What do you think?
Rate this book
Forever young
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 28, 2023
Hayley Mills has written an autobiography and it is full of nostalgia and behind the scenes peeks at the British and American film industries of the 1960s. "Forever Young" is an apt title as most of the world is still watching her as a child star in "Pollyanna", "The Parent Trap", "Whistle Down the Wind" and many others. Thanks to the Walt Disney company, she had full access to the archive of photos, correspondence and internal memos that helped prompt her memories of that time. My only criticism is that she ends the book with the birth of her sons Crispian and Ace and her divorce from their father, Roy Boulting. Perhaps there is a second half in the works that will cover 1977 until the present.
The book is a joy, despite her teenage angst brought on by the spotlight. Thankfully, she never became a victim of Hollywood and managed to live a relatively peaceful life in Britain. Her one scary moment came when she went on a date with George Harrison and was almost torn to pieces. Her story is full of family drama, bad financial decisions. and self-doubt yet she always seems to be able to rise above. For this, she acknowledges that her world travel and exposure to different religions eventually led her to inner peace. Like mother, like son as Crispian is the main force behind the band Kula Shaker who have many songs delving into spirituality. That's not in the book but she does thank him profusely in the acknowledgements for being the one who got her through the process of writing a memoir.
The book is a joy, despite her teenage angst brought on by the spotlight. Thankfully, she never became a victim of Hollywood and managed to live a relatively peaceful life in Britain. Her one scary moment came when she went on a date with George Harrison and was almost torn to pieces. Her story is full of family drama, bad financial decisions. and self-doubt yet she always seems to be able to rise above. For this, she acknowledges that her world travel and exposure to different religions eventually led her to inner peace. Like mother, like son as Crispian is the main force behind the band Kula Shaker who have many songs delving into spirituality. That's not in the book but she does thank him profusely in the acknowledgements for being the one who got her through the process of writing a memoir.
April 4, 2022
I always loved Haley Mills and also her famous father. This memoir tells the story of her early life working for Walt Disney and in some great British films. As expected her actual experience was very different from her screen persona. There is a LOT of name dropping but I enjoyed learning more about one of my favorite childhood stars.
Read
March 15, 2022Lovely Autobiography, very nice to get a insight of the Disney years with Hayley Mills.
I loved how she spoke of her father so full of love and respect.
It's not a gritty tell all book but a nice read if a fan if Hayley Mills and her family.
I loved how she spoke of her father so full of love and respect.
It's not a gritty tell all book but a nice read if a fan if Hayley Mills and her family.
January 23, 2022
I love memoirs. Didn’t like this one. Too bogged down in details that didn’t matter to me
December 19, 2022
I was totally fascinated by this book and all the behind the scenes stories from Haley's life and movies. I highly recommend!
April 30, 2022
📚 NOVEL THOUGHTS 📚 3.5 ⭐⭐⭐
My first meet up with Haley Mills was when I was about 7 or 8 and her Parent Trap movie was played on the wall of the town park near my house. We all collected in the basketball court with our popcorn, coca colas, blankets and watched the "twin" Haley's entertain us as the moon and stars rose on a summer evening. I was entranced. As her twin selves conspired to get "their" parents back together, I became a fan.
Now that I am much, much older, listening to her autobiography (as read by her), I learned about her life as the daughter of very talented British actor, John Mills and her mother, an author and play write, famous in her own right and sister of Juliet Mills who also rose to fame in the movies as well as American TV shows. Her brother Jonathan also joined the family business, at first in front of the camera but more so behind it. I expected to hear that her life was terrible and harsh, trying to gain her parents attention as they went on their busy lives, but, wonderfully, that wasn't the case. They were a close family and looked out for each other even as they often were busy on movie sets around the globe.
Haley was unexpectedly discovered by Walt Disney after she had a small role in a movie her dad was in and after much discussion and consternation, her parents agreed that she could work for the American legend. Haley took to Walt's kind nature like he was a surrogate father and in her memoir, she speaks so highly of her time at Disney. Being a child actor, all her earnings for her work until she turned legal age, went into a trust under the British laws of the time. (More on that in a minute.) As she aged, Haley also worked in the British film industry during this time as well as the British stage and matured and honed her craft.
