Professional Boxer. Born in Parkstone, a suburb of Bournemouth, which was then in Hampshire but is now in Dorset, on the South Coast of England, his father was a rag-and-bone merchant. Freddie went on to be the most popular boxer of his time. In 1942, he became the British and Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Champion, knocking Len Harvey through the ropes in the second round so that Harvey failed to get back into the ropes within ten seconds. On the 26th. July 1948, he defeated Gus Lesnevitch to become the World Champion, a position he held until January 24th. 1950, when he was knocked out in the tenth round by Joey Maxim. In the same year as he became the World Champion, he married Chrissie Broadribb, the daughter of his manager, Ted. They had two daughters, Susan and Amanda. After his retirement, Mills took some small acting parts. Many "Carry On" fans may remember him as the Crook in "Constable" and as Lefty in "Regardless." Another venture was running the Freddie Mills Chinese Restaurant at 143 Charing Cross Road ; when this began to lose money, it became the Freddie Mills Nite Spot. On the night of July 22nd. 1965, he told his business partner, Andy Ho, that he needed a few minutes' sleep and, as was his usual custom, went to his Citroen, which was parked in nearby Goslett Yard. When Chrissie Mills arrived at the club, Mr. Ho said he had been unable to wake him, so she tried to do so and found that he was dead, having been shot with a .22 Belgian repeater rifle. At the coroner's inquest, a lady who worked at the Battersea funfare testified that Mills had borrowed the gun from her, claiming that he had been invited to open a charity fete dressed as a cowboy. The verdict was suicide, but this has been disputed. Before he left for the club, Mills had been playing quite cheerfully with his children, and none of his family or colleagues had noticed anything untoward in his behaviour. Various claims have been made: that he was depressed by the suicide of the singer, Michael Holliday; that he had been having a homosexual affair with Holliday; that he was about to be arrested for the murder of several prostitutes; that he was the victim of a gangland slaying. In "Who Killed Freddie Mills?" (1991), Mills's friend Tony Van Den Bergh suggests that the boxer may have been targeted by a Chinese tong. His body was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium in London, England.