She was born into show business royalty, made her film debut at just 11 weeks old, and grew up surrounded by legends like Noel Coward, Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, and more. On this episode of Still Here Hollywood, Steve Kmetko sits down with the luminous Juliet Mills, the beloved star of Nanny and the Professor, to trace a life and career that spans West End theater, Broadway, classic television, and unforgettable Hollywood collaborators. Juliet shares how her family and upbringing shaped her worldview, why gratitude became one of her guiding principles, and what it was really like stepping into the spotlight as “Nanny” during a time when television was far more “tea and nightgowns” than romance and realism. She also looks back on the global success of the show, her bond with co-star Richard Long, and why she believes the series might have lasted longer if the on-screen relationship had been allowed to evolve. Plus, Juliet tells behind-the-scenes stories from her career highlights, including working with Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon on Avanti! (yes, the role that required her to gain 35 pounds, a true acting challenge if spaghetti is involved). She also opens up about love, marriage, and fate, as her husband Maxwell Caulfield joins the conversation for a charming, honest look at how their relationship began during The Elephant Man, with a cameo appearance from Natalie Wood in the origin story. If you grew up with Nanny and the Professor, love classic Hollywood, or just want to hear a joyful, thoughtful conversation with an icon who’s still full of wonder, this one’s for you. Support the show and get episodes early, behind-the-scenes extras, and more at patreon.com/stillherehollywood
Steve Kmetko
Yes, I'm still here Hollywood, and coming up on today's episode, she's been part of show business royalty. From the moment she opened her eyes, she grew up surrounded by greats, became one herself and carved out a career that spanned Broadway film, Primetime drama and one of the most beloved TV classics of its era. She's equal parts grace, wit and quiet magic, the kind that made an entire generation believe that nannies could do far more than manage bedtime. This is still here Hollywood. I'm Steve kametko. Join me with today's guest actor Juliet Mills, from nanny and the professor.
Steve Kmetko
Hi, Juliet, thanks for coming in today. I really appreciate this.
Juliet Mills
Hello, Steve. I'm happy to be here.
Steve Kmetko
How long have you been acting?
Steve Kmetko
Well, acting, maybe that's an indelicate question. No, no, not at all.
Juliet Mills
I really I made my fit. My film debut when I was 11 weeks old. Wow, in a film called in which we serve, which starred my father, and it was directed by Noel Coward, who was my godfather, we can stop right there. That's more than most people can say yes,
Juliet Mills
but I can't say I was acting. Then I was just a baby in the crib, of course, but I got billing baby Juliet mills. So that was my start. I really started acting. The first thing I ever did was on stage. I played Alice in Alice Through the Looking Glass. It was like a Christmas seasonal thing that they have in England, you know. And it was at the Chelsea palace, and I was 14. And so that was the very first and then I did a play when I was 16, called five finger exercise. And that started in London. Peter Shaffer's first play, huge hit. Ran for over a year, then went to Broadway, and we played another nine months or something there. So I really started in the theater.
Steve Kmetko
What did Peter, I'm trying to remember the Equus. That's it. That's it. I could Amadeus, oh, yeah, just a
Juliet Mills
few things. Yeah, a few things. And this was his very first place. Oh, my,
Steve Kmetko
you gave him his heart. Did you feel obligated, because of the history of your family, to become an actor?
Juliet Mills
Not obligated, but destined? Maybe that without realizing, because we were brought up in that environment, daddy seemed to always be having such a great life, such a great time with wonderful, talented, beautiful friends and actors, writers, you know, and it just sort of it looked like a great life if you could make it. And Daddy always made it very clear to us that, you know, you have to have talent and you have to have luck to make it in this business, and if you're, you know, aware that it's not just going to be a bed of roses and you get a lot of rejection, and you You mustn't take it too personally, or it'll ruin your life. You know, the we were encouraged and, I suppose, inspired in that way, but it just sort of evolved. I went to a ballet school as a child, boarding school. There's an offshoot of Sadler's Wells, and I was there for eight, nine years, and when I left, I was going to go to Rada. I took an audition to go to Rada, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, but I got this audition as an experience. I was supposed to take an audition for five finger exercise, and that sort of started me off.
