05/12/97 - 03:09 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Like the imposing 19th century Siamese ruler he plays in the touring production of The King and I, Vee Talmadge does not appear to be easily rattled.
But it wasn't until opening night in Minneapolis a few weeks ago that the actor found the courage to confess his feelings to his leading lady. "Hayley Mills was the first girl I ever had a crush on," says Talmadge, 41.
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Later, Mills smiles when reminded of the revelation. With diction as crisp as an English biscuit, she says, "It's a very sweet thing to hear."
But the Disney discovery from England who won a special Oscar for 1960's Pollyanna and played scheming twins in the 1961 divorce comedy The Parent Trap knows it has little to do with who she is today. At 51, this slim, striking mother of two 20-something sons isn't likely to hatch a "scathingly brilliant idea" like her convent-school hellion did in the 1966 movie The Trouble With Angels. Or go sliding down snowy slopes on a runaway boulder as in 1962's In Search of the Castaways.
Sophisticated clouds of Hermes perfume waft about her. Age lines creep about her fair face. Still, you can see glimpses of the girl she once was, such as when she scrunches up her snub nose when something strikes her as odd or amusing.
Not that the one-time child star minds declarations of admiration. Growing up as the daughter of Oscar-winning actor John Mills (Ryan's Daughter), she was used to strangers smiling warmly at her father. "It's like finding oneself amongst friends. People look at you as if they like you.
"That is, until they actually get to know you," she adds with a laugh.
American audiences are getting to know Mills all over again. After years of theater work in Australia, England, New Zealand, Canada and Russia, she is making her U.S. stage debut as Mrs. Anna, the prim governess whose cultural beliefs clash with those of the king in the beloved Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.
The actress originated the part in this much-praised revival when it toured Australia in 1991, although Donna Murphy took over the role on Broadway and won a Tony for it.
But those involved in this year-long, $5.5 million enterprise count on Mills to entice theatergoers from beyond the Great White Way. "We all grew up in love with Hayley Mills," says director Christopher Renshaw. "She was a liberating figure for children. On the road, you need to give the public an extra reason to go. And she's a good extra reason."
What Shirley Temple was to Depression kids, Mills was to '60s boomer brats. Boys fell for her rambunctious pertness. Girls imagined this lively blue-eyed blonde as their best friend. In her heyday, Mills received about 10,000 fan letters a month.
"The fact that she could play Pollyanna and not be cloying is an achievement," says Leonard Maltin, author of The Disney Films, of her most famous role as the turn-of-the-century orphan who brightens everyone's life in a small town.
But nostalgia goes only so far, especially when you have to carry a tune. As noted in early reviews, Mills, who tackles such melodies as Hello, Young Lovers and I Whistle a Happy Tune, isn't the strongest of singers. She doesn't disagree.
"It is the least predictable part of my performance, and that is one of the challenges," says Mills, who regularly takes voice lessons. "To turn it down because I was afraid . . . I wouldn't have been happy with myself." Instead she remembers her dad's sage advice: "Sell the song!"
Mills earns the approval of no less than Mary Rodgers, daughter of King's composer, Richard Rodgers. "She really has a lovely voice. It's not a huge voice, but that is what amplification is for these days."
Besides, in 1961, Mills had a top-10 hit on the charts - Let's Get Together from The Parent Trap. "It was No. 1 in Hawaii," the actress declares proudly. Murphy can't claim that.
When chatting about the present, Mills measures out each word with care, as if depositing sugar cubes in tea, lump by lump. But memories pour forth in a emotional rush.
Early fame did have its perks, like ice-cream sodas and free movies at Walt Disney's home. She didn't date much, although she admits, "I was falling in love all the time." At age 15, she went out with Beatle George Harrison. "It was arranged by my mother," who is playwright/novelist Mary Hayley Bell (Whistle Down the Wind). "It was for a charity event. I pleaded with her not to do it."
She worshiped Elvis Presley - and still does (favorite song: Love Me Tender). She saw him once on the Sunset Strip. "Our cars both stopped at the same light. There he was in all his glory. He was beautiful."
But it was not long after she received her first bad review, for 1964's The Chalk Garden, that the teen performer began to feel uneasy with her blossoming appearance ("I used to look like Miss Piggy") and her squeaky-clean image. That discomfort manifested itself in a number of ways: an eating disorder, a move to riskier films and her choice of a husband 32 years her senior.
It was the 1967 comedy-drama The Family Way that unraveled her ties to Disney after six films. A nude scene (back view) caused a stir. "A big drama was made out of this skinny creature who was in a tin bath," Mills recalls. "I mean, so what?"
Even more of a ruckus erupted when she wed the film's director, the much-older Ray Boulting, in 1971. "It was a case of being swept along by something." The birth of son Crispian, now 24 and leader of the hot British band Kula Shaker, put a halt to her need to binge and purge.
Bulimia wasn't spoken about back then. "I didn't know anyone else did it until I made a film with Britt Ekland. We used to spend hours talking. And she told me. I was staggered that this beautiful woman did it."
Mills and Boulting divorced in the late '70s. She had another son, Jason, now 20 and a university student, during a tumultuous nine-year relationship with actor Leigh Lawson (Tess), who later wed model-actress Twiggy.
Mills finds refuge from life's upheavals in Eastern religions, an interest shared with Crispian, whose band boasts a neo-psychedelic sound.
"It wasn't really until my late 30s when I began to feel the need to investigate things from a deeper perspective," she says. "I think it had to do with beginning to think for myself. It all started when I became a vegetarian." She meditates, does yoga and believes in reincarnation.
Her incarnation as a stage star has a bonus: Mills finally can explore the country that fell for her younger self so long ago. "It is the most wonderful opportunity to be traveling with this glorious show. It is the most beautiful circus." Ever-glad Pollyanna herself could not summon more enthusiasm.
By Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY
Copyright 1997 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
