Lili Gentle

Lili Gentle (born March 4, 1940) is a former American film and television actress.

Biography

Born as Lillie Charlene Gentle, she later changed the spelling of her first name to Lili. As a child, both she and her sister Janet were stricken with polio.

Gentle made her film debut in an uncredited role in Carousel (1956). In 1956, she had bit parts in Teenage Rebel and The Girl Can't Help It, starring Jayne Mansfield. In 1957, she earned a supporting role opposite Mansfield in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?. In 1958, she starred with Tommy Sands in the dramatic-musical, Sing, Boy, Sing. Her last film role was in 1962, in Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation.^[1]

She frequently acted on television in shows such as The 20th Century Fox Hour (1956); Matinee Theatre (1957); and Playhouse 90 (1957).

In 1958, just before her 18th birthday, she married legendary film producer Richard D. Zanuck, then 23 years old, who was employed in the 20th Century-Fox story department. With Zanuck, she had two children, Virginia (born October 1959), and Janet (born September 1960), through whom she has a number of grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

After divorcing Zanuck in 1968, Gentle remarried twice; her second marriage, to Thomas P. Richardson, ended in divorce in 1971. She married her third husband in 1975, with whom she resides in Georgia.

Filmology

Films

• Carousel (1956) (uncredited)
• Teenage Rebel (1956)
• The Girl Can't Help It (1956) (uncredited)
• Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)
• Young and Dangerous (1957) (billed as: Lilli Gentle)
• Sing, Boy, Sing (1958)
• Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962)

Television

• The 20th Century Fox Hour (1956 - 1 episode) (billed as: Lily Gentle)
• Matinee Theatre (1956 - 1 episode)
• Playhouse 90 (1957 - 1 episode)

References