Mary Hayley Bell, Lady Mills (22 January 1911 – 1 December 2005) was an English actress and writer, married for 64 years to actor Sir John Mills. Her novel Whistle Down the Wind was adapted as a film, starring her teenaged daughter, actress Hayley Mills. Background Mary Hayley Bell was born in Shanghai International Settlement, Shanghai, China, where her father, Colonel Francis Hayley Bell, served in the Chinese Maritime Customs Service with postings to various Treaty Ports. Her mother was Agnes (née McGowan). Her father, a Boer War veteran, served, from 1925 to 1928, as Customs Commissioner for Kowloon (within Hong Hong, although this position had no connection with the British colonial administration). During this period Mary attended school in Hong Kong and frequently spent weekends of leisure at the Commissioner's official country bungalow near Fan Ling Golf Club. The family later (1930) moved to Tianjin (then known as Tientsin). In the run-up to World War II, Francis Bell was the Defence Security Officer in Singapore in 1936 MI5. He staged a mock commando raid on Singapore's vital installations, including the naval base, where his men took control of a fuel dump, fleet of boats, and telephone exchange switchboards, in order to highlight Singapore's vulnerability to attack. This led to furious reactions from senior officials, with complaints being made to the War Office, and Bell was sacked. Acting roles Mary Hayley Bell travelled to England to attend Malvern Girls' College and RADA. Her stage debut was in 1932 in The Barretts of Wimpole Street with an American touring company in Shanghai. On the London stage, she appeared in Vintage Wine in 1934 and further West End roles followed, as well as a tour of Australia and a New York debut in 1939. Her acting career ended on her marriage to Mills, in 1941. Later in life, she had a small uncredited role as a nursing home resident in the 1993 Eric Sykes film The Big Freeze, opposite her husband. She also appeared in her son's documentary Sir John Mills' Moving Memories (2000). Writings Mary Hayley Bell wrote four plays: Men in Shadow (1942), Angel (1947), Duet for Two Hands (1945), and The Uninvited Guest (1953). She also wrote the novel Whistle Down the Wind (1958), co-wrote the screenplay and story of Sky West and Crooked (1966) (released as Gypsy Girl in the United States), and wrote additional dialogue for Scott