Steve Kmetko
When you think back on your career, is there what's what? What stands out to you? Is there anybody in particular that you worked with?
Juliet Mills
Oh yes. Oh yeah. Billy Wilder.
Steve Kmetko
Billy Wilder, yeah.
Juliet Mills
Billy Wilder. I did a film with Jack Lemmon directed by Billy Wilder. That was definitely a highlight of my career and my life's experience working with brilliant people like that. You know, Jack was a brilliant actor, wonderful comedian, and Billy, of course, was, you know, I mean, a genius actually.
Steve Kmetko
Well, sunset bull. Bar Some like it hot. Yes, the
Juliet Mills
apartment, all those great, great movies. And, you know, the film was shot in Italy on the Amalfi Coast, and in Rome at chinichitar, and I had to put on 35 pounds. So I never stopped eating. I mean, it was just wonderful.
Steve Kmetko
Italy is a great place to eat, to be if you have to eat, what do you credit your father with?
Juliet Mills
As far as my life? Yeah, his great enthusiasm for everything, for life, his, his, teaching us about being grateful for our luck, for our good luck. And I think later in life, my guru said, you know, to be grateful is one of the keys to happiness, keys to life, to be grateful. If you're feeling full of gratefulness, you're not angry. You can't be angry, you can't be frightened. Really, it's so he taught us that. He was always saying, whenever we would be on location with him or somewhere wonderful meeting wonderful people, he'd say, Aren't we lucky? All so lucky, and I'm so lucky to be making a living and doing something that I love. You know, that was one of the great lessons he taught me, and he was a great enthusiast, and he had a great sense of humor and so and, of course, he and my mother were married for 67
Steve Kmetko
years. Wow, that's a long time.
Juliet Mills
And they were lovers. Always they were in love. They used to write notes to each other, you know, when they were going to London, he was going to London for the day, leave her a love letter. I mean, you know, 50 years on, and so we were brought up in a very happy, loving environment, and and all of their friends were fascinating, beautiful, famous people. I mean, my godmother was Vivien Leigh and my godfather was Noel Coward, So that right there, there's a start, you know, and Dougie Fairbanks and Tyrone Power and Lawrence Olivier. The house was always full of these fascinating, talented, beautiful people. Of course, in retrospect, I think if I had only had a tape recorder going, what? What larks? But no, it seemed that they had a wonderful life and were very, very grateful. And if we could get into that life, then, you know, if we could make a living acting, then we'd be very lucky, and Haley and I have been very lucky. How is Haley? She's very, very well.
Steve Kmetko
What can you tell us about her today? Of course, many of us knew her from Pollyanna,
Juliet Mills
yes, of course. Well, I'll tell you something that I'm sure you won't believe is that next year, she turns 80, and we're going over for her birthday. Of course, she's actually, at the moment, doing a little role, a featured role in a Netflix series called The Age of Innocence, shooting in Prague. So, you know, she works on and off, and she lives in London, and she loves to come here, and we go there, and she comes here at least once a year for a holiday in California. You know, the Brits love the sunshine,
Steve Kmetko
even though they don't get much of it. No, right. Did you ever feel pressure to not to just succeed, but to succeed differently from your father and your sister?
Juliet Mills
No, not really. No. No. Competition. Not really, no. The thing is that Hayley, I started in the theater, and that was my that's where I was for many years in the West End, working with the Royal Shakespeare companies, doing classical plays. And that was my passion and my love. She started very, very young. I mean, she was literally, I suppose she was eight or nine when she did Tiger Bay, which was the first film she did with my father. And so it was very, very different the trajectory of our careers, I think probably now. Is the first time now that we're both going to be in our 80s, that we might compete for a role for old ladies, but we haven't ever really been in competition, and we're both great admirers of each other. You know, I love, I love and adore her, and love to see her work, and she feels the same way. So there hasn't been and as far as my father goes, well, he was just, you know, we absolutely adored him, and there was never any competition.
Steve Kmetko
He won an Oscar, didn't he, or Ryan's Daughter? Yeah, he did, which came relatively late in his life.