Haley shares her body of work like an IMBd or Wikipedia entry, who directed or co-starred with her. She talks about the many celebrities she met either on her own or through her family, who obviously were quite connected in the artistic circle. She even went on a "date" with George Harrison who later introduced her to the rest of the Fab Four in a very funny anecdote. She shares her growing pains, good and bad choices in her love life and struggle to find her own way under the shadow of her parents who kept a tight leash on her to protect her but also to protect their reputations as well. She could have been a rebellious but she respected and loved her parents, so she followed their advice.
But her life wasn't without it's dark moments. Her mother suffered from depression and self medicated with alcohol and once Haley hit puberty, she struggled with body image issues for much of her life. This caused her to be very self-conscience and withdrawn. Her love life reflected this feeling as she sought out men who were also needy as she felt she could help them with made her feel better about herself, even if those men couldn't give back what she needed from them. She later makes a very poor choice in a partner for those reasons. One of the biggest issues though was the trust that was set up for her which held all of her childhood earnings. Once she reached legal age and was able to withdraw the money that had been sitting there all that time, laws had changed and she was forced to pay extremely (and in my opinion, unfair) taxes on her account. It took more than 7 years for the courts to decide the fate of her money but I won't divulge the outcome here.
Haley's memoir is an honest look into her life. She is open and doesn't sugarcoat. But she is also at an age where she can look back at all the good and bad times and appreciate them for the learning and growth they offered her. Maybe she absorbed some of Pollyanna after all!
My first meet up with Haley Mills was when I was about 7 or 8 and her Parent Trap movie was played on the wall of the town park near my house. We all collected in the basketball court with our popcorn, coca colas, blankets and watched the "twin" Haley's entertain us as the moon and stars rose on a summer evening. I was entranced. As her twin selves conspired to get "their" parents back together, I became a fan.
Now that I am much, much older, listening to her autobiography (as read by her), I learned about her life as the daughter of very talented British actor, John Mills and her mother, an author and play write, famous in her own right and sister of Juliet Mills who also rose to fame in the movies as well as American TV shows. Her brother Jonathan also joined the family business, at first in front of the camera but more so behind it. I expected to hear that her life was terrible and harsh, trying to gain her parents attention as they went on their busy lives, but, wonderfully, that wasn't the case. They were a close family and looked out for each other even as they often were busy on movie sets around the globe.
Haley was unexpectedly discovered by Walt Disney after she had a small role in a movie her dad was in and after much discussion and consternation, her parents agreed that she could work for the American legend. Haley took to Walt's kind nature like he was a surrogate father and in her memoir, she speaks so highly of her time at Disney. Being a child actor, all her earnings for her work until she turned legal age, went into a trust under the British laws of the time. (More on that in a minute.) As she aged, Haley also worked in the British film industry during this time as well as the British stage and matured and honed her craft.
Haley shares her body of work like an IMBd or Wikipedia entry, who directed or co-starred with her. She talks about the many celebrities she met either on her own or through her family, who obviously were quite connected in the artistic circle. She even went on a "date" with George Harrison who later introduced her to the rest of the Fab Four in a very funny anecdote. She shares her growing pains, good and bad choices in her love life and struggle to find her own way under the shadow of her parents who kept a tight leash on her to protect her but also to protect their reputations as well. She could have been a rebellious but she respected and loved her parents, so she followed their advice.
But her life wasn't without it's dark moments. Her mother suffered from depression and self medicated with alcohol and once Haley hit puberty, she struggled with body image issues for much of her life. This caused her to be very self-conscience and withdrawn. Her love life reflected this feeling as she sought out men who were also needy as she felt she could help them with made her feel better about herself, even if those men couldn't give back what she needed from them. She later makes a very poor choice in a partner for those reasons. One of the biggest issues though was the trust that was set up for her which held all of her childhood earnings. Once she reached legal age and was able to withdraw the money that had been sitting there all that time, laws had changed and she was forced to pay extremely (and in my opinion, unfair) taxes on her account. It took more than 7 years for the courts to decide the fate of her money but I won't divulge the outcome here.
