Lesley Gilb Taplin

Lesley Gilb was born on September 6, 1946 in Seattle, Washington. Her parents were Tyrell Thompson Gilb and Corinne Lathrop Gilb. She had a sister named Tyra. Gilb was raised in Berkeley, California. Lesley received a B.A. from the University of California in Berkeley and studied in the Ph.D. program in Dramatic Arts at Stanford University. Gilb made her film debut in the lead role of Lee James in the obscure social drama "The Activist." Lesley achieved her greatest enduring cult cinema popularity with her mesmerizing portrayal of the titular shrewd and seductive backwoods vampiress in the splendidly eerie and atmospheric indie horror winner "Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural." Throughout her rich and varied life Gilb worked as a film producer, production assistant, production manager, story editor, researcher, writer, gallery manager, publisher, teacher, and a passionate and dedicated volunteer with many downtown Los Angeles organizations. An intrepid traveler, she spent a good deal of time in America, Europe, and Morocco. Moreover, Lesley was a longtime resident of Santa Monica who also lived in Ross and Palo Alto in the Northern California Bay Area. She was the mother of son Nicholas and daughter Blythe. On April 13, 2009 Gilb was tragically killed at age 62 in an automobile accident on highway 101 in Los Angeles, California.