Veronique Passani was born in Paris; her mother was an artist and writer, while her father was an architect. She began her career as a journalist for
France Soir, a French daily newspaper, and met Gregory Peck while conducting an interview for
France Soir in 1952. The couple married on December 31, 1955, one day after Peck's divorce from his first wife, Greta Kukkonen. Peck became a well-known philanthropist in
Greater Los Angeles. She and her husband raised approximately $50 million for the
American Cancer Society during the 1960s. The
Los Angeles Times named her "Woman of the Year" in 1967. She also co-founded the Inner City Cultural Center, a theater group composed of members from different ethnic backgrounds, and the
Los Angeles Music Center. Peck became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1976. Shortly after Gregory Peck's death in 2003, Peck took control of the Gregory Peck Reading Series. The series raises money on behalf of the
Los Angeles Public Library through the collaboration of celebrities. She had become friends with author
Harper Lee while her husband was filming
To Kill a Mockingbird. In 2005, Peck convinced the normally reclusive Lee to accept the Los Angeles Public Library Literary Award in person. Peck and her family attended a private
White House screening of
To Kill a Mockingbird in 2012 with President
Barack Obama to mark what would have been her late husband's 96th birthday. ==Death==