Hayley Mills's movies were a pivotal part of my childhood and it was really interesting to read her take on her rise to fame.

I have always loved Hayley Mills and grew up watching her. Reading her story in her own words was so interesting and intriguing. Sometimes rambled a bit but the details were so specific about her life that it made it come alive!

A cool look into the life of an absolutely iconic actress. While I was more interested in the details from her childhood, it was neat to hear about her whole life from her perspective. Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!

Hayley Mills gives us an entertaining and honest peek into her childhood and early career with her memoir Forever Young.
Most people remember the actress best from her early roles in movies such as Pollyanna and The Parent Trap.
She discusses these years in detail, with stories about the people she worked with during this time.
Some of the most memorable chapters were those from her childhood involving her parents, their family homes, and the complicated decisions about Hayley's career and finances that would only lead to a multitude of issues later.
This memoir is filled with anecdotes about filming and Hollywood events (my favorite is her date with a Beatle).
The chapters about her marriages and later years are less insightful, but I enjoyed her thoughts and memories about her father and somewhat complicated mother, both of which it's clear she loved very much.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. I also purchased an audio version so that I could enjoy hearing Ms. Mills lovely narration.

I have always enjoyed Hayley Mills in her films. This is a insight into her life as she began acting, as well as her personal life growing up. She tells how it was working for Disney and some behind the scenes info with various actors. She shares her personal life and feelings of low self-esteem being in the public eye. A good read for any fan.

Hayley Mills has long been a Hollywood favorite of mine. I remember watching Pollyanna and Parent Trap as a child and I have fond memories of sharing her movies with my children. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about her experiences as a child actor and especially her experiences with the legend of Walt Disney. The second half of the book about her adulthood was not as interesting to me but honestly I would listen to Mills read me the phone book. The audiobook is excellent.

I was excited to read this cus I like her as an actress. Most of it I really enjoyed, but the end was very rushed! I wanted more of an ending.

"𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴; 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦."⁣
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I was raised on 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘱 and 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘵. My sister and I also had a deep love for all of the glorious goodness of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝟹 and 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘱: 𝘏𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯. #iykyk ⁣
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I was elated to hear that Hayley Mills had written a memoir about her unconventional childhood as an actor. And I was, of course, very interested to learn more about her time working with Walt. #disneydiehard⁣
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"𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵!" I audibly exclaimed this phrase multiple times while reading this book. Mills shared so many stories about her family, friends and movie set experiences. ⁣
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At one point, I was literally sobbing on my couch as I recounted the story of her first trip to Disneyland to my husband.
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And though her story wasn't all happy Disney magic, I was delighted to have read it. I would love for her to write a follow up about her adult life as this book mainly covered her childhood and young adult years.

Forever Young by Hayley Mills is an autobiography of the actresses life with her family, her first husband and her career, with a special focus on the Disney years.

The book started off very strong - with a good description of what life was like for her growing up with a famous father and mother, and the way her contract started with Disney. The descriptions of working on contract were the most interesting. But the book falls apart almost at the same time as her life was in turmoil. It touched on such heavy topics such as alcoholism, abuse, eating disorders, etc. but then didnt ever complete any of them, but maybe there was never resolutions to any.

The name dropping was a bit much at times, she was surrounded by famous people and definitely wants you to know it. It was hard to keep up and keep track, especially if you werent of a certain age and remember all these famous actors of the time.

She does seem to trail off at the end of her marriage to Roy. Not much else from her life in the last 30 years was discussed or addressed - not sure if she is planning a second book or if she would like to keep the rest private

I don't believe that there was a time in my young childhood where Hayley Mills did not exist. Born in the late 80's, movies like Polyanna and The Parent Trap were already well known "classics". Thankfully, my father the movie buff, had made sure that I saw them. If I recall correctly, Pollyana was on repeat in my house for at least 2 weeks.
Even now in my mid-30's - they remain some of my favorite movies to share with my daughter.
And perhaps it's because they are Disney movies and are easily available, but it would be such a small reason.

IIn Forever Young, we not only discover all of the trials and tribulations related to her being a child movie star, but also what it was like for her growing up with famous parents. The relationships not just with her family and how that dynamic changed for her as an adolescent, but the ones with some of Hollywood's elite.
Walt Disney, George Harrison, Sheilah Graham....to Maureen O'Hara and other actors and directors she was privileged to work with. Some of them shocking to even her, as letters and correspondence was discovered later on, many years later.

