This Is Your Life: Freddie Mills

Freddie MILLS (1919-1965)

As a close friend of Eamonn Andrews, Freddie played an important part in the first edition of This Is Your Life on British television

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Freddie Mills, former boxer, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in the foyer of London's Earls Court Exhibition Centre, having been led to believe he was there for a business meeting.

Freddie, who was born in Bournemouth, worked as a gardener and milkman's assistant before becoming a professional boxer in 1936. He fought in fairground booths and at venues on the south coast of England and was the Western Area middleweight champion by 1939. The following year, he joined the Royal Air Force as a corporal physical training instructor while continuing to box professionally.

He took the Commonwealth and British light heavyweight title in 1942 and became the world light heavyweight champion in 1948. Described as Britain's biggest boxing idol of the post-war period, he retired from boxing after losing the world title in 1950 and took up acting. He played character roles in a number of films, appeared on various television programmes, and performed on stage in pantomime and summer seasons.

"No! You're joking! Is this on the level? My heart's pounding!"

programme details...

Edition No: 145
Subject No: 145
Broadcast date: Mon 2 Jan 1961
Broadcast time: 7.30-8.00pm
Recorded: Mon 17 Oct 1960 9.00pm
Venue: BBC Television Theatre
Series: 6
Edition: 16

on the guest list...

Miss B Blissett
Jack Turner
Lottie - mother
Charlie - brother
Gipsy Daniels
Bob Turner
Bill Hood
Ted Broadribb
Chrissie - wife
Jack Solomans
Nat Sellers
Gus Lesnevich
Inga Lesnevich
Susan - daughter
Gillian Davis
Linda Brickwood
Marise Vinson
Jackie White
Ann Poulter
Helen Pini
Dickie Henderson
George Haskett

production team...

Researcher: John Sandilands
Writer: Peter Moore
Director: Michael Goodwin
Producer: T Leslie Jackson

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

Life In The Ring

from flyweight to heavyweight

Eamonn Andrews

a brief biography

Eamonn Looks Back

first-hand recollections

Birth of Life

the genesis of the programme

These Were Your Lives

a review of the first series

Timeline

the show's fifty year history

This Is Your Life

Radio Times marks the 200th edition

Stanley Matthews should have been on the first This Is Your Life

Look and Learn magazine feature

Somewhere, Someone - This Is Your Life

Talk of Thames feature on the programme's 1969 relaunch

BBC harks back to a previous life

The Guardian reports on the return to the BBC

Dickie Henderson

Photographs and screenshots of Freddie Mills This Is Your Life

Jack Birtley recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, Freddie Mills His Life and Death...

By now he had become the close friend of many leading entertainers and when he was featured in television's This Is Your Life programme, a few of them did the familiar walk into the studio to shake Freddie by the hand and tell a funny story from the past.

Gus Lesnevich was brought over from America for the screening, with brother Charlie and Lottie included as well.

One of those invited to take part was Dickie Henderson, who first met Mills while he was guesting on an Arthur Askey series called Before Your Very Eyes.

Christopher Evans recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, Fearless Freddie - The Life And Times of Freddie Mills...

This is your life

AFTER weeks of meticulous planning, everything was in place. The Irishman lay in wait and there was no way he was going to let his man get away. They were close friends but this was business. The target, former light-heavyweight champion of the world Freddie Mills, had no knowledge of what was about to happen to him.

The ex-boxer had been in the Irishman's sights for years. It would only be minutes before Freddie arrived. Silently, the Irishman watched as Freddie, oblivious to anything untoward, walked past without acknowledging him. Everything was going according to plan.

Earlier in the week, Freddie had received a phone call out of the blue. An old associate had a business proposition for him. It had the potential to make them both very wealthy but he had to keep it secret. Intrigued, Freddie agreed to meet. It was this premise which had brought him to this place.

Taking his opportunity, the Irishman emerged from the shadows. He was now only inches away from Freddie, close enough to tap him on the shoulder. Once the former boxer turned around, the Irishman looked him dead in the eye. He enjoyed watching people's faces as he completed his task. He never knew what the reaction would be. Most were surprised, some got angry but only a few had got away.

Usually Freddie would greet his old friend with a smile and hug, but not tonight. His first reaction was to ask what the Irishman was doing there. Then he noticed he was carrying something suspicious under his arm. Freddie knew instinctively he had been set up. At first, he was puzzled, then shocked when it finally dawned on him the purpose of the Irishman's mission.

All Freddie could do was give a resigned look as if to say, 'Ok, you finally got me', before Eamonn Andrews, in his familiar Irish brogue, announced with a wide grin, 'Freddie Mills, tonight This is Your Life!'

'You're joking, is this on the level?' a stunned Freddie asked before the introduction music began and the studio curtains parted to begin another edition of the popular television show.

For an enjoyable half an hour, Freddie sat as family and friends shared anecdotes. His mother Lottie and brother Charlie recalled how he started boxing while growing up in Bournemouth. His first manager Jack Turner and former fighter Gypsy Daniels related stories of his days on the boxing booths. His wife Chrissie and daughter Susan said Freddie was the same in private as he was in public, full of fun, a real joker.

The man Freddie outpointed for the world championship in 1948, Gus Lesnevich, was flown in especially from New York City to playfully ask his former adversary for a rematch. Freddie reacted by laughing and calling his old foe 'one hell of a fighter'.

The final guest was one of the top comedians and entertainers of the day, Dickie Henderson, who told a few funny stories about how his mate Freddie, a regular in television, films and theatre, had a habit of letting his nerves get the better of him before a performance and kept forgetting his lines.

Before officially presenting the big red book at the end of the programme, Eamonn Andrews expressed the view that Freddie's ferocity in the ring, matched by his infectious personality, had secured him a place in the nation's hearts. As the audience clapped, Freddie, who had his youngest daughter in his arms, acknowledged their cheers as he had done throughout his ring career.

Series 6 subjects