Ann Jillian
Ann Jillian | |
---|---|
Born | Ann Jura Nauseda [1] January 29, 1950 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Actress, singer |
Years active | 1960–2000 |
Known for | |
Spouse |
Andrew L. Murcia (m. 1978) |
Children | 1 |
Ann Jillian (born Ann Jura Nauseda; January 29, 1950)
Early life and career
Jillian was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1950 to Lithuanian immigrant parents Juozas and Margarita Nauseda (later George and Margaret Nauseda) [3] and speaks Lithuanian fluently. Jillian was raised as a devout Roman Catholic.[4]
She began her career as a child actress in 1960 when she played Little Bo Peep in the
Jillian moved on to voice roles, for Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and Sealab 2020 in the early 1970s, but — told she was too old to play youthful roles of the day and too young to play a leading lady — there was no more work for her in Hollywood. She took a department store job and studied psychology, but heeded the advice of casting director Hoyt Bowers and Walt Disney, who had told her, "Whatever you do, keep working at your craft".[6]
Jillian married Andy Murcia, a Chicago police sergeant, on March 27, 1978,[7] and shortly thereafter Murcia retired to manage his wife's career.[8] Murcia later partnered with Joyce Selznick in management of Ann Jillian until Joyce died of breast cancer shortly after.
In the late 1970s, she toured in musical comedies, including
1980s fame
This section of a poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Ann Jillian" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2022) |
Jillian appeared in more than 25 films, mostly for television. Though she had nearly two decades' worth of film and television credits already, she first came to national prominence in the 1980s' series
In 1983, she appeared in the John Hughes movie Mr. Mom with Michael Keaton and Teri Garr. The same year, she appeared in the miniseries Malibu, starring Kim Novak, Eva Marie Saint and James Coburn. That fall she starred in her own sitcom, Jennifer Slept Here, a variation on The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, with Jillian as the apparition in question. Jennifer Slept Here ended in 1984, enabling her to take a role in the miniseries Ellis Island. Dunaway and Vereen were nominated for Golden Globe Awards, and Jillian and Burton were nominated for Emmy Awards.
Personal life
Family and later work
Jillian gave birth to her only child, a son, Andrew Joseph Murcia, in 1992. She continued to act, with ten TV movie roles throughout the 1990s, although her television and film credits became sporadic since the late 1990s, as she decided to devote herself to raising her son and to promoting breast cancer issues. Today, she mostly works as a motivational speaker and also performs as a singer in corporate and symphony "pops" circles, conducted by Judith Morse. She is an occasional guest columnist for the website TheColumnists.com. She resides with her family in the Greater Los Angeles area.[citation needed]
On September 12, 2015, Jillian was inducted into the National Lithuanian American Hall of Fame.[9]
Cancer
Before resuming production on It's a Living in 1985, Jillian (then 35) made headlines when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she became a vocal advocate for cancer research and prevention. Leaving It's a Living after the 1985–86 season, she focused on beating her cancer, with treatment including a double mastectomy. Her battle with cancer was chronicled in the top-rated made-for-TV film, The Ann Jillian Story (1988),[10] in which Jillian portrayed herself. The film required two years to be produced, due to conflicts in tone, the degree of medical information included, and the relatively limited, realistic reaction portrayed by Jillian and her stage husband, before and after her surgery.[11] Jillian received her third Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special, and won a 1989 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV.[12]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1960 | Leave It to Beaver | Little Girl | Episode: "Wally, the Businessman" |
1960 | Shirley Temple's Storybook | Little Girl | Episode: "Madeline" |
1961 | Babes in Toyland | Bo Peep | |
1962 | Insight | Maria Goretti | Episode: "The Killer" |
1962 | Wagon Train | Sandra Carlson | Episode: "The Hobie Redman Story" |
1962 | Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color |
Portia "Rocky" Sylvester | Episode: "Sammy, the Way-Out Seal" |
1962 | Gypsy | Dainty June / June Havoc | |
1963 | Twilight Zone | Ilse Nielsen | Episode: "Mute" |
1963–1966 | Hazel | Laurie / Millie | 12 episodes |
1964 | My Three Sons | Debbie Rogers | Episode: "The Ballad of Lissa Stratmeyer" |
1971 | The Partridge Family | Second Girl | Episode: "Days of Acne and Roses" |
1972 | The New Scooby-Doo Movies | Unknown | Voice; 3 episodes |
1972 | Sealab 2020 | Gail Adams | Voice; 13 episodes |
1974 | Kojak | Joanna | Episode: "Die Before They Wake" |
1980 | The Love Boat | Rena Ward | 2 episodes |
1980–1986 | It's a Living | Cassie Cranston | 49 episodes |
1986 | Killer in the Mirror | Samantha DeLorca / Karen Edwards | |
1981 | Fantasy Island | Delphine McNab | Episode: "Delphine/The Unkillable" |
1982 | Mae West | Mae West | Television movie Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
|
1983 | Girls of the White Orchid | Marilyn | Television movie; alternative title Death Ride to Osaka |
1983 | Mr. Mom | Joan | |
1983 | Fantasy | singing duet w/ Clint Holmes "Friends In Love" | NBC game show - Daytime Emmy Award for co-host Leslie Uggams 1983 - Peter Marshall co-host |
1983–1984 | Jennifer Slept Here | Jennifer Farrell | 13 episodes |
1984 | Ellis Island | Nellie Byfield | Television movie Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
|
1985 | Alice in Wonderland | Red Queen | Television movie |
1987 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam | Suzanne Domenico | Television movie |
1988 | The Ann Jillian Story | Herself | Television movie Won – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
|
1989 | Little White Lies | Detective Liz Donaldson | Television movie |
1989–1990 | Ann Jillian | Ann McNeil | 13 episodes |
1993 | Labor of Love: The Arlette Schweitzer Story | Arlette Schweitzer | Television movie |
1996 | Our Son, the Matchmaker | Julie Longwell | Television movie |
1997 | I'll Be Home for Christmas | Sarah | Television movie |
1999 | Touched by an Angel | Liz | Episode: "The Whole Truth and Nothing But..." |
2000 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Senator Angela Rhodes | Episode: "Winds of Change" |
References
- ^ a b "CNN.com - Catching up with Ann Jillian - August 6, 2002". Cnn.com. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Television". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ Ancestry Library Edition[verification needed]
- ^ Rosen, Marjorie (1991-09-16). "Miracle Mama". People. Archived from the original on 2011-01-10. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
Jillian is a devout Catholic
- ^ "5th Annual Youth in Film Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on 2011-04-03. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
- ^ a b Parent, Nancy (August 12, 1983). "Ann Jillian has stars in her eyes". The Courier (TV supplement). p. 16.
- ^ "FamilySearch.org". Familysearch.org. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ "Ann Jillian's husband cops out as her agent". The Spokesman-Review. September 14, 1983. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
- ^ "September 12, 2015, The National Lithuanian American Hall of Fame Welcomes, Ann Jillian (Jurate Nausedaite), Vyto Ruginis, and Arnold Voketaitis". Lithhof.org. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
- ^ Corey Allen (director) (January 4, 1988). The Ann Jillian Story (television film). Toronto: NBC.
- ^ Farber, Stephen (January 2, 1988). "After 2 Years of Struggle, Ann Jillian's Story Is Told". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- ^ "46th Annial Golden Globes". Dick Clark Productions. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
External links
- Official website
- Ann Jillian at IMDb
- Ann Jillian at the Internet Broadway Database
- Ann Jillian at the TCM Movie Database
- Ann Jillian at AllMovie