Honestly,
I have written and re-written this many times because I am never sure of where to begin. Hayley's biography is well written and deeply regarded by those who loved her in her movies. It was eye opening to read her journal entries and to know that behind that face on the movie screen, was a just a girl who was as insecure as a normal teenager. We know that they're real people, living lives outside of acting, but to what extent? Hayley grew up before the power of social media and TMZ, where what you showed was all anyone got of you unless you made it otherwise. Her life was private and parts of it were unfair and almost cruel.
I recommend reading it to anyone who has ever loved Hayley Mills or even the Mills family in general

Wonderfully written and enjoyable look into the life of one of the sweetest child stars. I grew up watching her movies and didn't know anything about her personal life. This was an open and honest telling of her experiences and I appreciate her sharing her story with the world.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me review Forever Young by Hayley Mills.

First off, I am a fan of Hayley and have been since I was a kid. I loved her in Summer Magic, That Darn Cat and of course The Parent Trap. When I was a bit older I enjoyed watching her in the first year of Saved by the bell..or as it was titled at that time “Good morning, Miss Bliss”
I was really excited to get this book and start reading. I did enjoy reading about her years working for Disney and how she got her start in movies. However, the book was really dry for me. It seemed to move in slow motion, especially after the time she left Disney.
I was also sad that this book only went into the early 1970’s. It really didn’t give a great overview of her life, since it cut off the last half a century. I would have enjoyed it more had she talked about The Parent Trap sequels, her time as Anna in The King and I and other stage work she has done in her career.

Over all I can’t really say that I enjoyed this book and mostly overall I was dissapointed. Parts of it were great and really fun to read about, I just wish it wouldn’t have ended so abruptly. Also, I wish she would have gone into more detail about her later life. As sad as this is to say for me I wouldn’t read it again.

Hayley started her career as a child, in the British film, Tiger Bay. She then contracted to Disney studios, and made such classic films as Pollyanna.and The Parent Trap. This book is really a coming of age story, a girl feeling as if everyone would rather she never grew up--hence the title Forever Young. While she was growing up, she met some of the most renowned people in the acting world, as her father was a well-known actor and her mother a playwright. Since she kept a journal, the details of these encounters ring true. This is a very positive book--Hayley doesn't have a bad word to say about anyone, unlike other celebrity memoirs I've read. The reader is left to form their own opinions about her first husband whom she met at age 20; he was 32 years older than Hayley, and had been married three times with a total of 6 children, some of them near her age. (The press compared them to Humbert and Lolita.) I enjoyed reading about the time period, the "swinging '60's," and how the child actress withstood challenges and became a woman who sees things in a positive light--kind of like Pollyanna. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Bursting onto the Hollywood scene as a young girl, Hayley Mills enjoyed a streak of popularity rarely seen for a young British transplant. Under the tutelage of Walt Disney, Mills acted in a string of successful films before embarking on a romance with a much older man. This is a clear-eyed, unapologetic look at life behind the glamor of the big screen.

One of the best celebrity memoirs of that era. Hayley Mills had journals and even printed some pages of them and she was so meticulous and detailed. Amazing! She knew everyone she worked with and their credits and fun facts about their lives. She met many famous people through her parents and had great stories about them too.

I did feel like the defended John Lennon too much after she saw him yell to Judy garland that he wanted to see scars from her suicide attempt. That’s not dark humor! That sick and cruel. She seemed to have a troubled relationship with men so maybe she felt like it was wrong but her default is to give people the benefit of the doubt? I got this impression when she talked about Lord Lucian, most likely murderer and next door neighbor.

Anyway! It was a great picture of how the Disney factory worked and it was so interesting to read about her Hollywood life vs her life back home in England.

Childhood wouldn’t have been so golden without such films as Pollyanna, The Parent Trap, and That Darn Cat and then there was that clever, atmospheric Endless Night that gave me some good chills as a teen. So, when I spotted the memoir of the sunny-faced actress that made these and other gems possible, I was jazzed to pick it up and delve right in.

