Diana Dill

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Diana Dill

Born	Diana Love Dill January 22, 1923 (1923-01-22) (age 85) 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.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Personal life
- 1.2 Career
2 Family tree
3 Filmography
4 References
5 External links

[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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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

Kirk Douglas

Diana Dill

Bill Darrid

Donald Webster

Diandra Luker

Dylan Michael Douglas

Carys Zeta Douglas

[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