called "Muffin", was used. Mills is now best remembered for being the partner of "Muffin" between 1946 and 1955. She wrote the songs and the music, including Muffin's popular theme song, while puppeteer Ann Hogarth wrote the scripts. Muffin the Mule used to clip-clop around on top of the piano, whilst Mills played a tune. She wrote several Muffin the Mule songbooks and an adventure tale about him, as well as making records. The shows were broadcast live until 1952, when they began to be filmed. Later, Mills and Muffin were joined in the BBC's For the Children spot by Prudence the Kitten, Mr Peregrine the Penguin, Sally the Sea-Lion, Louise the Lamb, Oswald the Ostrich, and Morris and Doris the field mice. Although all of the puppets captured the hearts of millions of young viewers, it was Muffin who gained the most attention. The press commented how the programme had fired children's imaginations. The success of the show led to a wide range of merchandising for children, as well as comics. Mills's last TV appearance was on 2 January 1955. She died in hospital in London eight days later, after an operation on a brain tumour. She had suffered a heart attack. Personal life Her younger brother John Mills became a successful actor. She was the aunt of Hayley Mills and Juliet Mills. Annette Mills was married twice, with a daughter, Molly Blake, by her first husband, Henry McClenaghan; her second marriage, to Robert Sielle, ended in divorce. Molly was a successful illustrator and produced many of the illustrations in the popular series of children's books of Muffin the Mule stories. Molly's daughter - and Mills's granddaughter - is the actress Susie Blake. Annette Mills became a life member of the Vegan Society in 1952. References External links Annette Mills at the National Portrait Gallery Muffin the Mule at H2G2 Anne Pimlott Baker, "Mills, Annette (1894–1955)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 28 Oct 2006 1894 births 1955 deaths 20th-century English actresses 20th-century British businesspeople English female dancers English television actresses English television presenters