Mavis Villiers

Biography

Mavis Villiers was born Mavis Clare Cooney on December 10, 1909 at Neurtal Bay; a suburb of Sydney Harbour's 'north shore', where her father was a milk vendor. Her parents relocated to the mountain-resort town of Katoomba when she was aged four. She began performing at the age of seven and quickly showed a prodigious talent. At age ten she was being tutored to become a professional actress. In 1919 she was invited to perform solo at Sydney's Tivoli Theatre. In 1921, aged twelve, her family emigrated to Hollywood, USA, in order to further her career. She began her career, as a child film actress, under the stewardship of Mary Pickford, who gave her a role in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921). Her career in Hollywood lasted twelve years; much of her activity is uncredited, undocumented or lost. She was playing female leads in comedies and cowboy movies. In 1933 she emigrated again to London, England, where she began a long career in British film, television and radio; and in live theatre. She was known for her roles in The Bum's Rush (1927), A Lady's Morals (1930), Saloon Bar (1940), One Exciting Night (1944), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), Victim (1961), BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950), Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1974). She married an American Pilot Officer who she met in London during WWII. He died in a car accident nine months after they were married. She never remarried and had no children.