Juliet Mills
Yes, and he was so thrilled I was with him that night. Oh, were you when he received that Oscar and he when they called his name, he jumped out of that seat like a jumping bean. I mean, he went straight up in the air. He didn't believe that he was going to get it. He didn't think he was going to win it. He wasn't like the favorite to win it. But of course, Ryan's Daughter that year won a lot of Oscars deservedly. It's a great movie. And yeah, epic. David Lean, epic movie. It took 14 months to shoot that film in Dingle Island,
Steve Kmetko
typical of David Lee, yes, I interviewed him once, and he had so many stories like, you know, from Dr Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia, Ryan's Daughter. My goodness, what a career. What a career. What what what was the best? Well, I think you probably told me already that the encouragement you got from your family, what was the hardest part of growing up in the Mills family?
Juliet Mills
Hmm, good question. I think maybe when they go away, our parents would go away on location for, you know, weeks and weeks when they were filming, and we'd be at home with nannies. And, you know, I think maybe that was one of the hard things. I don't, I don't think there was ever sort of, we ever felt there was a lack of privacy or anything like that, although, when we went anywhere, my father was a huge film star in England and later here. But in England, he was a big star through the 40s, 50s, 60s. So there was that element of, you know, when we went anywhere there, he was always recognized, so people would come to the table and interrupt, and maybe that a little bit. But I can't really think of anything much that's negative about
Steve Kmetko
you gained quite a bit of notoriety when you were starring in the nanny and the professor. What do you remember about that?
Juliet Mills
Well, it was a very, very happy time for me. I loved Richard long we worked very well together. The professor I was doing a play in London called she stoops to conquer with Tom Courtney and Ralph Richardson and David Gerber, who was producing nanny, came to see the play, and he came round afterwards and asked me if I would test for this series in America. So I did test, and I got it and I thought, and they let me out of the play to do the pilot for three weeks, and I went back into the play, and then they said, Yeah, we're good. It's, it's a go. And I thought it would just be, like, 13 episodes or something, you know, I didn't know I was very green. I didn't have any idea what I was getting into. But I loved the part, because I love magic. I believe in ESP, I like children to a certain degree,
Steve Kmetko
in small doses.
Juliet Mills
So it was a it was and to come to California and do it, it was all a plus. But I didn't realize really, what a big step it was, what a big change to my life it would make. Because it was, as you know, a big success globally, not not just here, and it we did 64 episodes. So it was almost three years. So it was a it's really, I kept thinking I was going to go back to England, and I did go back and do some theater and do a job, or do something a TV or a movie, but I kept coming back here and. Yeah, and the work seemed to be more here than there, and suddenly I found I I was living in California, and I just love California.
Steve Kmetko
So how long have you lived here now? Nanny and the professor was in the 60s.
Juliet Mills
I see during when I was doing nanny and the professor, I wasn't really totally here. I mean, I came to work and went back and so, I suppose, no, actually, it wasn't in the 60s. It was, I think, 72 and then went on to 73 Yeah, 76 something like that. No, 75 I think. And it was a big it was a big event in my life. And what was the question?
Steve Kmetko
I went off. I forgot it too. We're in the same boat. It just made a big difference in your life. Yes, it did. There was a lot of notoriety. I think I recall you being on magazine covers and yes, yes, of that nature,
Juliet Mills
yes and TV guide the cover. And I didn't realize what a huge thing it was to do a series on a, you know, ABC, and just what a high profile thing that was to do. I didn't I'd never been here. I didn't know about TV here. So it was quite a surprise to me that the the success, and it was a big success because of ABC that they took the night. Always it was what asked Brady Bunch and Partridge Family, the three, those three shows, and very successful.
Steve Kmetko
And Richard, long had you known him before? Then?
Juliet Mills
No, never met him before. No, he was wonderful actor, lovely, lovely guy. We had a great relationship on and off. His whole family kind of embraced me. Had children and his beautiful wife, Mara Corday, I spent a lot of time with them, because when I first came here, I didn't know anyone, you know, I was just on my own, and they were I just adored Richard.
Steve Kmetko
Do you remember where you shot that series, where we
Juliet Mills
shot it at Fox and on the west side, yeah, yeah, and on location, around, like, you know, that area, yeah, Fox was a huge lot. Then, just before they sold it off to, you know,
Steve Kmetko
bits and pieces here and there to pay the bills. You've said In fact, you mentioned it just a little while ago you felt nanny's magic. Do you remember the exact period when you felt you knew how she would carry herself?
