Gregory Peck’s Widow, Veronique Peck, Dies At 80

Gregory Peck‘s widow, Veronique Peck, passed away on Friday from heart failure at the age of 80. A spokesman for her family acknowledged her passing on Saturday at her home in Los Angeles.

Peck was born Veronique Passani in France and became a reporter for France Soir, where she met peck in 1953 when she interviewed him for a story, reports Reuters.

Gregory and Veronique Peck were married on December 31, 1955, the day after Peck’s divorce from Greta Kukkonen was finalized.

Veronique became a US citizen in 1976 and worked on a number of philanthropic causes. She worked to establish the Los Angelese Music Center, as well as an interracial theater group, Inner City Cultural Center.

MSN.com notes that Gregory and Veronique Peck had one of Hollywood’s most loving and enduring marriages, as they rarely left each others’ side, and she would run lines with him on film locations, and help make hotels and rental houses around the world feel like home. Gregory Peck called Veronique his soul mate.

The couple loved traveling together, and were frequent guests of Jacques Chirac at the Elysee Palace when Chirac was president. When Gregory passed in 2003, Veronique continued to gather friends around their dinner table, and also took over producing the Gregory Peck Reading Series, brings celebrated actors to read in the Central Library, raising funds for the Los Angeles Public Library.

Gregory Peck’s widow, Veronique Peck, is survived by her two children, writer/producer Anthony Peck, and documentary filmmaker Cecilia Peck Voll. She also leaves behind her brother, Dr. Cornelius Passani, and her three grandchildren, Zack, Peck, Harper Peck-Voll, and Ondine Peck-Voll.

Veronique Peck will be laid next to her husband Gregory after a private service at the Catherdral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles.