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

Mandy Miller
Born
Carmen Isabella Miller

(1944-07-23) 23 July 1944 (age 80)
Years active1951–1958
SpouseChristopher Davey (m. 1965)
Children3

Early life

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Carmen Isabella Miller, known professionally as Mandy Miller, was born in 1944.[1]

Career

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Her career tended to involve serious acting roles rather than comedy, even in her first small part in The Man in the White Suit, where she was a sad-faced little girl who helped Alec Guinness escape from his pursuers. She put in a much-praised performance in her second film, another Ealing production, Mandy (1952), playing a deaf-mute child whose parents (played by Terence Morgan and Phyllis Calvert) did not know how to cope with bringing her up. This briefly made her a leading actress.[2]

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 played her mother. In 1954, she had a starring role in Adventure in the Hopfields, a film made for the Children's Film Foundation. She also had lighter roles, such as in Raising a Riot (1955) starring Kenneth More. Some of her other co-stars were Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker, Godfrey Tearle, Thora Hird and Sam Wanamaker. She also appeared in television dramas.

Miller made two popular single records: "Snowflakes" and "Nellie the Elephant", the latter produced by George Martin.

In 1962, at the age of 18, she gave up acting and moved to New York City to become an au pair.[3]

Personal life

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Miller's sister is the actress Jan Miller, and her niece is the actress Amanda Pays.[1]

In 1965, she married Christopher Davey, an architect, and had three children.

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b Maxford, H. (2019). Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 559. ISBN 978-1-4766-2914-8. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  2. ^ Vagg, Stephen (17 November 2020). "John Guillermin: Action Man". Filmink.
  3. ^ "Mandy Miller | Biography". imdb.com. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
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