Mary Millington
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- This article is about a porn star
Mary Ruth Quilter (November 30, 1945 – August 19, 1979), better known by her stage name Mary Millington, was one of Britain's most successful porn stars of the 1970s, who became well-known thanks to her appearances in millionaire David Sullivan's porn magazines and films.
Career
Known as Britain's version of Linda Lovelace, Millington gained notoriety for her starring role in Sullivan's 1977 sex comedy Come Play with Me. This was followed by roles in The Playbirds (1978), in which she was ironically cast as a policewoman, as well as Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair (1979) and Queen of the Blues (1979). She also appeared in other sex movies such as Eskimo Nell (1975), Intimate Games (1976) and Derek Ford's What's Up Superdoc! (1978). Millington's final appearance was in the Sex Pistols film Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle directed by Julien Temple, which was released theatrically in March 1980. However, neither she nor her punk rock co-star Sid Vicious lived to see the completion of the movie.
In 1978 she was approached to appear in a hardcore film called 'Love is Beautiful', to have been directed by Gerard Damiano. However, despite Millington and Damiano being pictured together at that year's Cannes Film Festival, the movie (meant to have been produced by David Grant’s Oppidan Films) never materialized. Potential co-stars may have included Harry Reems, Gloria Brittain and Lisa Taylor.
One of Mary’s most outrageous moments was being photographed topless outside 10 Downing Street. In which Mary while posing for an innocuous picture with a policeman outside Number Ten, decided to unzip her top, exposing her breasts for the photograph, much to the surprise of those also present which included fellow Come Play With Me actress Suzy Mandel, Whitehouse photographer George Richardson (who took the picture anyway) and the policeman in question (who tried to confiscate the reel of film). According to Simon Sheridan’s biography of Millington “For this stunt Mary was conditionally discharged and bound over to keep the peace" . Mary’s film Come Play With Me still stands as the longest-running film in British movie history, and ran continuously at the Moulin Cinema in London's West End from 1977 to 1981. In a publicity stunt for the second year anniversary of the film’s opening, both Suzy Mandel and Mary posed in lingerie on the Moulin cinema’s marquee.
Death
Mary Millington committed suicide at age 33, using a deliberate overdose at her home in Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey. Her life had begun a downward spiral into drug use and depression following continual police raids on her sex shops. She left a suicide note which was found near her body.
She was buried at the St Mary Magdalene Church, Betchetts Green Road, South Holmwood, Surrey RH5. Her tombstone is situated at the rear of the churchyard and bears the surname "Maxted" – her married name. She is buried in the same grave as her mother, Joan Quilter, who died in 1976.
Legacy
A posthumous exploitation film about her life was released in London in October 1980, entitled Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions. In 1996 Channel Four television screened a tribute to her entitled Sex and Fame: The Mary Millington Story featuring an interview with David Sullivan.
Twenty years after her death, the author and film historian Simon Sheridan put Mary's life into context in his critically acclaimed biography Come Play with Me: The Life and Films of Mary Millington. Further information about her career can be found in Sheridan's follow-up book Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema, the third edition of which was published in April 2007.
Filmography
- Miss Bohrloch (short 1970)
- Oh, Nurse! (short 1971)
- Oral Connection (short 1971)
- Betrayed (short 197?)
- Secrets of a Door to Door Salesman (1973, scenes cut)
- Response aka Go Down, My Lovely (short 1974)
- Sex Shop (aka Sex is My Business) (short 1974)
- Eskimo Nell (film) (1974)
- Erotic Inferno (1975)
- I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight (1975)
- Private Pleasures (1975) (shot in Sweden)
- Keep It Up Downstairs (1976)
- Intimate Games (1976)
- Come Play with Me (1977)
- The Playbirds (1978)
- Queen of the Blues (1979)
- The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (posthumous 1980)
- Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions (posthumous 1980)
- Mary Millington's World Striptease Extravaganza (posthumous 1982)
- Sex and Fame: The Mary Millington Story (TV documentary 1996)
Magazine Appearances
- Around the World in 80 Lays (Beryl Grant) 197?
- Sexpert Vol 2 No. 8 197?
- Knave Vol.6 No.3 197?
- Caprice Plus No.4 197?
- New Direction Vol.5 No.8 197?
- Supermag No.4 197?
- Late Night Extra 1974 as "Nancy Astley"
- Titbits (No. 4613, August 1-7 1974, "Eskimo Nell")
- Playbirds Vol.1 No.1 197?
- Playbirds Vol.1 No.2 197?
- Playbirds Vol.1 No.3 197?
- Playbirds Vol.1 No.4 197?
- Playbirds Vol.1 No.6 197?
- Playbirds Vol.1 No.8 197?
- Playbirds Vol.1 No.16 197?
- Continental Film Review (vol 25 no 6, 1978) "The Playbirds"
- Continental Film Review (vol 25 no 7, 1978) "The Playbirds"
- Private No.28 197?
- Park Lane No.15 197?
- Whitehouse No.10 197?
- Weekend Sex No.31 197?
- Park Lane No.23 197?
- Ladybirds No.1 197?
References
- Sheridan, Simon 1999. Come Play with Me: The Life and Films of Mary Millington FAB Press ISBN 0-9529260-7-5
- Sheridan, Simon 2005. Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema Reynolds & Hearn Books ISBN 1-903111-92-7
- Millington, Mary and Weldon, David 1979. The Amazing Mary Millington Futura ISBN 0708814530
See also
External links
- Photos of Mary Millington's grave
- Simon Sheridan's website
- www.marymillington.co.uk: fan site
- Come Play With Me: The Life and Films of Mary Millington
- Fan’s Page
- Come Play With Me publicity picture
- Miss Bohrloch 8mm Box Cover
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