Diane Varsi

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Diane Marie Varsi (February 23, 1938 - November 19, 1992) was an American film and television actor.

Born in San Mateo, California, Varsi made her screen debut as Allison MacKenzie in Peyton Place (1957), and received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. The same year, she shared the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress with Sandra Dee and Carolyn Jones.

She appeared in the films Ten North Frederick (1958) and Compulsion (1959) and worked steadily until 1960. Afterwards, she left Hollywood, rejecting what she felt were negative consequences of a Hollywood film career. She later changed her mind and returned to acting in the late 1960s, but by this time she was no longer being offered major film roles. She did appear in Johnny Got His Gun in 1971, a film which Varsi described as her favourite, and a 1972 ABC-TV "Movie of the Week", titled The People.

In 1968, while working on the set of Wild in the Streets, Varsi suffered extreme trauma to her cervical spine, which led to long years of misdiagnosed pain. In 1977, she contracted Lyme disease and lived for five years in undiagnosed and unremitting meningitis which brought her close to death several times. The Lyme disease, combined with her neck injury, which had resulted in numerous surgeries, was not diagnosed until 1989.

Varsi was married three times; her first marriage while still in her teens, was annulled. She was married to James Dickson from 1955 until 1958, when they divorced; they had a son, Shawn. She was married to Michael Hausman on May 21, 1961, until the late 60s; they had a daughter, Willo.

Varsi's Lyme disease, contributed to her premature death from respiratory failure at the age of 54. She was survived by her two children and her younger sister Gael.