2001: A Space Odyssey
1968 · Movie
as Poole's Mother
Ann Gillis
1927-02-12
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Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
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.
Filmography
Espionage
1963 · TV Show
as Nurse
The Saint
1962 · TV Show
as Beryl Carrington, Wilma
Man of the World
1962 · TV Show
as Susan Forrester
Studio One
1948 · TV Show
Big Town After Dark
1947 · Movie
as Susan Peabody LaRue
Janie Gets Married
1946 · Movie
as Paula Rainey
Sweetheart of Sigma Chi
1946 · Movie
as Sue
Gay Blades
1946 · Movie
as Helen Dowell (as Anne Gillis)
The Time of Their Lives
1946 · Movie
as Nora O'Leary
The Cheaters
1945 · Movie
as Angela Pidgeon
In Society
1944 · Movie
as Gloria Winthrop
A Wave, a WAC and a Marine
1944 · Movie
as Judy (as Anne Gillis)
Since You Went Away
1944 · Movie
as Becky Anderson (uncredited)
Janie
1944 · Movie
as Paula Rainey
Man from Music Mountain
1943 · Movie
as Penny Winters
Stage Door Canteen
1943 · Movie
as Ann Gillis
Bambi
1942 · Movie
as Adolescent Faline (voice) (uncredited)
Meet the Stewarts
1942 · Movie
as Jane Goodwin
'Neath Brooklyn Bridge
1942 · Movie
as Sylvia
Tough as They Come
1942 · Movie
as Frankie Taylor
Mr. Dynamite
1941 · Movie
as Joey aka Abigail
Glamour Boy
1941 · Movie
as Brenda Lee
Nice Girl?
1941 · Movie
as Nancy Dana
My Love Came Back
1940 · Movie
as Valerie Malette
Little Men
1940 · Movie
as Nan
All This, and Heaven Too
1940 · Movie
as Emily Schuyler
Edison, the Man
1940 · Movie
as Nancy Grey
Beau Geste
1939 · Movie
as Isobel Rivers (as a Child)
The Under-Pup
1939 · Movie
as Letty Lou
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
1938 · Movie
as Becky Thatcher
Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus
1938 · Movie
as Fluerette de Cava
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Little Orphan Annie
1938 · Movie
as Annie
Off to the Races
1937 · Movie
as Winnie Mae
You Can't Buy Luck
1937 · Movie
as Peggy (uncredited)
The Californian
1937 · Movie
as Rosalia as a Child
The Great Ziegfeld
1936 · Movie
as Mary Lou as a Child (uncredited)
Under Your Spell
1936 · Movie
as Gwendolyn (uncredited)
The Singing Cowboy
1936 · Movie
as Lou Ann Stevens
King of Hockey
1936 · Movie
as Peggy O'Rourke
Postal Inspector
1936 · Movie
as Little Alice (uncredited)
