Millie Perkins, a brunette with a waif-like image, began her career as a model and receptionist at an advertising agency in New York. Her innocent and shy looks caught the attention of director George Stevens, who invited her to audition for the lead role in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). Despite having no acting experience, Perkins won the role over 10,000 other hopefuls and went on to star in her most famous role.
Born Mildred Frances Perkins in Newark, New Jersey, she was raised by her mother, Catherine Louise, who was of Irish and French-Canadian descent, and her father, Adolph Perkins, a captain in the merchant marine born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Millie was schooled in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, and later studied drama under Jeff Corey in New York.
After her breakthrough role as Anne Frank, Perkins was signed by 20th Century Fox, but her tenure was brief and ended with her suspension for refusing to play the lead in Tess of the Storm Country (1960). She went on to appear in Wild in the Country (1961) and later free-lanced in films such as Ensign Pulver (1964),The Shooting (1966),and Ride in the Whirlwind (1966),starring alongside Jack Nicholson.
Perkins took a six-year hiatus from screen acting before making a comeback as a character actress in the mid-1970s. She appeared in films such as At Close Range (1986),Wall Street (1987),and The Lost City (2005),and had recurring roles in TV shows like Knots Landing (1979) and Any Day Now (1998). She also taught drama classes at Southern Oregon University and addressed high school drama groups in Jacksonville, her adopted hometown since 1976.
Perkins retired from screen acting in 2006 and has since lived a private life. She was married twice, first to actor Dean Stockwell, with whom she was divorced after two years, and then to writer-director Robert Thom, with whom she had two daughters.
