Person Biography:
Gigi Darlene, born Heli Leonore Weinreich on March 4, 1943, in Berlin, Germany, was a woman of mixed French and German descent. She had a tumultuous childhood, with a strict mother and uncaring stepfather. Despite this, Gigi found solace in beauty pageants, winning regional titles as a teenager.
At the age of 16, Gigi threatened to run away from home, prompting her mother to allow her to immigrate to Flushing, Queens, New York City, where she lived with family friends. Gigi began her career in commercial print and magazine layout work, as well as industrial shows.
In 1963, she landed a short contract as a Wilson Girl, working for a tennis clothing company. Gigi eventually moved to Manhattan, where she began posing for photo shoots in men's magazines. She also branched out as an exotic dancer, performing at clubs in New York, New Jersey, and Long Island.
While dancing, Gigi met and befriended future soft-core movie actress Darlene Bennett. She then crossed paths with exploitation picture director Barry Mahon, leading her to act in low-budget sexploitation features throughout the early to mid-1960s.
Gigi appeared in movies for notable maverick East Coast exploitation filmmakers, including Doris Wishman, Joseph P. Mawra, David E. Durston, and Joseph W. Sarno. She often co-starred with Darlene Bennett in these films.
Gigi's personal life was marked by a tumultuous marriage to hypnotist Edwin Greal, whom she met while working as a dancer. The couple got married in 1966 and eventually formed a stage act together, performing as a hypnotist and his assistant. They moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1975 and continued to perform before eventually settling in South Florida.
Gigi's life took a tragic turn when her husband, Edwin, died at the age of 56 in 1980. In the wake of his passing, Gigi obtained a Real Estate license and sold time-share apartments for twenty years. She also worked as an extra in movies shot in South Florida and was a member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Gigi passed away from stomach cancer on New Year's Day in 2002, at the age of 58. Her body was cremated, and her ashes were scattered into the Atlantic Ocean off the pier in Deerfield Beach, Florida.
