Alma Mabel Conner (February 12, 1927 – 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.
Biography Gillis was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. 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".
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).
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.
On January 31, 2018, Gillis died in a nursing home in Horam, East Sussex, England, at the age of 90.
Filmography Year Title Role Note 1934 Men in White Flower Girl uncredited1936 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 Child1938 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Becky Thatcher Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus Fleurette de Cava Little Orphan Annie Annie1939 Beau Geste Isobel Rivers as a Child The Under-Pup Letty Lou1940 Edison, the Man Nancy Grey All This, and Heaven Too Emily Schuyler My Love Came Back Valerie Malette Little Men Nan1941 Nice Girl? Nancy Dana Mr. Dynamite Joey, a.k.a. Abigail Glamour Boy Brenda Lee1942 Meet the Stewarts Jane Goodwin Tough As They Come Frankie Taylor Bambi Faline (as a young adult) voice, uncredited 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge Sylvia1943 Stage Door Canteen Herself The Man from Music Mountain Penny Winters1944 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 Pidgeon1946 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
References
Further reading Best, Marc. Those Endearing Young Charms: Child Performers of the Screen (South Brunswick and New York: Barnes & Co., 1971), pp. 95–99.
External links
Ann Gillis at the American Film Institute