Diane Varsi
| Diane Varsi | |
|---|---|
in Peyton Place (1957)
|
|
| Born |
Diane Marie Antonia Varsi February 23, 1938 San Mateo, California, U.S. |
| Died | November 19, 1992 (aged 54) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Respiratory failure and Lyme disease |
| Resting place | Mount Tamalpais Cemetery |
| Alma mater | Bennington College |
| Years active | 1957-1977 |
| Spouse(s) |
James Dickson (m. 1955; div. 1958) Russell Parker (m. 1966; div. 1970) Michael Hausman (m. 1961–92) |
| Children | 2 |
"The very thing that led me to want to act was very mysterious, even to me. I thought there was a whole communal feeling in film. That the idea of film was to be a service of humanity, a means of communication. But the spirit was power."
Diane Marie Antonia Varsi (February 23, 1938 – November 19, 1992) was an American film actress best known for her performances in Peyton Place – her film debut, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award – and the cult film Wild in the Streets. She left Hollywood in order to pursue personal and artistic aims, notably at Bennington College in Vermont, where she studied poetry with poet and translator Ben Belitt, among others.
Varsi was born in San Mateo, California, a suburb of San Francisco, the daughter of Beatrice (née DeMerchant) and Russell Varsi.Varsi unsuccessfully tried to become a model and a restaurant hostess in her teen years. While in high school, she was called an "oddball" by her classmates. She often played truant from school to visit San Francisco and was therefore labeled a "rebel". She dropped out of school in her junior year at age 15, failing in all studies and saying: "I was bored. I didn't like the social sides - the cliques." Around the same time, she married an 18-year-old man. Their marriage was annulled before her son, Shawn, was born.
She joined the San Francisco ballet in the 1950s and initially planned to become a folk singer. She later hitchhiked to Los Angeles with a friend.
Despite having only experience as an actress in a stage production of Gigi, she made her screen debut at age 18 as Allison MacKenzie in Peyton Place (1957), receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. The following year, Varsi shared the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress with Sandra Dee and Carolyn Jones. Several famous actresses were tested for the main role in the big-budget film, until the then-unknown Varsi was cast in May 1957. She was discovered by producer Buddy Adler, who immediately put her under contract of 20th Century Fox.
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