Ann Gillis, born Alma Mabel Conner on February 12, 1927, in Little Rock, Arkansas, embarked on a remarkable journey in the world of cinema from a tender age of seven. She made her film debut as an extra in the 1934 movie "Men in White", and over the next two years, she appeared in six more films without receiving any credit. However, her first major role came in 1936 with "King of Hockey", a film that garnered significant screen time for Gillis, with the hopes that she would emulate the success of Shirley Temple.
Gillis' subsequent films saw her playing a spoiled and bratty character, a role she would reprise several times. However, she did have the opportunity to showcase her range with two rare sympathetic roles as Becky Thatcher in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1938) and as the title character in "Little Orphan Annie" (1938). Her performance in the former, where she had to scream hysterically after being trapped in a cave of bats, remains one of the most memorable scenes of her film career.
As Gillis grew older, her career began to slow down, and she eventually left Hollywood in 1947. She married Paul Ziebold and had two sons before divorcing and relocating to New York City. She then married Richard Fraser, a Scottish-born actor, and had another son born in 1958. During the 1950s and '60s, Gillis made sporadic television appearances, including hosting a national telecast presentation of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" in 1959.
Gillis and her husband moved to England in 1961, where they lived until they received a casting call for "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) that required an American actress living in the city. Gillis auditioned and secured the role, which would become her final film appearance.