Haley's memoir is an honest look into her life. She is open and doesn't sugarcoat. But she is also at an age where she can look back at all the good and bad times and appreciate them for the learning and growth they offered her. Maybe she absorbed some of Pollyanna after all!
June 1, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed this book although I was afraid to read it. I grew up loving Disney and Disney movies. I still do. I didn’t want Haley telling me things that might influence me the next time I sat down with a big box of buttered popcorn to watch The Parent Trap, Summer Magic, or That Darned Cat. I just want to enjoy the movies without bad vibes.
This book didn’t ruin anything for me. There was not a lot I didn’t already know, having read a lot about Walt Disney. The book has a lot of details about the angst of growing up, which we all share and find familiar. It’s hard for us to believe that a ‘movie star’ could share some of our doubts and fears, but it seems that Haley was pretty much like every other teenager growing up.
Well, except for the fact she made movies and traveled the world and danced with Michael Douglas and went out with George Harrison. Except for all those things, she was fairly normal.
Having done some minor acting in community theater, I know how hard it is to get up on a stage. To share yourself with an audience. How much harder it must be to write a memoir. When she gave details about her family, I was uncomfortable. Some things are private.
She didn’t share a lot of details, but what she shared must have been hard for her to share.
When I was a twenty-something marine stationed in North Carolina, I went to see a movie on base and The Parent Trap was playing. When Haley came on the screen for the first time, those marines stood up and yelled and beat their chairs and whistled.
I realized that all of these young marines, most of us fresh from Vietnam, had grown up with the same movies. Watching those old childhood movies like The Parent Trap became a part of the healing process.
So, I repeat. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I felt like I was watching Haley grow up, through all the joys and all the hardships.
I felt like I was having lunch with a friend.
This book didn’t ruin anything for me. There was not a lot I didn’t already know, having read a lot about Walt Disney. The book has a lot of details about the angst of growing up, which we all share and find familiar. It’s hard for us to believe that a ‘movie star’ could share some of our doubts and fears, but it seems that Haley was pretty much like every other teenager growing up.
Well, except for the fact she made movies and traveled the world and danced with Michael Douglas and went out with George Harrison. Except for all those things, she was fairly normal.
Having done some minor acting in community theater, I know how hard it is to get up on a stage. To share yourself with an audience. How much harder it must be to write a memoir. When she gave details about her family, I was uncomfortable. Some things are private.
She didn’t share a lot of details, but what she shared must have been hard for her to share.
When I was a twenty-something marine stationed in North Carolina, I went to see a movie on base and The Parent Trap was playing. When Haley came on the screen for the first time, those marines stood up and yelled and beat their chairs and whistled.
I realized that all of these young marines, most of us fresh from Vietnam, had grown up with the same movies. Watching those old childhood movies like The Parent Trap became a part of the healing process.
So, I repeat. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I felt like I was watching Haley grow up, through all the joys and all the hardships.
I felt like I was having lunch with a friend.
February 24, 2025
Thank you Ms Mills for giving us a true account of what it takes to be an actress in Hollywood and especially what it takes away from childhood when you are a child star. You’ve done well for all the trials and temptations found in that life! I had two books as a child and Pollyanna was one of them! Loved your movies. Looked up to you as a child. Thank you for enriching my childhood so wonderfully!
Paulette
Paulette
August 13, 2022
I loved Haley Mills when I was young so it was very interesting to me to hear the stories behind the movies I'd seen. She remembers a lot of famous people in and out of her life. I only wish she'd given us some more of her life after her marriage to Roy Boulting.
September 15, 2023
My favorite aspect of the audiobook is hearing Hayley Mills read the book herself! This book is captivating, because I love Hayley Mills, but I’m not sure the average reader would fully appreciate it without having seen her movies.
May 7, 2022
Audiobook
August 22, 2023
I loved getting to know Haley Mills even better! This book brought us into her world full of Walt Disney and all the big names of Hollywood! I thoroughly enjoy it.
June 9, 2025
I wanted to love this more. perhaps I just wasn't in the right mood?
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews