Ann Gillis

Alma Mabel Conner (February 12, 1927 ^[4]  – January 31, 2018), known professionally as Ann Gillis, was an American actress, best known for her film roles as a child actress. She performed the voice of Faline (as young adult) in the 1942 Disney animated film Bambi.

Ann Gillis
Gillis in 1966
Born	Alma Mabel Conner (1927-02-12)February 12, 1927 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
Died	January 31, 2018(2018-01-31) (aged 90)[1] Horam, East Sussex, England
Occupations	Actress, voice artist
Years active	1934–1968
Spouse(s)	Paul Ziebold ​ ​ (m. 1947; div. 1951)​ Richard Fraser ​ ​ (m. 1952; div. 1970)​ René Van Hulst ​ ​ (m. 1991; died 1999)​ [2][3]
Children	3

Biography

Gillis was born in Little Rock, Arkansas.^[5] She started her career in the early 1930s, when she was age 7. After small roles, she got her first major part in King of Hockey (1936). In the following years, she played supporting roles, and Warner Brothers Pictures wanted her to be another Shirley Temple, but she mostly played "spoiled brats".^{[citation needed]}

Among her bigger roles were Becky Thatcher in David O. Selznick's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) and Annie in Little Orphan Annie (1938). She also provided the voice of Faline in Bambi (1942).^[6]

She ended her Hollywood film career in 1947 and married her second husband, British actor Richard Fraser in 1952. Following her Hollywood career, she turned to occasional television work in the UK. Gillis appeared in two episodes of The Saint in 1964-1965, followed by a small part in 2001: A Space Odyssey, playing Dr. Poole's mother. She is seen onscreen congratulating her son on his birthday. She later lived in Belgium.^[7]

On January 31, 2018, Gillis died in a nursing home in Horam, East Sussex, England, at the age of 90.^[8]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Note
1934	Men in White	Flower Girl	uncredited
1936	The Great Ziegfeld	Mary Lou as a Child	Uncredited
	The Singing Cowboy	Lou Ann Stevens
	Postal Inspector	Little Alice	uncredited
	The Garden of Allah	Convent Girl #2	uncredited
	The Man I Marry	Little Girl	uncredited
	Under Your Spell	Gwendolyn	uncredited
	King of Hockey	Peggy 'Princess' O'Rourke
1937	Off to the Races	Winnie Mae
	You Can't Buy Luck	Peggy	uncredited
	The Californian	Rosalia as a Child
1938	The Adventures of Tom Sawyer	Becky Thatcher
	Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus	Fleurette de Cava
	Little Orphan Annie	Annie
1939	Beau Geste	Isobel Rivers as a Child
	The Under-Pup	Letty Lou
1940	Edison, the Man	Nancy Grey
	All This, and Heaven Too	Emily Schuyler
	My Love Came Back	Valerie Malette
	Little Men	Nan
1941	Nice Girl?	Nancy Dana
	Mr. Dynamite	Joey, a.k.a. Abigail
	Glamour Boy	Brenda Lee
1942	Meet the Stewarts	Jane Goodwin
	Tough As They Come	Frankie Taylor
	Bambi	Faline (as a young adult)	voice, uncredited
	'Neath Brooklyn Bridge	Sylvia
1943	Stage Door Canteen	Herself
	The Man from Music Mountain	Penny Winters
1944	Since You Went Away	Becky Anderson – Class President	uncredited
	Janie	Paula Rainey
	In Society	Gloria
	A Wave, a WAC and a Marine	Judy
1945	The Cheaters	Angela Pidgeon
1946	Gay Blades	Helen Dowell
	Janie Gets Married	Paula Rainey
	The Time of Their Lives	Nora O'Leary
	Sweetheart of Sigma Chi	Sue
1947	Big Town After Dark	Susan Peabody LaRue
1968	2001: A Space Odyssey	Poole's Mother