Mandy Miller (born Carmen Isabella Miller, 23 July 1944) is an English child actress who made a number of films in the 1950s and is probably best remembered for her recording of the 1956 song " Nellie the Elephant".

Early life and career

She was christened Carmen but called Mandy by her family. Her career tended to involve serious acting roles rather than comedy, even in her first small part in ''

The Man in the White Suit ''The Man in the White Suit'' is a 1951 British satirical science fiction comedy film made by Ealing Studios. It stars Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood and Cecil Parker and was directed by Alexander Mackendrick. The film was nominated for an A ...

'', where she was a sad-faced little girl who helped

Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1 ...

escape from his pursuers. She put in a much-praised performance in her second film, another

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was hi ...

production, '' Mandy'' (1952), playing a

deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both deaf and could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak an oral language or have som ...

child whose parents (played by Terence Morgan and

Phyllis Calvert Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill (née Bickle; 18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002), known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 19 ...

) did not know how to cope with bringing her up. This briefly made her a leading actress. Her next film was '' Background'' (1953), with two other child actors, in a film about a family breaking up because of an impending divorce. Like ''Mandy'', this was a drama about a well-to-do middle-class family;

Valerie Hobson Babette Louisa Valerie Hobson (14 April 1917 – 13 November 1998) was a British actress whose film career spanned the 1930s to the early 1950s. Her second husband was John Profumo, a British government minister who became the subject of the Pro ...

played her mother. In 1954, she had a starring role in '' Adventure in the Hopfields'', a film made for the

Children's Film Foundation The Children's Film Foundation (CFF) was a non-profit organisation which made films for children in the United Kingdom originally to be shown as part of childrens' Saturday morning matinée cinema programming. The films typically were about 55 ...

. She also had lighter roles, such as in ''

Raising a Riot ''Raising a Riot'' is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Wendy Toye and starring Kenneth More, Shelagh Fraser and Mandy Miller about a naval officer who attempts to look after his three children in his wife's absence. It was shot at She ...

'' (1955) starring

Kenneth More Kenneth Gilbert More, CBE (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English film and stage actor. Initially achieving fame in the comedy ''Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many roles as a carefree, happy-go-lucky gent. Films from this peri ...

. Some of her other co-stars were

Joan Greenwood Joan Mary Waller Greenwood (4 March 1921 – 28 February 1987) was an English actress. Her husky voice, coupled with her slow, precise elocution, was her trademark. She played Sibella in the 1949 film ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'', and also app ...

Cecil Parker Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe, 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between ...

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and

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. Miller made two popular single

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

: "Snowflakes" and " Nellie the Elephant", the latter produced by

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

. She also appeared in television dramas.

Personal life

In 1962, at the age of 18, Miller moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

to become an

au pair An au pair (; plural: au pairs) is a helper from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a mon ...

. In 1965, she married Christopher Davey, an architect, and had three children (two girls and a boy). She lives in retirement in Britain. She is the aunt of actress

Amanda Pays Amanda Pays (born 6 June 1959) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Theora Jones in the film and television series '' Max Headroom'' and as Christina "Tina" McGee in ''The Flash'' and reprised her role in the 2014 series of t ...

Filmography

* ''

'' (1951) Gladdie * '' I Believe In You'' (1952) Child * '' Mandy'' (1952) Mandy * '' Background'' (1953) Linda Lomax * '' Adventure in the Hopfields'' (1954) Jenny Quin * ''

Dance, Little Lady ''Dance, Little Lady'' is a 1954 British drama film directed by Val Guest and starring Terence Morgan, Mai Zetterling, Guy Rolfe and Mandy Miller. The film was made by independent producer George Minter and distributed by his Renown Pictur ...

'' (1954) Jill Gordon * '' The Secret'' (1955) Katie Martin * ''

'' (1955) Anne Kent * '' The Feminine Touch'' (1956) Jessie * '' Child in the House'' (1956) Elizabeth Lorimer * '' The Snorkel'' (1958) Candy Brown

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Mandy 1944 births Living people English film actresses English soap opera actresses English television actresses People from Weston-super-Mare English child actresses English women singers English child singers English expatriates in the United States Parlophone artists EMI Records artists