Hayley Mills, best known for her roles in classic Disney films like The Parent Trap and Pollyanna, was one of Hollywood’s brightest child stars of the 1960s. By the time she was 14, she had become a household name and was earning substantial sums for Disney. Yet, as Mills recounts in her upcoming memoir Forever Young, she discovered at 21 that much of her fortune had vanished, leaving her nearly penniless despite starring in over a dozen movies. Now 75, Mills reflects on how she lost her $17 million fortune and the years-long battle to reclaim what was hers.
Mills was born into a family deeply connected to the entertainment industry in the U.K.—her mother, Mary Hayley Bell, was a writer and actress, and her father, Sir John Mills, was a celebrated actor. She made her film debut alongside her father in Tiger Bay, which led to a contract with Disney. The studio cast her in Pollyanna and then in The Parent Trap, the latter of which became a massive hit, earning $25.1 million at the box office and earning Mills an honorary Juvenile Academy Award. Her early Disney years brought fame, recognition, and, she expected, financial security.
However, when Mills attempted to access the trust fund holding her earnings at age 21, she was blindsided. The British Revenue Service had taxed her trust at an astonishing 91 percent. As Mills recalls in excerpts from Forever Young, her lawyer told her, “Well, my dear, basically, the Revenue have attacked your trust company…They’re going to tax you at the full rate: 91 percent of the entire trust.” She later remembered thinking the blood drained from her face at the news, and was advised, humorously but grimly, to “leave the country” because contesting it seemed futile.
Mills pursued legal avenues to reclaim her money, appealing tax rulings for years. Initially, she took her case to the Master of the Rolls, Lord Denning, who ruled in her favor, arguing she had already paid tax on her earnings and shouldn’t owe additional surtax. Yet the House of Lords later overturned that decision in 1974, leaving Mills with a final loss of about £2 million—roughly $17 million today. “The state had plundered my trust like a horde of pirates,” she wrote, reflecting on the devastation of losing her Disney earnings.
Despite the financial loss, Mills remained philosophical. She told the Los Angeles Times, “I never saw it…then one day the dream was gone. Occasionally, I think: It would have been nice if I had the freedom to say no.” In her memoir, she wrote that while she mourned the loss of the freedom her wealth could have provided, she did not mourn the money itself. Her son, Crispian Mills, who helped with the book, added that his mother’s perspective remained “innocent” and reflective of the same Pollyanna charm audiences had admired on screen: “The way she describes the experience…is very innocent—like, how can you feel sad for something you never had?”
Mills’ story stands as a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of child stardom, the complexities of trust funds, and the resilience required to navigate life after early fame.
