Ann Jillian Biography
Born: January 29, 1950
Blonde, round-faced actress Ann Jillian was the daughter of Lithuanian war refugees. Her mother, for whom the phrase "stage-struck" might well have been coined, determined that the family would settle in Los Angeles so that her children would grow up in the heart of showbiz. In 1961, 11-year-old Ann made her film debut as Bo Peep in Disney's Babes in Toyland (1961). Two years later, she was cast as young Dainty June in Gypsy (1963); her talent and dedication prompted producer Mervyn LeRoy to forecast a "most rewarding future in show business" for the young actress. But after essaying her first semi-adult role as secretary Millie Ballard in the TV sitcom Hazel, Jillian dropped out of acting for three years to study psychology in college; during this period, she paid her tuition by working in a department store. She returned to performing as one half of a singing act (Debra Shulman was the other half) which opened for such Las Vegas headliners as Robert_Goulet. In the late 1970s, Jillian scored a personal triumph in the Broadway musical Sugar Babies, holding her own on stage despite the howitzer-shell competition of stars Mickey_Rooney and Ann_Miller (her role was later reduced in size, reportedly because Miller felt she was being upstaged). Under the guidance of her manager-husband, ex-policeman Andy Murcia, Jillian went onward and upward in 1980 as star of the long-running sitcom It's a Living; later television projects included the short-lived series Jennifer Slept Here and the title role in the TV biopic Mae_West, which earned her the first of two Emmy nominations (the second was for 1984's Ellis_Island). After undergoing a double mastectomy in 1985, Ann Jillian celebrated her survival by starring in another made-for-TV biography, The_Ann_Jillian_Story (1988) Hal Erickson, Rovi
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