Gillian Hills

Gillian Hills (born 5 June 1944) is an English actress and singer. She first came to notice as a teenager in the 1960s in the British films Beat Girl (1960) and Blowup (1966). She also spent a number of years living in France, where she embarked on a singing career as well as starring in a number of French films.

Born in Cairo, Egypt, Hills was the daughter of teacher, traveller, author, and adventurer Denis Hills. Her mother was Dunia Leśmianowna, daughter of Polish poet Bolesław Leśmian. She spent her early years in France, where she was discovered at 14 by Roger Vadim, the director of “And God Created Woman” and “Barbarella” who saw her as the next Brigitte Bardot and cast her in a version of Les liaisons dangereuses (1959).

At 15 Hills was cast in the lead for the British film Beat Girl made in 1959 and released 1960. This was John Barry's first film score. Her co-star was a young Adam Faith in his first film role. The British Board of Film Censors ordered cuts to be made before they would give an X certificate. In 2016 the British Film Institute (B.F.I.) remastered Beat Girl from the original negative and recorded an interview with Hills and released it on DVD.

In 1960, Hills cut her first recordings with Henri Salvador, “Près De La Cascade” and “Cha Cha Stop” for the French Barclay record label on an EP entitled "Allo Brigitte? Ne coupez pas!". In 1961, she appeared at the Olympia Theatre in Paris on a bill with Johnny Hallyday. She remained with the Barclay label until 1964, having released both cover versions and original self penned recordings.

Hills had hits with “Ma Première Cigarette”, “Zou Bisou Bisou” and C’est Bien Mieux Comme Ca with Les Chaussettes Noir, Eddy Mitchell’s first band. In 2012 “Zou Bisou Bisou” was chosen for the premier of the fifth season of the hit American TV series Mad Men (16 Emmy awards and 5 Golden Globes).

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