Biography

Darlene Gillespie was born on April 8, 1941 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She is an actress, known for The New Adventures of Spin and Marty (1957), Dr. Kildare (1961) and National Velvet (1960). She was previously married to Jerry Joseph Fraschilla, Donald Laverne McDavid and Phillip David Gammon.

On 11 December 1998 she was convicted on a dozen counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, mail fraud, obstruction of justice and perjury. Her fiance had been sentenced to 18 months in prison on the same charges in November 1998. She was released after 18 months. A retired nurse, she was living, as of 2011, in Oxnard, California.

Canadian-born Darlene Gillespie became a U.S. citizen on September 1, 1956, aged 15. The daughter of Herbert Laurence Gillespie and Dorothy Olive Tibeau (originally Thibeault) Gillespie, her sister is Gina Gillespie. Darlene completed high school at Providence High School in Burbank, California, after The Mickey Mouse Club (1955) ended.

She has two children, Lisa and David, by her first marriage, to Phillip David Gammon. That union ended in divorce as did her second marriage, to Donald L. McDavid. Her third and final union ended with the death of her spouse, Jerry Joseph Fraschilla, in 2008.

Performed as a country western singer under the name Darlene Valentine.

Profiled in the 2016 book "X Child Stars: Where Are They Now?" by Kathy Garver and Fred Ascher.