Juliet Mills
I I really put myself into her shoes. I really felt an affiliation with that character, that woman who appeared out of nowhere because the family needed her. It was a motherless family, three children, and, you know, a professor was working all the time, and I just, I had realized identified with her. And I believe in, truly believe in, ESP, I believe in magic. I believe in afterlife. I believe in spiritual power, and so it all came very naturally to me. I don't actually talk to animals. Well, I do, but they don't talk back like they did for nanny, always talking to that sheepdog, walled,
Steve Kmetko
beautiful sheep dog, and we'll be right back. If you'd like to be more involved with us at still here Hollywood, you definitely can just visit patreon.com/still here Hollywood. You can support us for as little as $3 a month. You can get our episodes a day before they post anywhere else. You can see what guests will be coming up and submit questions for them. You can even tell us what stars you want us to have on as guests. You will see what goes on before and after the episode, plus exclusive behind the scenes, info, pics, video and more. Again, that's patreon.com/still, here Hollywood. How did the show affect your career trajectory at the time?
Juliet Mills
Well, it was huge, really, because suddenly I had a name, you know, that was recognized name. So I got more. Work. And then Aaron Spelling employed me non stop. I mean, I did all of his shows, and all the TV shows, really, I mean, practically all of those episodic, you know, that's what happened. You did all those, and you did all the game shows, you know, Hollywood Squares and password, all those things. So I was suddenly a personality, a name recognizable, which was a first for me. So it and I work wise, I got very interesting work. I actually avanti, which was the Billy Wilder, Jack Lemmon film that came about, because Billy saw me in a play many years before in London, and said, One day we'll work together. And I thought, hahaha, you know, yeah, but we did. But I think probably he was able to sell me to the studio for the lead opposite Jack Lemmon, because I now had a name because of nanny. I mean, I literally only finished nanny about less than a year before I did Avanti for Billy. So definitely changed everything for me. That series really Billy.
Steve Kmetko
I saw an interview with Billy once, a lengthy, unedited interview. He was such a funny man. He had a sense of humor.
Juliet Mills
Yes, so funny. And it was just, it wasn't as though he told jokes or things, or he told a few jokes, but it was his observations and perception of life and people that was he was so witty, so funny. And of course, he wrote all those wonderful scripts that you mentioned, Some Like It Hot and all that, you know, brilliant wit. Oh, he and Jack together. I mean, I felt so fortunate to spend time with those two guys and their wives in Rome at dinner because Billy wanted me to have dinner with them every night to make sure I ate plenty of spaghetti so that I'd kept my weight up, but wasn't hard. So I really spent a lot of time with them as well as working with them. And it was an education and great fun. They were both very funny, but Billy was brilliant.
Steve Kmetko
How would you describe the theater scene in London
Juliet Mills
now or now now, I think, very healthy, very, very strong. I mean, it's like Broadway. It sort of has come back since covid. You know, everybody, things went down very much, theater wise, during the covid, obviously, because lots of theaters were shut, altogether closed and, and it took time to come back, but now I think Theater in London is very, very strong and, And in New York too, New York's right back, Broadway's right back. Very expensive now, but it sure is, oh my goodness. We just were there, actually, as we were invited by Pete Townsend to see the rock ballet, his rock ballet of Quadrophenia. And it was playing for four nights at city center. And so we we went in for that. We treated ourselves to go to New York, to that, to see that, because we were invited. And we also saw just in time, which is the Bobby Darin movie, right with Jonathan Groff, yes, if you go to New York, you have to see that he's only in it till March. And it's, it's a marvelous show.
Steve Kmetko
He's really burst onto the scene, hasn't he,
Juliet Mills
yeah, yeah. We saw him first in Spring Awakening, which he sort of, I think that was his first Broadway appearance, but and all the music that Bobby Darin period, you know, it was wonderful. Yes, wonderful show. Yeah, London's, London's humming. London's humming.
Steve Kmetko
I tend to think, as I think a lot of people do, about London being the birthplace of popular theater. Do you think? Do you agree with that?
