Ann Jillian

Ann Jillian (born Ann Jura Nauseda; January 29, 1950 ) is an American former actress and singer whose career began as a child actress in 1960. She is best known for her role as the sultry waitress Cassie Cranston on the 1980s sitcom It's a Living.

Early life and career

Jillian was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on January 29, 1950, and speaks Lithuanian fluently. Jillian was raised as a devout Roman Catholic.

She began her career as a child actress in 1960 when she played Little Bo Peep in the Disney film Babes in Toyland. Jillian appeared as Dainty June in the Rosalind Russell-Natalie Wood movie version of Gypsy (1962). She had several television appearances in the 1960s and 1970s, becoming a regular on the 1960s sitcom Hazel (1965-66 season) and appearing in the 1963 Twilight Zone episode "Mute" (where she was given screen credit as "Ann Jilliann") as the mute telepath Ilse Nielsen. In 1983, Jillian was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award, recognizing her achievements within the entertainment industry as a child actress.

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".

Jillian married to Andy Murcia, a Chicago police sergeant, on March 27, 1978, and shortly thereafter Murcia retired to manage his wife's career.

In the late 1970s, she toured in musical comedies, including Sammy Cahn's Words and Music. After appearing with Mickey Rooney in the play Goodnight Ladies in Chicago, the producers cast Jillian to appear in the original company of Sugar Babies on Broadway with Rooney and Ann Miller in 1979. She later starred on the namesake series Ann Jillian, which aired 13 episodes on NBC during the 1989–90 season. In 1994, she played the mother of an unborn child with a heart defect in Heart of a Child.

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.

On September 12, 2015, Jillian was inducted into the National Lithuanian American Hall of Fame.

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), 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. 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.

Filmography +Film and television 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 movieNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television FilmNominated - 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 movieNominated – 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 movieWon – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television FilmNominated – 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 1994 The Disappearance of Vonnie Corrine Kaczmarek Television movie 1994 Heart of a Child Alice Holc Television movie 1996 Our Son, the Matchmaker Julie Longwell Television movie 1996 The Care and Handling of Roses Jean Townsend 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"