Veronique Peck ('' née'' Passani; February 5, 1932 – August 17, 2012) was a French- American arts patron, philanthropist, and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

. She was married to actor, political activist, and philanthropist Gregory Peck from 1955 until his death in 2003.

Life and career

Veronique Passani was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

; her mother was an artist and writer, while her father was an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. She began her career as a journalist for ''

France Soir ''France Soir'' ( en, France Evening) was a French newspaper that prospered in physical format during the 1950s and 1960s, reaching a circulation of 1.5 million in the 1950s. It declined rapidly under various owners and was relaunched as a popul ...

'', a French daily newspaper, and met Gregory Peck while conducting an interview for ''France Soir'' in 1953. The couple married on December 31, 1955, shortly after Peck's divorce from his first wife, Greta Kukkonen. Peck became a well-known philanthropist in

Greater Los Angeles Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

. She and her husband raised approximately $50 million for the American Cancer Society during the 1960s. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' named her "Woman of the Year" in 1967. She also co-founded the Inner City Cultural Center, a theater group composed of members from different ethnic backgrounds, and the Los Angeles Music Center. Peck became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1976. Shortly after Gregory Peck's death in 2003, Peck took control of the Gregory Peck Reading Series. The series raises money on behalf of the

Los Angeles Public Library The Los Angeles Public Library system (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million residents in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, it serves the large ...

through the collaboration of celebrities. She had become friends with author Harper Lee while her husband was filming ''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...

''. In 2005, Peck convinced the normally reclusive Lee to accept the Los Angeles Public Library Literary Award in person. Peck and her family attended a private

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

screening of ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' in 2012 with President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

to mark what would have been her late husband's 96th birthday.

Death

Veronique Peck died of a heart ailment at her home in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

on August 17, 2012, at the age of 80. She was survived by her daughter filmmaker

Cecilia Peck Cecilia Peck (born May 1, 1958) is an American film producer, director and actress. She is the only daughter of actor Gregory Peck and his second wife Veronique Passani. Career As an actress, Peck was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for '' ...

, son Anthony Peck, three grandchildren, and her brother, Dr. Cornelius Passani.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peck, Veronique 1932 births 2012 deaths French journalists French emigrants to the United States Writers from Paris Burials at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Naturalized citizens of the United States 20th-century American philanthropists