Ann Gillis
Ann Gillis was born Alma Mabel Conner on February 12, 1927, in Little Rock, Arkansas. At age seven, she appeared in her first film, Men in White (1934), as an extra. During the next two years, she had uncredited appearances in six more films until she received her first major role in King of Hockey (1936). Warner Brothers Studios gave significant screen time to Gillis in this movie, in hopes that she would become another Shirley Temple. Although (like all child stars of the 1930s) she never achieved Temple's level of fame, for the next several years Gillis starred in many films, almost always playing a spoiled, bratty character. She had two rare sympathetic roles as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) and as the title character in Little Orphan Annie (1938). One scene in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer called for her to go into screaming hysterics when her character was trapped in a cave of bats, and Gillis delivered in a powerful performance that is probably the most memorable scene of her film career. As Gillis grew older, however, her career slowed down, and she left Hollywood in 1947. When she left Hollywood she married Paul Ziebold and had 2 sons. She then divorced, relocated to New York City and married Richard Fraser, a Scottish-born actor (they had a son born in 1958). During the 1950s and '60s, Gillis made sporadic television appearances, and in 1959, she hosted a national telecast presentation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Gillis and her husband moved to England in 1961, and they were living in London when they heard of a casting call for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) that called for an American actress living in the city. Gillis auditioned and got the role; it remains her final film to date. Ann moved to Belgium in 1972 where she met and married Belgian René Van Hulst (deceased 1999). She lived in Belgium from 1972 to 2014 and became a Belgian citizen, devoting much of her time to painting and music, she was an accomplished pianist and harpist. She moved to England, UK in December 2014 and passed away peacefully on 31/1/2018.
Known for
ActingBirthday
February 12, 1927Deathday
January 31, 2018Gender
FemaleKnown Movie Credits
37Place of birth
Little Rock, Arkansas, USAAlso known as
Anne Gillis, Alma Mabel ConnerCast credits
2001: A Space Odyssey
Poole's MotherBambi
Adolescent Faline (voice) (uncredited)The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Becky ThatcherIn Society
Gloria WinthropMr. Dynamite
Joey aka AbigailMeet the Stewarts
Jane GoodwinThe Singing Cowboy
Lou Ann StevensBig Town After Dark
Susan Peabody LaRueMy Love Came Back
Valerie MalettePeck's Bad Boy with the Circus
Fluerette de CavaKing of Hockey
Peggy O'Rourke'Neath Brooklyn Bridge
SylviaMan from Music Mountain
Penny WintersThe Californian
Rosalia as a ChildLittle Men
NanGlamour Boy
Brenda LeeBeau Geste
Isobel Rivers (as a Child)The Under-Pup
Letty LouYou Can't Buy Luck
Peggy (uncredited)All This, and Heaven Too
Emily SchuylerEdison, the Man
Nancy Grey