Juliet Mills
I think so, because we go back so much further than you do here, right? You know his story. I mean, Theater in London started with the Old Globe and Shakespeare. So. So historically, we definitely started, started the trend. I think so.
Steve Kmetko
Can I? Thank you, Maya, I Yeah. Is there a back to nanny for just a second? Yeah? Was there a moment from filming the show that fans would be surprised to know actually happened behind the scenes?
Juliet Mills
I think probably, you know, there was always a curiosity, especially about, you know, the professor and I, as far as we seem to get on so well, but nothing ever really seemed to happen romantically. And I think that the audience began to really wonder about that and want something to happen. But in those days, you know, television was much more prudish, as you probably remember, right? You know, I mean, I had to wear a sort of long white nightgown with long sleeves and a high neck if I was seen in my bedroom or anything. I never could make the professor a scotch, and so do. I had to make him a cup of tea. We couldn't, you know, it was they didn't let that progress that relationship, which I think, actually the fans wanted, and that was the one thing behind the scenes that they were always saying, why don't, I mean, isn't, didn't he falling for you? Aren't you falling You're such good friend you have to remember, and it never went that way. I think if they had started writing a romantic relationship that grew out of this respect for each other, then probably this show would have continued for
Steve Kmetko
a bit longer. I think, would you have been prepared to go on with it?
Juliet Mills
I would I had a ball, you know? It was the first time I'd worked here. It was, I was starring in this show, wonderful company, the crew and everybody. It was like a big family, you know, but we wouldn't have been able to go on too long, because, you know, Richard long died within a year after we finished. He had a heart problem. He knew he had a heart problem, but he didn't look after himself. He smoked two packs a day or something, and loved his booze at night and and he said he had a heart attack when he was 30, so he knew that, you know he was he said, I want to do it my way. He said that he knew that, but I was still very shocked when he died. He was 47
Steve Kmetko
Ooh, very young, very when you first read the script for nanny and the professor, what hooked you?
Juliet Mills
Well, her sort of magical character, you know, the fact that she just appears on the doorstep in this sort of, sort of policeman's hat and a cape, I mean, a British Bobby's hat, you know, so dear stalker. I suppose it was the whole idea of this woman who comes and looks after this family by and and has these sort of premonitions. And, I mean, I wrote one of the scripts myself.
Steve Kmetko
I was going to ask you, how much contributing did you do to the story?
Juliet Mills
Well, later on, when, you know, in the like the second year i i did contribute quite a bit. And I actually did write one whole script, which I was very proud of, and, and they wrote a script for my father. He came and did a guest shot, which was wonderful. He played my uncle. Alfred. Was a cat burglar, really. Now it was, it was, and we shot a lot in Rancho Park, rare by Fox, you know. And I was renting a house right there by Fox, and it was, it was a very happy time, and it just her character appealed to me. We agreed on a lot of things. We thought the same way. And of course, the more I, I was doing it, the more it became me, and I became her, and just all one,
Steve Kmetko
did you enjoy the notoriety that came with the film or with the TV series?
Juliet Mills
Yes, I did, I suppose, but it was new to me in the sense that it was me that was the center of attraction, as you might say. But. Been brought up where it was always, you know, my father was also it. I think I dealt with it pretty well. Knew how to behave. I knew how to behave and and didn't let it go to my head. And felt very fortunate to have such a wonderful part and be surrounded by a lot of very talented, lovely people and be paid for it. I mean, you know,
Steve Kmetko
that's always the nice thing about a job you like, yes, getting paid Yes. Have have younger generations found you what with all the streaming and everything,
Juliet Mills
I suppose. Well, I think the younger generation found me a little bit in passions, which is the soap I did for NBC, playing the witch, Tabitha, the witch. And we did that for nearly nine years. So there was a whole nother generation that found me there, I think. But I don't know about this younger generation. No only in reruns of, you know, Man from UNCLE and things like that. I do get a lot of it's surprising how many people watch those old shows now. Who are younger?
Steve Kmetko
Do people come up to you and talk to you about those shows? Yes, yes. They do. They do. What do they say?
Juliet Mills
They say, Oh, we love you
Steve Kmetko
a lot better than Oh, we hate you.
