Freddie Mills(1919-1965)
- Actor
"Fearless" Freddie Mills was born on June 26, 1919 in Bournemouth,
England. In 1936, at the age of 17, he began a highly successful and
colorful professional boxing career which made him the "darling" of the
British fight scene. At 5' 10" and 175lbs., Mills was noted for his
hard-charging, straight ahead style of brawling. It took 6 years for
him to break into the world rankings. But in 1942 at the height of
World War II, he knocked out
Len Harvey in 2 rounds to capture the
British Commonwealth Light heavyweight Championship. He went on to win
the European 175 pound title with a knockout over Pol Goffaux, and in
1948 defeated Gus Lesnevich to win the
World Light heavyweight Boxing Championship. Mills boxing career and
championship days were numbered however. Noted for a "fast" lifestyle
of enjoying the night-life, he was finished at 31 years old and after
losing his World Championship to Joey Maxim
on January 24, 1950, he retired. Mills was extremely popular even in
retirement and ran a highly successful nightclub. He also had character
roles in a number of films and was a presenter on the early BBC TV
music show,
Six-Five Special (1957). He
died of gunshot wounds on July 25, 1965 under a cloud of mystery.
Although he had tax problems and the official verdict was suicide, many
people believe he was murdered.
