Geneviève Gilles (born Geneviève Gillaizeau; 1946) is a French-Romanian chef turned actress. In her early life she sold Superman figurines outside serial movies in Norwalk, Connecticut. She acted in one film and three 1980s era sitcoms. She was the mistress of film producer

Darryl Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...

, from 1965 to 1973. Raised as an orphan in convent schools, the 19-year-old Gillaizeau found the 63-year-old Zanuck irresistible. She was quoted, in 1980, as stating "... his age didn't bother me. He was wonderful, very powerful and smart. About sex, he was like Picasso, I think." Zanuck had a long history of trying to turn his European mistresses into film starshe had previously done this with Bella Darvi,

Juliette Gréco Juliette Gréco (; 7 February 1927 – 23 September 2020) was a French singer and actress. Her best known songs are "Paris Canaille" (1962, originally sung by Léo Ferré), "La Javanaise" (1963, written by Serge Gainsbourg for Gréco) and "Désh ...

and

Irina Demick Irina Demick (16 October 1936 in Pommeuse, Seine-et-Marne – 8 October 2004), sometimes credited as Irina Demich or Irina Demik, was a French actress with a brief career in American films. Biography Born Irina Dziemiach, of Russian ancestry, i ...

. Gilles' only movie, as the lead in ''

Hello Goodbye "Hello, Goodbye" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. Backed by John Lennon's "I Am the Walrus", it was issued as a non-album single in November 1967, the group's first re ...

'' (1970), was created and written by Zanuck, and was the first production he personally supervised since he inserted Demick in '' The Longest Day'' (1962).

Zanuck will dispute

In 1980, Gilles filed a $15 million claim against the estate of Darryl F. Zanuck, who she claimed was her constant companion from 1965 to 1973. She also claimed that Zanuck's son,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

, influenced his father to remove her from his final will in October 1973. Darryl F. Zanuck had died in 1979, and was residing with his wife Virginia at the time. Zanuck family members countersued. Zanuck's will was settled on January 8, 1988, after Gilles provided that her claim on the estate would be given to

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universi ...

in New York. The university received a $50,000 payment.

Filmography

* ''The World of Fashion'' (1969, Documentary short) * '' Hello-Goodbye'' (1970) as Dany (Baroness) * '' Mannix'' (1973, TV Series) as Genevieve – Episode: "Carol Lockwood, Past Tense"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilles, Genevieve 1946 births Living people French film actresses French television actresses 20th-century French actresses Actresses from Paris 21st-century French women