Juliet Mills
We love that show. Oh yes. People like to reminisce about those times, and if you're a part of those times and their happy childhood. That's really a gift, you know, that you people come up and say, Oh, you made my childhood. I just, I just love nanny, and I just wanted to have a nanny like that, and we used to watch her with the whole family, and it was a happy time. You know, I'm part of a happy time in their life, and so they're very happy to see me, and when, when someone's happy to see you, when they say, Oh, you made my day. I mean, that's a gift to make somebody's day. We meet in bonds.
Steve Kmetko
You know, it's, do you shop at Vons? Yeah. No kidding.
Steve Kmetko
What era of your life feels the most like you?
Juliet Mills
Area of my life? Era, era of my life feels most like me? Oh, my goodness, that's a hard one. Steve. I suppose, when I met Maxwell and fell in love, and we got married and we worked together, and then he was his career was absolutely flying, and he was doing all sorts of wonderful things, and I stopped working for a while, and we moved to a ranch in just north of Carpinteria, which is on the coast, just south of Santa Barbara. And I stopped working for a while, and I think that period was most like me. I was completely happy Maxwell was working, and was my dream of a husband, and we lived in a beautiful place, and I am a very domestic animal. I love to be at home. I love to cook, I love to garden. I love to arrange flowers. It's all a hobby. Homemaking is really my biggest love and looking after my husband and my children, that that makes me happier than any job I've ever done. So I think that period was really when I was most just me and completely fulfilled.
Steve Kmetko
What would you like to do now in terms of work?
Juliet Mills
Not much. I still like to sort of dream of working in the theater, and I love working Maxwell, and I work in the theater quite a bit in England. We've done a lot of tours in England with plays, which we love to do. I still love to do. I'm not very ambitious anymore. I'm very happy not working. Actually, I don't have a film I want to make, or if a job comes along. Long and it's interesting and fun, and I can make some money. I'm happy to do that, but I don't. I'm not thinking, oh, what can I do now? I'd love to be working. I'm very happy not working.
Steve Kmetko
Actually, retirement suits you.
Juliet Mills
But I don't use that word, though, because one has to be what
Steve Kmetko
word do you use? Resting, pausing. We'll be back for more in a moment. What do you hope people understand about Juliet mills that they've learned along the way,
Juliet Mills
that she's a very positive person and that optimistic and believes in anything's possible, and one has quite a lot of power over your own life and your own destiny. Good sense of humor. Good cook.
Steve Kmetko
What's your favorite dish to make?
Juliet Mills
Roast chicken and roast potatoes and veg. That sounds good. And I like to make Italian food. I like to make pasta. And our daughter's a chef, actually, so she makes a lot of wonderful food, but I've always loved to cook, and Maxwell says I'm the best cook in the family.
Steve Kmetko
Okay, Juliet, think back, who made the first move?
Juliet Mills
Wow, that's interesting. Well, I think the first move, I think he did. I think
Steve Kmetko
he did. We could get his side of the story, since he's right here. Maxwell, okay,
Juliet Mills
Oh, how lovely
Maxwell Caufield
to see Yeah, I've been eavesdropping. Good see you. Steve, good to see you too. Thank you. I've been told sit right here. Who made the first move? Well, it seems you should ask that question. Yeah, be comfortable. The My recollection is we were doing the Elephant Man, rehearsing it in New York City, and going to go down and do a winter tour of Florida. And Juliet's girlfriend, Natalie Wood, I'm dropping names here now. Was appearing. She was in town to do some advanced publicity, wasn't she? Yeah for her, her big sci fi movie. And they the ladies wanted to hook up, and she asked Juliet to come with her to a Broadway theater to see Harold Pinter play with a great cast, Roy Scheider, Blythe, Danner and Raul Julia and
Maxwell Caufield
I was long story short. Bottom line is Natalie was staying at the Pierre Hotel, and as we got out of the cab to cross the road to go up to Natalie sweep before we went over to go down to Midtown to see the show, Juliet slipped her hand into mine as we crossed Fifth Avenue.
Maxwell Caufield
That's how I recall it.