Hailey Mills came of an acting father and a script-writing mother, a thespian older sister, film-making younger brother, and surrounded by daddy and mummy’s close friends in the trade. Unlike her sister, Juliet, Hailey hadn’t had any particular plans to get into acting until one of her father’s acquaintances spotted her and decided she was perfect for the main child actor part in British film, Tiger Bay. Even then she thought it was simply a lark and went back boarding school and life on the family farm without a backward glance. Hailey was the middle child and happy to let life happen around her. Her parents gave her and her siblings a stable, loving childhood though Hailey points out that their relationship and their work were priorities that she registered even as a young child. Tiger Bay was well received and was the vehicle that got her in Walt Disney’s eye.
Disney wanted her for Pollyanna, but insisted on signing her to a six-film contract over the next seven years. Her parents were ambivalent about that on her behalf because it would lock her into a career that would take up the rest of her childhood, but they consulted Hailey after making it clear what would be involved. Eventually, she was making movie magic, dealing with adolescence, the woes of fitting school around an acting career, fame, and how it affected family life especially with her dad’s film career tugging the family in two different directions. Hailey grew up on and off screen, but found that living up to peoples’ ideals and her own made for a big challenge and finding her feet as an adult and an acting career as well as adult relationships would be hardest of all.

This memoir hit the spot for me. Mostly, this is because I went in wanting the life of a child actress with enough personal and family background to set it in context. I didn’t read it to get a deep dive into another person’s life. Hailey was forthright about her family, her personality, her struggles, and her own choices that sometimes led to mistakes, but the memoir winds up when the child actress feels that she has finally finished with childhood and has a strong foothold on the path of adulthood with a relationship and a child as well as an adult career. Some might want to know what happened in the intervening years to the present, but that was not addressed and, I honestly didn’t expect it based on the title and blurb, but I thought I should mention it in case other’s do.
It was enough to learn what such a life was like: behind the scenes on some films including her Disney ones, the rarified atmosphere she was in when she thought of Lawrence Olivier and Vivian Leigh as Uncle Larry and Aunt Vivian, when she was friendly with the Beatles including a date with George and went to the same parties as The Rat Pack, and some of her struggles that she had to overcome like feeling less educated than others since she never finished school, weight struggles, shyness and inadequacy, a mother’s depression and alcoholism, loss of her childhood earnings, and struggles of failed relationships.

The author’s writing style took just the right tone. It was engaging and in balance with her personality and her experiences. There was some fun, some sad, and much in between. The end wrapped up swiftly, but in a logical place. I felt I learned a lot about Hailey Mills as a person and an actress so I was well-pleased with this memoir and would definitely recommend it to those who enjoy memoirs of entertainment personalities or simply want to read about Hailey Mills growing up.

Growing up as a Disney star, Hayley Mills was forced to remain 'Forever Young.' Fighting against her family's and society's expectations, her world felt restrictive. Unable to make her own decisions, Hayley was locked into a contract until she reached adulthood. As the youngest daughter of a showbusiness family, her actions remained center stage.

Mills provides personal accounts of attending celebrity parties, struggling with self confidence and the blessings and curses of being a child star. Meet the woman behind the fresh-faced youth and realize that despite fame, all teenagers, doubt their worth.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the early edition in exchange for an honest review. I grew up watching Hayley's films and had the good fortune of attending her performance in New York City. She's a gifted actress that was unfairly chastised for growing up and making difficult decisions.

A must read for film buffs and Disney fans alike!

This book gives you not only an intimate look into the adolescence and early film career of Hayley Mills (sorry to other fellow Saved by the Bell fans--no Miss Bliss in this book!), but also into the careers, characters and realities behind many of the era's stars and films.

Mills' stories on Walt Disney, Rex Harrison and even a date with a Beatle are highlights that support the reader through a heartfelt early memoir. I say early memoir because this does not go into Mills' life beyond having her children. A wonderful ending point for this book, but left me wanting more, as Hayley Mills' is as gifted as a writer as she is on the screen. This memoir includes journal entries from Mills' youth, which are eloquently written, making me astonished that we have not seen writing from Hayley Mills sooner. Her writing is simply superb.

Some of my favorite scenes dealt with the realizations only discovered by having access to the Disney archives later in life. I also enjoyed how this seemed to be a child star up-bringing where the parents (also in the industry) truly attempted to do the very best they could for their family and for their child star daughter.

I walk away from this read loving Hayley Mills more than I already did. I am ready to put Pollyanna on the TV, but more than anything, ready for Book 2!

Hayley Mills is truly a figure from the past. Pollyanna indeed. Hard to imagine our horribly split culture today embracing an upbeat happy white girl like the role Hayley played in that children’s classic.

But, as they say, it was a different time (the early ’60s) when Hayley became a child star almost by accident. A director friend of her father’s (the British actor John Mills) was looking for a young boy to play the lead in a film called Tiger Bay. He spotted Hayley on the Mills family farm and switched the role, tailoring it for a girl, specifically Hayley.

