Genevieve Gilles


Geneviève Gilles is a French actress. She acted in one film and in one episode of a television series. She was the mistress of film producer Darryl Zanuck, 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."
Zanuck had a long history of trying to turn his European mistresses into film starshe had previously done this with Bella Darvi, Juliette Gréco and Irina Demick. Gilles' only movie, as the lead in Hello Goodbye, was created and written by Zanuck, and was the first production he personally supervised since he inserted Demick in The Longest Day.

Zanuck will dispute

In 1980, Gilles filed a $15 million claim against the estate of Darryl F. Zanuck, claiming that Zanuck, who she claimed was her constant companion from 1965 to 1973, suffered from Alzheimer's disease and that Zanuck's son, Richard, had influenced his father to remove her from his final will in October 1973. She claimed that he had promised her 45% of the estate, valued at $3.4 million.
In October 1986, Zanuck's daughter, Darrylin Zanuck de Pineda, filed a malicious prosecution suit against Gilles seeking $10 million. Ms. de Pineda's suit claimed the former mistress falsely accused her of forging the will and of exerting undue influence on her father.
Zanuck's will was settled on January 8, 1988 after Gilles provided that her claim on the estate would be given to Yeshiva University in New York. The university received a $50,000 payment.
In February 1988, de Pineda, filed another malicious prosecution suit against Gilles seeking unspecified damages. It also sought unspecified damages against her attorneys for allegedly failing to investigate the facts and law.

Filmography