Juliet Mills
I was thinking that hell hands. Yeah, that was the first but the other thing, and it wasn't make a move, exactly, but when we were in rehearsal, and I was playing Mrs. Kendall, and he was playing The Elephant Man, which is an amazing thing anyway, but, and the director said to him, Well, you know, you just think Mrs. Kendall is just so beautiful. And he said in front of the whole rehearsal room, all the actors, he said, Well, I do think Juliet's beautiful. And I just melted in. That was, if you call that a move, that was one and the other one was holding hands as we crossed the road to go into this Pierre Hotel. We held hands, and it just felt so right, holding his hand
Maxwell Caufield
when I she did. She'd invited me. She said I'd like to bring the actor I'm currently working with, and Natalie said, Sure, bring him along. And so I think Natalie probably got the picture pretty fast.
Juliet Mills
Well, she maybe got it before us, because all we done is hold hands and working together.
Steve Kmetko
But did you get that electric shock? You know that that charge that goes through your whole body when you hold hands with someone that you're Oh,
Maxwell Caufield
well, yeah, sweet on Yeah, yeah. Well, she knew I was a James Dean fanatic, and therefore, by extension, obviously Natalie Wood was certainly was part of that pantheon. So it was kind of clever. She just said, make sure you keep your eyes on me tonight. And. To get caught up with MS wood, you know, but there was no chance. I was absolutely smitten with Juliet, and the idea of being cast opposite Phoebe figure Lily was like a fantasy. Frankly, I'm glad you've talked about about that particular character so extensively.
Steve Kmetko
Were you aware of the age difference?
Maxwell Caufield
You know, it didn't occur to me. And Juliet maintains to this day, it really didn't occur to her either. I She had such a youthful quality. Always has, always will do. It's presumptuous of me to even think that I was going to, you know, hook up with her. That wasn't really where it was at it just it happened so fast. It caught us both off guard, needless to say, and we
Juliet Mills
didn't think about it and we didn't talk about it either. It was just two people who just communicated on such high level in different ways. We had so much in common cause. We were both English to start with. We're both actors, and we, we just had a communication instantly. Was like saying, Hello, where have you been? I know you. You know and I do believe in reincarnation. I do believe in past lives.
Maxwell Caufield
Well, your sister has that theory, because Juliet was, was a twin, and the twin was born prematurely. It was, it was male, and your mom lost the boy about six months, right?
Juliet Mills
Yeah, and I held on, yeah. She said she thought she'd lost both. Well, one baby, and they said, Oh, wait a minute, there's another one in there hanging on, and that was me
Maxwell Caufield
little tough nut. But Haley was theorized there was, you know, if you, if you get into the whole reincarnation, or the concept of, you know, symbiosis, or what have you, you get into it.
Juliet Mills
I don't believe you were the twin. No,
Maxwell Caufield
okay, well, that shoots that theory.
Juliet Mills
No, I believe I knew you in some relationship in another life that I believe. Yeah, I do, yes, okay, because you know Steve. Sometimes you meet somebody that you you you know them instantly. You have a connection with that person that goes beyond just saying, Hello, this is so and so, and this you you know them better than that. And I just that's one of the things I do believe is, is another? Was another time?
Steve Kmetko
Did you feel? Did you face any friction from people like in the business or friends or family saying you're making a mistake,
Maxwell Caufield
Sir John, you'd have thought her parents would have been the ones naturally concerned, but they were so open minded about it. They were so happy for Juliet's happiness. They you know, that they didn't, they didn't put up in any impediments, didn't, I don't think people weren't necessarily advising you, and because Juliet was already so sort of beloved on a national, public scale, they didn't come gunning for us. And people like Merv Griffin brought us on to their show, and sort of early on, early on, and yeah, and Oprah Winfrey brought us on. And we weren't afraid, afraid to face the music. And, you know, have a discourse. We were actually on stage in Chicago, your hometown, these days. She flew us out and Lucy onez and Laurence larkinville and Ashford and Simpson. She had three very tight couples on on her show. And I felt we felt right at home, and we were novices compared, certainly to Ashford and
Juliet Mills
Simpson, I would just wanted to say, when I told my father that, you know, I'd fallen in love with this actor and that we were working together and and blah, blah, blah, and I said, but there, you know, there's one, there is one thing I should say, and That is He is much younger than I am. And he didn't ask me, How old is he or how much younger? He said, That's irrelevant. That's all he said, because he could see that I was happier than I'd ever been, and that and when he met Maxwell and saw us. Together. There was no question. Age was irrelevant. It didn't it didn't come in.
