Disney himself.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.