Alley Mills

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Biography

Widely regarded as one of the most extreme -- and yet triumphant -- casting coups on the seminal period comedy drama The Wonder Years (1988-1993), actress Alley Mills was reportedly regarded for years as a complete counterculture figure (a self-described "hippie") and yet secured a role on Years as Kevin Arnold's (Fred Savage) bleached-blonde, prim-and-proper mother, Norma. Mills not only managed to convince and persuade in the part, but did much to help recall the vicissitudes of an unforgettable time in American history -- a dowdy suburban matriarch amid the flower-power era.

Born in Chicago in 1951, Mills launched her career in television, appearing in such long-form features as A Matter of Life and Death (1981) and The Atlanta Child Murders (1985). She took her feature bow in 1983 as the romantic lead of John Candy in David Steinberg's second-rate comedy Going Berserk. The Wonder Years represented Mills's breakthrough; after it wrapped, she landed occasional guest parts on such series as NYPD Blue and Roseanne, and appeared infrequently in telemovies, such as Joyce Chopra's 1995 Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan.

Off-camera, Mills made headlines when the never-before-married actress wed legendary Hollywood actor Orson Bean, 23 years her senior, not long after Years concluded. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
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Alley Mills

Mills at the 1989 Emmy Awards with Dan Lauria The Wonder Years
Born May 9, 1951 (1951-05-09) (age 60)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Other names Allison Mills
Occupation Actress
Years active 1965–present

Alley Mills (born May 9, 1951) is an American actress best known for her role as Norma Arnold, the mother in the coming-of-age series The Wonder Years.

Contents

Life and career

Mills was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her father, Ted Mills, a television executive,[1] died in August 2003. Her stepmother, Genevieve, whose real name was Ginette Marguerite Auger, died March 2004. Alley's mother, Joan (Paterson) Mills Kerr, an author as well as an editor for American Heritage Magazine, died in November, 1996. Her stepfather was Chester Kerr, former director of Yale University Press. She has one sister, Hilary Mills Loomis, and one brother, Tony Mills. Her first acting role on television was in the short-lived comedy, The Associates, where she played an attorney, opposite a then-unknown Martin Short.

She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, film, television, stage actor and author Orson Bean. Bean is well known for being a long term celebrity panelist of To Tell the Truth and Match Game. Mills (who is twenty-three years his junior) is Bean's third wife, and they have been married since 1993. She also appeared on a special "Celebrity TV Moms" episode of the Anne Robinson version of The Weakest Link, in which she was the second one eliminated.

Mills had a recurring role in the television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, as Marjorie Quinn, Dr. Michaela Quinn's sister. She had previously appeared in the series as a saloon girl.

Mills joined the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful as Pamela Douglas, the estranged sister of Stephanie Douglas Forrester, on December 1, 2006. She was put under contract, but after making only a handful of appearances, her character went insane, was confined to a mental hospital, and then disappeared from the show. Mills reprised the role in December 2008 and has been added to the opening credits, meaning she is now likely to stay with the show for some time.

Notable television roles

References

  1. ^ Monika Guttman. "Wonder casting: hippie to housewife". St. Petersburg Times. June 25, 1989. TV DIAL, 6.

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Alley Mills (Actor, Drama/Comedy Drama)
Making the Grade (TV series)