Maxwell Caufield
Yeah, the big test was whether, whether I was up to snuff in the acting department, that she'd married a decent actor,
Steve Kmetko
everyone's a critic.
Maxwell Caufield
But as Julia said, she did actually put her career on hold. She sacrificed her career. No, well, we were talking about the period up and living on the avocado ranch, which was obviously a dreamy period for us. But we met at a point when Juliet was actually heading back to the UK to reignite a stage career. She'd reached that tricky age for an actress, late 30s in Hollywood, which is, as you know, they start to sort of marginalize you and say, okay, just cool your jets until you can come back and play literally, not just moms, but like grandmothers, you know? I mean, I'm exaggerating to make the point. You may dispute that, but, and I'd actually just come to New York. I'd been there a couple of years, and obviously had aspirations, like most actors do to make it in the movies as well. And we ended up, actually, I ended up, sort of ended up diverting Juliet back to the west coast and, and she didn't question it. She was, she was very, you know, she's very, very generous hearted. You could say she was following her heart, following her bliss, and, and it paid off insofar as I told you I'd take over this interview if you brought me. But anyway, you guys should close this out, I think, because apparently I'm going to sit in the hot seat next and you got a very lovely, candid insight into Juliet with your line of questioning, Steve, you know, we, you know you were very beloved character yourself in the in town. That's why you're getting such a great response from the people you're inviting on the show, and everyone's really happy to see you back. Thank you. No, I mean it. See, I'm softening I'm softening him up.
Steve Kmetko
Yes, I sit in this seat. You know how many questions I have to cross off. Thank you. Now that he's gone, he'll be back like a bad penny. Is there one thing in particular that you hold on to from your career that really warms your heart?
Juliet Mills
Well, that's a difficult question in a way. I mean, I've got two answers to it. One thing, of course, I did win an Emmy for QB seven, and which was a six hour movie, right? I did with a whole host of famous actors and and that that warms my heart every time I look at it over on our mantle. That was a big prize. And then the other thing that warms my heart is the memory of the elephant man doing that play with Maxwell and in Florida and falling in love and waking up on Valentine's day after we'd opened at the Palm Beach Playhouse. To rave reviews. I think the headline said, some Mills, Caulfield, or Caulfield Mills, or brilliant or something. And it was like, it was like a dream time, a very romantic time. I was brought up by two very romantic people, my father and mother lived a dream, romantic life, married life, as I said, for 67 years. And that's what I wanted all my life. And suddenly I had it, and it was magic. It was magic, and I felt magic and I felt beautiful, and that was the first time that I really felt beautiful, was when Maxwell said, You are beautiful.
Steve Kmetko
How much did working together impact your lives
Juliet Mills
and your career, well, it was always what we, you know, we love to do more than anything we we we've never made a movie together, but we've done some TV together. Aaron Spelling employed us together, but mostly working together has been in the theater, and we did a play here in Los Angeles. We did the play in 1984 by George Orwell. In 1984 that was a production that we we did, and that we thought all that stuff was science fiction. Then now it's all real terrifying. And that was. Was we, that was a production that we put on an equity wave of production, and we, we love working together. So it's always is a good time for us, you know, and it we, we can't actually spend too much time together. Some actors maybe don't like working with their spouse and going home with their spouse and going bed with their spouse, never getting out. Well, we like that.
Steve Kmetko
That's good to hear. And you have to say that, because he's right over there.
Juliet Mills
Yeah, yeah, you're gonna get him next. Yes.
Steve Kmetko
What's something you've always wanted to say about your career that no one's ever asked you?
Juliet Mills
Oh, oh, I don't know the answer to that question.
Juliet Mills
I'll have to think about it. Okay, thank you, Julia and your husband. Thank you. Thank you. I enjoyed talking. Thank you.
Steve Kmetko
Still here. Hollywood is a production of the still here network, all things technical, run by Justin zangerly, theme music by Brian sanoshin and executive producer is Jim Lichtenstein.