Diana Dill
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| Diana Dill | |
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| Born | Diana Love Dill January 22, 1923 Bermuda |
| Spouse(s) | Kirk Douglas (1943-1951) Bill Darrid (1956-1992) Donald Albert Webster (2002-) |
Diana Dill Darrid (January 22, 1923) is a Bermuda-born American actress, who has also appeared professionally under the names Diana Douglas and Diana Douglas Darrid.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Personal life
Dill was born in Bermuda, the daughter of Ruth Rapalje (née Neilson) and Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Melville Dill (also the name of her great-grandfather, a mariner), who was a former Attorney General of Bermuda, and former Commanding Officer of the Bermuda Militia Artillery.[1] Hers is a prominent Bermuda family, present on the island since the very early 1600s.
She was once married to Kirk Douglas. She had studied acting with Kirk Douglas before the Second World War. During the War, Douglas was serving in the US Navy when he saw the May 3, 1943 issue of Life Magazine, which featured a photograph of Diana Dill on the cover. He showed the cover to his shipmates and said that he would marry her. The two were married on 2 November 1943. They had two sons, Michael and Joel, before divorcing in 1951.
Dill married actor Bill Darrid, and the two lived with Diana's sons on the US East Coast until his death in 1992. In 2002 Dill married Donald Webster, in the old Devonshire Parish Church in Bermuda.
[edit] Career
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2008) |
Dill continued to appear in films with Kirk Douglas, most recently in 2003, when he played her husband in It Runs in the Family, in which Michael Douglas and his son Cameron also acted. Joel Douglas was an associate producer of the film.
As Diana Douglas Darrid, she published her memoirs, In the Wings: A Memoir (1999) (ISBN 1-56980-151-7), with a preface by her son, Michael. The book received a favorable nod from Publishers Weekly:
- Born Diana Dill to a privileged family in Bermuda in 1923, Darrid, the mother of actor Michael Douglas and former wife of Kirk, writes that she acquired an "English schooling reticence" during her teens. Indeed, an admirable reserve and dignity characterize this memoir... Her own career was prolific if not stellar, including a dozen movies, live television, Broadway (Edward Albee's Everything in the Garden) and several stints as a regular on Days of Our Lives. Darrid tells anecdotes well, amusingly relating how her car broke down on a deserted California highway 20 minutes before curtain time, and how the actor Murvyn Vye, unable to handle screaming directions from Otto Preminger, became "trembling and incoherent" on stage. As one might expect, a host of celebrities make cameos, but Darrid does not linger on them. Even her friend, the "charming and funny" Brenda Vaccaro, and her son, Michael, appear on only a few pages. While readers may regret having their curiosity aroused and not sated, Darrid should be praised for keeping her priorities straight and her focus on her own story.
[edit] Family tree
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Kirk Douglas |
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Diana Dill |
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Bill Darrid |
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| Diandra Luker |
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Michael Douglas |
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Cameron Douglas | Dylan Michael Douglas | Carys Zeta Douglas |
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[edit] Filmography
- 2003 It Runs in the Family
- 1992 Cold Heaven
- 1992 A Town Torn Apart [TV] (aka Doc: The Dennis Littky Story)
- 1987 Beauty and the Beast [TV]
- Episode 8: Song of Orpheus
- 1987 Planes, Trains and Automobiles
- 1983 The Star Chamber
- 1982 Sister, Sister [TV]
- 1981 Jaws of Satan (aka King Cobra)
- 1979 Roots: The Next Generations
- 1978 A Fire in the Sky [TV]
- 1977 Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid [TV]
- 1977 Un Autre Homme Une Autre Chance (aka Another Man, Another Chance; aka Another Man, Another Woman
- 1975 Dead Man on the Run [TV]
- 1974 The Cowboys (TV Series) (Mrs. Annie Andersen)
- 1974 The Streets of San Francisco [TV]
- Episode Chapel of the Damned
- 1973 Kung Fu (TV)
- Episode The Tong (Sister Richardson)
- 1971 Hawkins (TV)
- Episode A Life for a Life (Clara Guilfoyle)
- Episode Die Die, Darling (Clara Guilfoyle)
- 1967 Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (TV)
- 1970 Loving
- 1967 N.Y.P.D.
- - The Boy Witness (TV Episode) Mrs. Whitaker
- 1965 Ben Casey
- - War of Nerves (TV Episode) Martha English
- 1965 For the People
- - The Influence of Fear (TV Episode)
- 1964 Flipper
- - The Second Time Around (TV Episode) Mrs. Granville
- 1959 Naked City
- - The Scorpion Sting (TV Episode) Meg
- - Even Crows Sing Good (TV Episode) Hilda
- 1956 Robert Montgomery Presents
- - Goodbye, Grey Flannel (TV Episode)
- 1953 Robert Montgomery Presents
- - Element of Risk (TV Episode)
- aka Lucky Strike Theater
- aka Montgomery's Summer Stock
- aka The Robert Montgomery Summer Theater
- 1956 West Point
- aka The West Point Story
- - Officer's Wife (TV Episode)
- 1956 Science Fiction Theater
- - Brain Unlimited (TV Episode) Elaine Conover
- - End of Tomorrow (TV Episode)Jane Brandon
- 1956 Medic
- - Reach of the Giant: Part 2 (TV Episode) Edith Martin
- - Reach of the Giant: Part 1 (TV Episode) Edith Martin
- 1955 The Indian Fighter Actor [Starring] Susan Rogers
- 1955 General Electric Theater - The Seeds of Hate
- aka G.E. Theater (USA: informal short title) (TV Episode) Nora
- 1953 Willys Theatre Presenting Ben Hecht's Tales of the City
- - Episode 1.6 (TV Episode)
- 1953 Three Steps to Heaven (TV Series) Mary Claire 'Pogo' Thurmond Morgan #2
- 1953 Medallion Theatre - The Decision at Arrowsmith (TV Episode)
- 1953 Studio One - Greed
- aka Studio One Summer Theatre (summer title)
- aka Studio One in Hollywood (new title)
- aka Summer Theatre (summer title)
- aka Westinghouse Studio One
- aka Westinghouse Summer Theatre (summer title) (TV Episode)
- 1953 Monsoon
- 1951 Storm Over Tibet (Elaine March Simms)
- aka Mask of the Himalayas (USA: alternative title)
- aka Sturm über Tibet (West Germany)
- 1952 Armstrong Circle Theatre - Mr. Bemiss Takes a Trip (TV Episode)
- 1951 The Whistle at Eaton Falls
- aka Richer Than the Earth (UK)
- 1950 The Web - Key Witness (TV Episode)
- 1950 Masterpiece Playhouse - The Rivals
- 1949 Photocrime' (TV Series)
- 1949 House of Strangers'
- 1948 The Sign of the Ram
- 1948 Let's Live Again
- 1947 The Late George Apley
- 1942 Keeper of the Flame
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Dianna Dill at the Internet Movie Database
- All Movie Biography and Filmography
- Life Magazine Issues, 1943
- Barnes & Noble Excerpt from Diana Dill's autobiography, "In The Wings"
- Review of Diana Dill's autobiography, "In The Wings"
- Essay on Bermuda Militia Artillery, by Jennifer Hind, which makes frequent mention of father, TM Dill
- Roots Web: Portrait of father, T.M. Dill
- Hello Magazine: Michael Douglas' Mum Weds at 79
