Gigi Perreau was born in 1941 in Los Angeles. She made many films as a child actress during the 1940’s. Her movies included “Mr Skeffington” in 1944 with Bette Davis and “Green Dolphin Street” in 1947 with Lana Turner and Donna Reed.
Gary Brumburgh’s entry:
A major little talent, this French-American moppet star of the late ’40s and early ’50s was not able to parlay her precocious popularity into a sizeable adult career, but has nevertheless maintained on the fringe for decades. Gigi Perreau was born in Los Angeles to a French father, who fled his native country at the onset of WWII, and an American mother. Her beginnings started way back to the tender age of two and a half 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 of her own. 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 inMadame Curie (1943). MGM signed her up and she spent several years there before Universal-International picked up her option. She 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, including My Foolish Heart (1949) starring Susan Hayward, and Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952) with Rock Hudson. From the mid ’50s, however, and after scores of roles on TV shows, things started looking bleak for the former pig-tailed child star as she tried to adjust through the awkward teen age years. Appearances in such innocuous time fillers as The Cool and the Crazy (1958), Girls Town(1959) and Hell on Wheels (1967) pretty much tells the story. At the age of 20, she married and had two children, a son and daughter. A second marriage produced another boy and girl. 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 The Red Pony (1949), The Good Humor Man (1950) and Quo Vadis (1951). Gigi appeared with him in the movies Enchantment(1948) and Roseanna McCoy (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.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
Gigi Perreau (born Ghislaine Perreau-Saussine, 1941) remains one of the most poignant examples of the “professional child” in Hollywood’s Golden Age. Unlike the Shirley Temple model of precocious singing and dancing, Perreau was a dramatic prodigy, celebrated for a quiet, soulful intensity that often made her the emotional anchor of adult-oriented melodramas.
Career Overview
Perreau’s career is a fascinating case study in the longevity of a child star who transitioned into a prolific television actress and, eventually, a respected educator.
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The War-Era Discovery (1943–1948): Making her debut at age two in Madame Curie, she quickly became a favorite of top-tier directors. She possessed a “European” look and a preternatural ability to take direction, leading to roles in Song of Love and Green Dolphin Street.
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The “Queen of the Tearjerkers” (1949–1952): This was her peak as a major film star. Samuel Goldwyn famously put her under contract, and she carried films like Shadow on the Wall and My Foolish Heart. In 1951, she was so famous that she had a doll made in her likeness and even a “Gigi Perreau” clothing line.
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The Television Transition (1950s–1960s): As she entered her teens, Perreau navigated the “awkward age” by moving into the burgeoning world of television. She starred in the sitcom The Betty Hutton Showand became a ubiquitous guest star on legendary series like The Rifleman, Perry Mason, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
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The Educator and Director: In her later years, Perreau stepped away from the camera to become a drama teacher and director, passing on the technical discipline she learned from masters like Claude Rains and Bette Davis.
Detailed Critical Analysis
1. The “Small Adult” Acting Style
Critically, Perreau was noted for a lack of “childishness.” In an era where child actors were often encouraged to be “cute,” Perreau’s work was characterized by restraint.
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The Interior Life: In Shadow on the Wall (1950), she played a child who witnesses a murder and loses her memory. Critics praised her for portraying psychological trauma with a nuanced, vacant stare and subtle tremors—techniques usually reserved for adult Method actors.
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Vocal Control: Even at age seven, Perreau had a low, steady speaking voice. She avoided the high-pitched “squeak” of her contemporaries, which allowed her to hold her own in scenes with heavyweights like Dorothy McGuire and Cary Grant.
2. The Goldwyn “Polish”
Samuel Goldwyn marketed Perreau as a “prestige” child star.
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The Archetype of the “Lost Child”: Perreau often played characters who were the victims of adult indiscretion or tragedy. Critically, she was used as a moral compass; her innocent, often sad face served as a silent indictment of the adult characters’ failings.
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Technical Consistency: Directors loved Perreau because she was a “one-take” actress. This professional reliability allowed her to work with directors like Douglas Sirk and Vincente Minnelli, who demanded high levels of emotional precision.
3. Navigating the “Teenage” Gap
The “critical” failure of many child stars is the inability to shed their childhood image. Perreau handled this with a pragmatic shift to television.
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The Sitcom Pivot: In The Betty Hutton Show, she played a sophisticated, slightly cynical teenager. Critics noted that she had a sharp comedic timing that had been hidden by years of playing tragic “waifs.”
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Genre Versatility: Her work in 1960s Westerns and Sci-Fi (like the cult classic The Man with the Red Tattoo) showed a grittier, more physically active side of her talent. She was one of the few child stars who successfully transitioned into the “leading lady” age, though she eventually found more satisfaction in the variety of television than in the dwindling studio system.
4. The Legacy of the “Professional”
Perreau is now critically analyzed as a survivor of a grueling system.
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The “Un-Damaged” Star: Unlike many of her peers, Perreau emerged from the studio system with her mental health and professional reputation intact. This is often attributed to her family’s grounding influence (her brother, Peter Miles, was also a child star).
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The Director’s Perspective: Her later work as an acting coach and director is viewed as a continuation of the “Old Hollywood” craft. She represents a direct link to the technical discipline of the 1940s, emphasizing preparation and script analysis over the “personality-driven” acting of the modern era.
Major Awards & Notable Credits
| Project | Role | Significance |
| Shadow on the Wall | Susan Adams | Her most critically acclaimed dramatic lead; a study in childhood trauma. |
| My Foolish Heart | Martha | A pivotal role in a classic “woman’s picture” opposite Susan Hayward. |
| Has Anybody Seen My Gal? | Roberta Blaisdell | A charming turn in a Douglas Sirk comedy, showing her range. |
| The Betty Hutton Show | Pat Strickland | Her primary foray into the world of television sitcoms. |
| Walk of Fame | Motion Pictures | Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 |