Gigi Parrish
USABiography of Gigi Parrish
Gigi Parrish was born as Catherine Gertrude McElroy on August 30, 1912, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. She grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, as the daughter of Irish and Scottish immigrants. After her mother passed away in 1918, Catherine and her siblings waited to be taken in by adoptive parents. She was eventually taken in by a wealthy family and received education from a private tutor named Dilwyn Parrish. Despite being 18 years older, a love blossomed between Catherine and Dilwyn, and at the age of 15, she married him. The couple embarked on their honeymoon on motorcycles to Dilwyn's family home in Claymont, Delaware, and then planned to travel across the country and settle in California. However, Dilwyn was seriously injured in a car accident in the southwestern United States, so they completed the rest of the journey by train.
Early Career
In 1929, Gigi Parrish and her husband moved to California, where she signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn's film company a few years later. She made her debut on the big screen in 1933, in the film "Roman Scandals". Gigi became one of the 13 young stars featured in the "WAMPAS Baby Stars" promotional campaign, which predicted successful futures in the film industry for them. In 1934, she received supporting roles in six films. Among the films she appeared in were the musicals "Roman Scandals" and "Down to Their Last Yacht"; the comedies "Twentieth Century" by Howard Hawks and "Kiss and Make-Up" by Harlan Thompson; and the dramas "The Love Captive", "A Girl of the Limberlost", "Girl o' My Dreams", "Symphony of Living", and "August Weekend".
Personal Life and Later Years
Gigi and Dilwyn rented a beach cottage in Laguna Beach, California, near Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher and her husband Alfred Fisher, with whom they became good friends. However, Gigi's marriage to Dilwyn was already in critical condition, as he had fallen in love with Mary Fisher. Eventually, both couples divorced. Fortunately, by that time, Gigi had already fallen in love with journalist and screenwriter John Weld. After starring in nine more films, Gigi left her acting career and married John in 1937. From 1949 to 1965, John and Gigi were partners in the newspaper "Laguna Beach Post".
After retiring from acting, Gigi Parrish lived with her husband in Dana Point, California. John Weld passed away at the age of 98 in 2003, after 66 years of marriage, and three years later, Gigi passed away at the age of 93 on February 8, 2006.
