Cinegato

Gigi Perreau

A major little talent, this French-American moppet star of the late '40s and early '50s was able to parlay her precocious popularity into a modest young adult career, but then left it for family. She has nevertheless maintained on its fringe for decades. Gigi Perreau was born on February 6, 1941, in Los Angeles to a French father, who fled his native country at the onset of WWII, and an American mother. Her beginnings in acting started way back to the tender age of 2-1/2 when her mother was approached by a talent agent who represented child actors and who took an initial interest in her 5-year-old brother Gerald. But Gigi grabbed a little attention for herself. When producer/director Mervyn LeRoy discovered little Gigi could speak French as well as English at such a precious age, he cast her as Greer Garson's daughter in Madame Curie (1943). Gigi went on to play Gloria DeHaven as a toddler in Duas Garotas e um Marujo (1944) and a child to Bette Davis in the classic soaper Vaidosa (1944). MGM signed her up and Gigi spent several years there where, among other roles, she played the daughter of Katharine Hepburn in the composer Schumann biopic Sonata de Amor (1947) and a child to Lana Turner in A Rua do Delfim Verde (1947). Gigi earned her best reviews when Universal-International picked up her option. She positively bloomed as a top juvenile player and received an award from the Screen Children's Guild while appeared in top quality films, both light-hearted and tear-stained. At Universal, Gigi was quite endearing as Claudette Colbert's lively daughter in the domestic comedy Lua de Mel com Pimenta (1948); quite touching in the melodrama Meu Maior Amor (1949) starring Susan Hayward; and quite earnest in the lead role of a child who witnesses a murder in the film noir O Segredo da Boneca (1950) starring Ann Sothern. She had a standout role as Piper Laurie's kid sister and a Charleston partner to Charles Coburn in the Roaring 20's comedy Sinfonia Prateada (1952) and got to monkey around with a monkey in the comedy Bonzo Goes to College (1952). In the mid '50s, things started tapering off for the former pigtailed child star as she tried to adjust through the awkward teenage years. Appearances in such lowbudget exploitation as The Cool and the Crazy (1958), Garotas Sem Lar (1959), and Hell on Wheels (1967) pretty much tell the story. Developing into a lovely-looking young adult, she also graced the small screen. She co-starred in two short-lived series: the sitcom The Betty Hutton Show (1959) and the detective drama Follow the Sun (1961). She also guested on such shows as "Whirlybirds," "The Donna Reed Show," The Detective," "Hawaiian Eye," "Surfside 6," "Laramie," "Rawhide," "The Rebel," "The Roaring 20s," "The Rifleman," "Perry Mason," "Gunsmoke," "Gomer Pyle," "My Three Sons," "Ironside," "The Brady Bunch," and "Adam-12." At age 20, Gigi married and had a son and a daughter; a second marriage produced another son and daughter. Rarely seen on film or TV since the late '60s, Gigi has continued on as a stage director and college prep drama teacher. Brother Gerald (aka Peter Miles) equipped himself quite well as a child actor performing in O Vale da Ternura (1949), Sorveteiro em Apuros (1950), and Quo Vadis (1951). Gigi appeared with him in the movies Encantamento (1948) and Roseanna (1949) and played his sister on The Betty Hutton Show (1959). Gigi's two younger sisters, Janine Perreau and Lauren Perreau, also dabbled in film and TV as youngsters, but to a much lesser degree.

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