Anthony Royce Mills (12 May 1942 – 21 May 2019) was an English television, stage and film actor.^[3]

Life and career

Born in Tetbury, Gloucestershire to Herbert Mills and concert pianist Winifred, Royce did not feel the need to look into the disappearance of his father. He and his mother moved to Eastbourne,^[1] and he made his television debut aged 13 on the BBC’s Children's Hour^[1] in 1956.^[4] He attended Eastbourne College working in their kitchens to pay for his education.^[1][4] He then became an assistant to comedian Sandy Powell, getting him hung over when he filled pint glasses with beer instead of tinted water, and was fired. Sandy’s wife Kay, however, let him announce her husband’s stage entrance, for which he wore the long aprons Royce used in the kitchens in order to cover his damaged feet.^[4] He then began his longtime hobby of painting^[1] and was offered the Carleton Hobbs Bursary, but declined.^[4] In 1969 he made his acting debut in Oh, Brother!.

In later years he proved himself to be among the finest pantomime dames in the country, notably in his appearances at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford.^[5] He considered Morecambe and Wise to be the most generous people he had worked with, allowing him to perform Bring Me Sunshine on his own to give him a chance to shine.^[4] He also rehearsed Frankie Howerd’s lines for Up Pompeii,^[6] and improvised a sketch for The Les Dawson Show when time ran over during filming and it couldn’t be rehearsed.^[6]

In 1984 Royce began voicing the Daleks in Doctor Who, after being asked by director of Resurrection of the Daleks, Matthew Robinson.^[4] He would hold his nose to perform the role,^[4] for which he maintained it was his best-known,^[1] and voiced them in Resurrection of the Daleks, 1985’s Revelation of the Daleks and 1988’s Remembrance of the Daleks, although he only had the one voice that he used.^[6] He died shortly after his 77th birthday on 21 May 2019.

Filmography