Gina Gillespie Explained

Gina Gillespie
Birth Date:September 20, 1951
Birth Place:San Gabriel, California, U.S.
Years Active:1958–1965 (as actress)
Occupation:Actress, Attorney
Relatives:Darlene Gillespie (sister)

Gina Gail Gillespie (born September 20, 1951) is an American former child actress best known for her recurring roles in the television series Law of the Plainsman and Karen, and for playing Pippi Longstocking in a 1961 episode of Shirley Temple's Storybook. She later attended law school and became an attorney.

Early life

Gillespie was born in San Gabriel, California, the daughter of Herbert Gillespie and Rean Tibeau Gillespie, who had been vaudeville dancers. In 1955, when her sister Darlene became a Mouseketeer, the family moved to Burbank, California.[1] She has three other siblings.[2]

Acting career

Discovered by Alfred Hitchcock,[3] Gillespie began acting on television when she was four years old.[4] In 1958, she obtained small roles in Andy Hardy Comes Home and The Lost Missile.

In 1959 she was cast in the recurring role of Tess Logan, an eight-year-old orphan, in the western television series Law of the Plainsman, which ran on NBC from October 1, 1959, to September 22, 1960. Reruns of the series were broadcast on ABC from July through September 1962.[5]

She continued to act in both television series and films, including playing dual roles in Pippi Longstocking, a 1961 episode of Shirley Temple's Storybook. The story differs from the famous children's novel, for it is about a girl named Susan Ann Scholfield who tells her younger sister that, if she had her own way, she would be a girl named Pippi and live in a house with a monkey, a horse and a box of gold. The episode then shows the adventures Susan imagines.[6]

In 1962 Gillespie played the role of young Blanche in the critically acclaimed film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, and received good reviews for her performance.[7]

In 1964 she was cast as Mimi Scott, the tomboyish younger sister in the television series Karen, which was broadcast on NBC from October 5, 1964, to August 30, 1965.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotesReference
1958Andy Hardy Comes HomeCricket HardyPlayed Andy's daughter[8]
1958The Lost MissileLittle Girl in Underground BunkerUncredited role
1959Playhouse 90Kathy PatrickEpisode: A Marriage of Strangers[9]
1959Face of a FugitiveAlice BaileyPlayed sheriff's niece [10]
1959It Happened to JaneBetty OsgoodPlayed Jane's daughter
1959-1960Law of the PlainsmanTess LoganRecurring role in series
1960The Slowest Gun in the WestThe DaughterTV special[11]
1960Wagon TrainPeggy O'TooleEpisode: The Albert Farnsworth Story, Colonel Farnsworth played by Charles Laughton.
1961Thriller PriscillaEpisode: Mr. George[12]
1961The Aquanauts LisaEpisode: Niagara Dive[13]
1961Tales of Wells Fargo Carol Butler / Cindy Croydon2 episodes: Prince Jim, A Fistful of Pride
1961Shirley Temple's StorybookSusan & PippiEpisode: Pippi Longstocking, played dual roles
1962What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?Young BlanchePlayed Jane's sister as a child
1964The FugitiveJenny AmmoryEpisode: The Witch[14]
1964-1965KarenMimi Scott27 episodes, recurring role in series

Later life

Gillespie graduated from Providence High School in Burbank, and married James MacDonald on May 5, 1973. She later attended the University of La Verne College of Law and graduated Cum Laude in 1988. After being admitted to the California State Bar she became a practicing attorney.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Aaker . Everett . Television Western Players, 1960-1975: A Biographical Dictionary . 16 May 2017 . McFarland . 978-1-4766-2856-1 . 188–189 . April 26, 2021 . en.
  2. News: Gina Gillespie Is Veteran Actress . April 26, 2021 . Biddeford-Saco Journal . May 1, 1965 . Maine, Biddeford . 9. Newspapers.com.
  3. News: Schoolgirl Star in New Series . April 26, 2021 . The Sydney Morning Herald . February 15, 1965 . Australia, New South Wales, Sydney . 13. Newspapers.com.
  4. Book: Farber . Stephen . McClellan . Michael . Cinema '62: The Greatest Year at the Movies . 13 March 2020 . Rutgers University Press . 978-1-9788-0883-6 . April 26, 2021 . en.
  5. Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946 – Present, 1st Edition, page 340 & 320, Ballantine Books, 1979
  6. Vincent Terrace, Encyclopedia of Television Pilots, page 193, McFarland, 2019
  7. James Powers, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Review),The Hollywood Reporter, October 26, 1962
  8. The Essential Mickey Rooney, page 225, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2016
  9. Web site: Playhouse 90: A Marriage of Strangers. The Paley Center for Media. February 20, 2021.
  10. David Dye, Child and Youth Actors: Filmographies of Their Entire Careers, 1914 - 1985, page 86, McFarland, 1988
  11. Mike Malloy, Lee Van Cleef: A Biographical, Film and Television Reference, page 180, McFarland, 1998
  12. Alan Warren, This Is a Thriller: An Episode Guide, History and Analysis of the Classic 1960s Television Series, pages 98 - 99, McFarland, 2004
  13. The Boston Globe, January 8, 1961, page 199
  14. The Boston Globe, May 10, 1964, page 252