A star was born.

And a scout for the great Walt Disney noticed. Soon, Walt was knocking on the Mills family door, and it wasn’t long before Walt had Hayley signed to a long-term deal with him handpicking her film roles.

Hayley’s insights into Disney and the interaction between Disney and Hayley and the Mills family are worth the price of admission. Old Walt may have been a benevolent figure (and she paints him as an incredibly, joyful kind man who personally showed her around Disneyland, taking her on all the rides), but he ruled his business with an iron fist. No one had to tell Walt to embrace his own brand. He was eons ahead of everyone in that regard. Disney was Disney and it stood for family fun. It’s easy to scoff at that now, but Walt invented that!

Disney was zealous. He believed in storyboarding a film with no deviations. None. If a director wanted to change even one shot, he had to wait for Walt to sign off, no matter the difference in time zones. There is one story where an actor suggested a change and the director refused without Walt’s approval. Everyone on the film waited for half a day until Walt woke up and signed off.

One can only imagine (actually, we don’t have to imagine because it’s in the book) Walt’s reaction to Hayley being offered the role of Lolita. No surprise, he vetoed that idea quicker than you can Humbert Humbert. Hayley still regrets that she missed out on the role of a lifetime but is aware that she became “Pollyanna” forever while Sue Lyon, who took the role (and was also 15 years old at the time), forever became “Lolita.” It changed both women’s lives.

Hayley is nothing if not British, and she was steeped in that culture no matter how much Americans feel she’s their star. The bold-faced names of British films were her father’s buddies (Rex Harrison anyone?), and she saw them with their hair down, drinking too much and carousing. Hayley also spent a lot of time doing films with or perhaps for her father and his cronies. Sometimes, as in Whistle Down the Wind, written by her mother, it worked out great. Many other times, it did not, and one gets the sense that John Mills was using his daughter to raise funds for his own projects.

There are some great stories in this memoir like the one where director Otto Preminger offered her a role in Exodus. Her parents would not let her take the role, even after Preminger offered to throw in an original Renoir!

Then there was the time she met actor Sal Mineo. “I really like him,” she writes. “He was sweet and genuine but also seemed very young and vulnerable. All over the walls of his house were paintings of different parts of his naked body, which I found rather disturbing.”

This is a straight-ahead memoir with the Swinging London Town on full display. Hayley had a date with George Harrison set up by her mother. (George was a total gentleman) and hung outwith Sir Paul and his then girlfriend Jane Asher. She got to experience firsthand the terror of Beatlemania at George’s side as he was nearly torn apart by a throng of girls. She notes that Jane Asher got in the way of a throng of girls and Paul McCartney, and showed up at a party disheveled and very upset.

Hayley rubbed elbows with a lot of stars. She was standing in the wings next to John Lennon during a comeback performance by Judy Garland who had just gotten out of the hospital for attempting to kill herself. Lennon, famous for his quips, went too far this time. As Judy walked onstage, Lennon’s distinctive voice cut through, “Show us your wrists, Judy.”

These days, it’s hardly surprising to discover that Hayley, who struggled with her weight, reveals she had bulimia. It’s just not shocking anymore to read these accounts. It’s almost par for the course. Sadly. Although there were many glamorous moments, Hayley’s young life was not easy. Teachers resented her fame and treated her harshly, classmates largely didn’t know her because she was off on film sets so often, and her school kicked her out during her final year because she was too much of a distraction.

But the biggest villain Hayley had to face down was the British tax system. If anyone thinks we’re being overtaxed today, they should have lived in England during the ’60s. At one point, Hayley’s father’s estate was taxed at 98%! It’s a foreshadowing of Hayley’s own problems with the taxman (and now we understand George Harrison’s song a little better). When she turned 21 years old, she showed up expectantly at her very proper English accountant’s office to collect the film money that was placed in a trust. She’s waited for this moment of freedom for a long time, but the ineffectual accountant tells her flatly that the taxman wanted 91% of Hayley’s earnings. After a decade of lawsuits, she lost and was left with very little.

It's hard to remember now but there was a time when many Baby Boomer girls and boys had a crush on Hayley for films like The Parent Trap and That Darned Cat. If you’re one of them, you’ll likely love reading this behind-the-scenes account of what our Hayley was really up to during her formative years.

3 stars

Started out very strong and promising then kind of wandered around aimlessly. I really love her movies and enjoyed learning a little bit more about her.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.