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==