Millie Perkins in The Diary of Anne Frank

I thought she killed herself, but I was thinking of Maggie McNamara

She was fine but I hated that the movie turned into an Anne//Peter love story.

bump

Otto Frank wanted Audrey Hepburn for the part.

OP - she was not very well received. First off, she was 21 years old, considered to old to be playing a 14yr old character, and 2 years older than the actress playing her older sister. She was a model and director George Stevens had the hots for her. The best choice would have been Susan Strasberg, who did it on stage. Strasberg was thought too old, but she would have been better than Perkins.

Oh, Rose. Please. During the entire second act, the audience kept yelling, "She's in the attic. She's in the attic."

Was there a known actress in her teens at the time who could've played the role? The only young actress from 1959 who immediately comes to mind is Sandra Dee, and she would be completely wrong for the role.

The camera was not Susan Strasberg’s friend. I’ve never seen her give a good performance on film.

that's odd r5

I looked it up and Strasberg was the exact same age as Perkins

I just finished the movie. I thought she was good in the younger scenes but when she "blossoms" she looks way too old and glamourous. (and Anne Frank bless her soul was not gorgeous and I;m sure living in an attic for 2 years didn't afford her the opportunity to improve her looks.)

how similar is the movie to the play?

I met Millie Perkins about ten years ago at an autograph show, and she was an absolute delight.

She told me about how she fell into modeling — someone came into the office where she was working while attending school in New York and suggested she model. It wasn’t anything she ever considered for herself, but she was intrigued by the idea of the opportunity for travel, and gave it a try. She was a success from the get-go, even landing on the cover of “Vogue”.

George Stevens saw a photo of her, and reached out to her modeling agency for an interview. Never having acted, Perkins told me she didn’t want to meet him; she thought it would be pointless. But she admired “A Place in the Sun” and “Giant” and her agency talked her into going to the interview. She ended up with the part!

Millie achieved DL icon status when she played Patty Duke’s mother in Call Me Anna.