Ghislaine Elizabeth Marie Thérèse Perreau-Saussine, known professionally as Gigi Perreau, is an American film and television actress.

Family

Ghislaine Elizabeth Marie Perreau-Saussine was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

February 6, 1941, to Eleanor Alfrida (Child) and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

-born Robert Henri Perreau-Saussine. Her elder brother Gerald (stage name Peter Miles) and, to a lesser extent, her younger sisters Janine and Lauren, also had a measure of success in film and on television. Gigi and Gerald appeared together in the 1948 film '' Enchantment''. She and Janine portrayed sisters in 1951's '' Week-End with Father''.

Career

Perreau achieved success as a

child actress The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage, television, or in movies. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated te ...

in a number of films. She got into the business quite by accident. Her older brother

Gerald Gerald is a masculine given name derived from the Germanic languages prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Gerald is a Norman French variant of the Germanic name. An Old English equivalent name was Garweald, the likely original ...

was trying out for the part of the title character's son in ''

Madame Curie Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (; ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( ; ), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first wo ...

'' (1943). Because their mother could not find a babysitter, she took Gigi along. The two-year-old, who could speak French, got the (uncredited) part of Madame Curie's daughter

Ève Ève is a French given name, the counterpart to the English name Eve and the Latinate Eva. Notable people with this name include: People * Ève Angeli, French musician * Ève Bazaiba, a member of the Movement of the Liberation of the Congo * Ève ...

(while Gerald would have to wait a year to make his film debut in ''

Passage to Marseille ''Passage to Marseille'', also known as ''Message to Marseille'', is a 1944 American war film made by Warner Brothers, directed by Michael Curtiz. The screenplay was by Casey Robinson and Jack Moffitt (screenwriter), Jack Moffitt from the novel ...

''). She also played the daughter of

Claude Rains William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British and American actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. He was the recipient of numerous accolades, including four Academy Award nominations for Academy Award for Best Supp ...

and

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...

's characters in the 1944 film '' Mr. Skeffington'' (1944). In '' Shadow on the Wall'' (1950), she starred as the sole witness to a murder. As the "top child movie actress for 1951", the then ten-year-old was given the keys to the city of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

by its mayor, and later

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

governor, David L. Lawrence. She was the youngest person to be so honored. Perreau played the rebellious teen daughter of

Fredric March Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary '' Variety'', April 16, 1975, page 95. As ...

in 1956's ''

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit ''The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit'' is a 1956 American drama film starring Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones, with Fredric March, Lee J. Cobb, Keenan Wynn and Marisa Pavan in support. Based on the 1955 novel by Sloan Wilson, it was written an ...

''. However, her film career lost momentum as she became an adult, so she turned to television. In 1959, she played a friend of character Mary Stone (

Shelley Fabares Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is a retired American actress and singer. She is known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom ''The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitc ...

) on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's ''

The Donna Reed Show ''The Donna Reed Show'' is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz co-stars as her Pediatrics, pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage childr ...

'', and had a supporting role in the

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

'' The Betty Hutton Show'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, with her brother Gerald. In 1960, Perreau and

Robert Harland Robert F. York (February 28, 1935 – December 21, 2023), better known as Robert Harland, was an American stage and television actor. He is known for playing Jack Flood in the American crime drama television series '' Target: The Corruptors!''. ...

performed as Sara Lou and Lin Proctor, a young couple from the east who have

eloped Elopement is a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, sometimes involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting married without parental approval. A ...

and are heading west, in the ABC western series ''

Stagecoach West Stagecoach West is a bus operator providing services in Gloucestershire, Bristol, Swindon, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, North Somerset and Herefordshire, in the West of England, and Monmouthshire in the South-East of Wales. The company is a subsidia ...

'' episode "The Land Beyond", with

Wayne Rogers William Wayne McMillan Rogers III (April 7, 1933 – December 31, 2015) was an American actor, known for playing the role of Captain "Trapper" John McIntyre in the CBS television series '' M*A*S*H'' and as Dr. Charley Michaels on '' House Call ...

and

Robert Bray Robert E. Bray (October 23, 1917 – March 7, 1983) was an American film and television actor known for playing the forest ranger Corey Stuart in the CBS series '' Lassie'', He also starred in '' Stagecoach West'' and as Mike Hammer in th ...

. Also in 1960, Perreau was cast as Julie Staunton in the episode "Flight from Terror" of the ABC adventure series '' The Islanders'', set in the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. She was cast in two episodes, "Don Gringo" (1960) and "The Promise" (1961), of the Nick Adams ABC

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

series '' The Rebel''. In 1961, she played Mary Bettelheim in the episode "The Twelfth Hour" of the ABC/

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

television

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

'' The Roaring 20s''. She was cast in a recurring role on ABC's '' Follow the Sun'' series from 1961–1962 as a secretary, Katherine Ann "Kathy" Richards. She guest-starred on ''

The Rifleman ''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television series starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show ...

'' in 1960 and 1961. She made two guest appearances on ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a ...

'': in 1958 as title character and defendant Doris Bannister in "The Case of the Desperate Daughter" and in 1964 as nurse Phyllis Clover in "The Case of the Sleepy Slayer." In 1964, she also co-starred as Lucy, a beleaguered homesteader, on an episode of ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

'' titled "Chicken". In 1970, she appeared on the

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired five seasons from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family of six children, with three boys and three gir ...

'' in the episode "The Undergraduate", portraying a math teacher who becomes the object of

puppy love Puppy love, also known as a crush, is an informal term for feelings of romantic love, often felt during childhood and early adolescence. It is an infatuation usually developed by one's looks and attractiveness at first sight. It is named for its r ...

by Greg Brady, one of her students. On December 17, 1974, she appeared as Iris Cooley on ''

Adam-12 ''Adam-12'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb and produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pe ...

''. In the 2000s, she provided her voice in the animated films ''

Fly Me to the Moon "Fly Me to the Moon", originally titled "In Other Words", is a song written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard. Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's 1964 version was closely associated with the Apo ...

'' (2008), '' A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures'' (2010) and ''Crash: The Animated Movie'' (2017), and acted in ''Time Again'' (2011).

Personal life

Perreau, 19, married 35-year-old Emil Frank Gallo, a business executive, in 1960; it was the first marriage for both parties.

Affiliations

Perreau is an alumna of Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles and has taught drama classes there. As of 2010, she was a member of the board of directors of both the Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts and the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum and is the vice-president of the Drama Teachers Association of Southern California. She was a drama teacher for

Meghan Markle Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle, August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family, media personality, entrepreneur, and former actress. She is married to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son ...

. She was a guest of

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

at the

wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was held on Saturday 19 May 2018 in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom. The groom is a member of the British royal family; the bride is American and previously worked as an a ...

in 2018.

Honors

On February 8, 1960, Perreau was awarded a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

for her work in television. On March 14, 1998, she was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award in recognition of her outstanding achievements within the entertainment industry as a

Filmography

Television credits

References

Bibliography

* * Best, Marc (1971). ''Those Endearing Young Charms: Child Performers of the Screen''. South Brunswick and New York: Barnes & Co., pp. 209–214.

External links

*
2019 Gigi Perreau interview, Mansfield News Journal, accessed August 30, 2019
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perreau, Gigi Living people American child actresses American people of French descent American film actresses American television actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Los Angeles Immaculate Heart High School (Los Angeles) alumni Year of birth missing (living people)