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 Temples 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 Scottishborn 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 3112018