Disney child actor Hayley Mills set the record straight on what happened to her earnings after skyrocketing to fame on “The Parent Trap.”
Mills appeared in “Pollyanna” and famously played twin sisters in “The Parent Trap,” but admitted she wasn’t able to retain her fortune. In the April 17 episode of “The Rosebud Podcast,” she told host Gyles Brandreth that “the millions” she earned through her roles with Disney slipped through her fingers because it was mismanaged.
“I gave it to the tax man,” Mills said.
“It was rather a big chunk,” she said.
“It was most of it because it was all put into a trust fund, because super tax was 90% in those days, so they had to do something.”
Brandreth weighed in by suggesting Mills’ famous father, the highly acclaimed British actor Sir John Mills, was part of the problem.
“I do know the background of this, and it’s partly because you were poorly advised.” He continued, “But also, it was partly to do with the naïveté of your father, I think. There was an innocence about him and a sort of optimism.”
Mill’s sister, Juliet, clarified that their father had a business manager who ultimately advised him on how to handle the finances.
“Stanley [Passmore] also advised Daddy, and not very well,” Mills said.
374405 06: Actress Hayley Mills smiles and poses for photographers at the “4th Annual Cosmo Fun Fearless Female Awards” luncheon February 7, 2000 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Liaison)
Mills revealed she went to collect her money from the trust established by her father and Passmore, and discovered it hadn’t been set up correctly. Instead of cashing in, she had to pay a surtax of 91%, according to a previous report published by The Independent.
“The trust company was set up for me. Stanley was also involved in setting up a trust company for [actor] Jack Hawkins. And the Inland Revenue attacked his trust company, which affected British law. It created the precedent,” Mills explained.
29th March 1973: British actress Hayley Mills. She is to make her television debut as ‘Lady Glencora’ in ‘The Pallisters’. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
“And so, when I reached 21, instead of being given the key to the door, I was handed an envelope across a green baize tablecloth by Stanley, which was the Inland Revenue basically saying, ‘Thank you. You owe us 90% of your earnings’,” she said.
“He was a crook. He didn’t give a flying Dutchman,” Mills lamented.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 24: Hayley Mills attends the “Trap” world premiere at Alice Tully Hall on July 24, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
Mills sought the assistance of a prominent lawyer and intended to take the matter to court, but told Brandreth that “it didn’t work.”
The Los Angeles Times previously reported that the famous actress pleaded her case to the British government for years, and despite seeing some progress along the way, her appeal was ultimately denied. (RELATED: Jodie Sweetin Reveals Brutal Truth About ‘Full House’ Pay)
The actress admitted the situation set her back.
“I didn’t have a sensible enough sense of my career and what I ought to be doing, but I didn’t want to do more Disney movies,” Mills said.