Mills was born in Stepney, London, of Russian Jewish ancestry,[1] and following a childhood accident only had the use of one arm, a fact which he hid from later audiences.
Their comedy was based around mutual misunderstandings, particularly over Bobbie taking figures of speech literally, asking irrelevant questions, and constantly interrupting monologues by the increasingly exasperated Mills.
[3] They played in pantomimes and variety shows, and toured widely in the 1930s, performing successfully in the United States, Australia and South Africa as well as around Britain.
Mills continued to perform for a short time as a solo act, but retired from show business in the mid-1950s.
[2][3] He moved to Manchester, where he worked in his brother's carpet business, but remarried and continued to appear at functions organised by the charity, the Grand Order of Water Rats.