Diane Varsi
Diane Varsi | |
---|---|
![]() Varsi in 1958 | |
Born | Diane Marie Antonia Varsi February 23, 1938 San Mateo, California, U.S. |
Died | November 19, 1992 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 54)
Resting place | Mount Tamalpais Cemetery |
Alma mater | Bennington College |
Years active | 1957–1977 |
Spouse(s) |
James Dickson
(m. 1956; div. 1958)Michael Hausman
(m. 1961; div. 1965)Russell Parker
(m. 1966; div. 1970) |
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."
Varsi on her acting motives and the film industry.[1]
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.
Early life
Varsi was born in San Mateo, California, a suburb of San Francisco, the daughter of Beatrice (née DeMerchant) and Russell Varsi.[2] Varsi unsuccessfully tried to become a model and a restaurant hostess in her teen years.[3] While in high school, she was called an "oddball" by her classmates.[3] She often played truant from school to visit San Francisco and was therefore labeled a "rebel".[3] 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."[4][5] Around the same time, she married an 18-year-old man. Their marriage was annulled before her son Shawn was born.[5]
She joined the San Francisco ballet in the 1950s and initially planned to become a folk singer.[3] She later hitchhiked to Los Angeles with a friend.[3]
Peyton Place
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.[6] The following year, Varsi shared the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress with Sandra Dee and Carolyn Jones.[7] Several famous actresses were tested for the main role in the big-budget film, until the then-unknown Varsi was cast in May 1957.[8] She was discovered by producer Buddy Adler, who immediately put her under contract at 20th Century Fox.[8]
Career
By the time she was cast, Varsi already had an agent and had been searching for film roles for a long while, without any luck.[8] She made rounds at several studios, but according to the actress, they all thought she was suitable for character parts only.[3] She was even dropped by her agent in 1956, because he saw no future in her career.[8]
Even before Peyton Place was released, Adler cast Varsi opposite Don Murray in the western From Hell to Texas (1958). She appeared in the films Ten North Frederick (1958) and Compulsion (1959). While filming Ten North Frederick, Varsi suffered a nervous breakdown, collapsed and was hospitalized.[4] She later said: "I'm still trying to find myself. It's still hard for me to separate illusion from reality... I don't know whether acting is the form of creativity best for me."[1]
Varsi rejected the role of Meg in the comedy film Holiday for Lovers in January 1959.[9] On March 18, 1959, she suddenly left Hollywood, abandoning her contract. "I'm running away from destruction," she explained,"[1] saying it concerned other people as well.[10] A week later, she elaborated, "Hollywood is too impressed with superficial cheapness."[11] Nevertheless, her contract with Fox did not expire until 1965.[1] Her sudden walkout was for a long time rumoured to be a publicity stunt to promote the sequel to Peyton Place, Return to Peyton Place (1961), to which Varsi was a long time attached.[12]
By walking out of her contract, Varsi's inclusion in plans for several films were cancelled, including a starring role in The Best of Everything (1959).[13] After leaving Hollywood, Varsi participated in local San Francisco theater productions.[10] At some point thereafter, she made her way to New York long enough to successfully audition for the Actors Studio, which she would attend at least briefly in 1965.[14] Varsi returned to film acting in the late 1960s, but by this time she was no longer offered major roles and subsequently referred to the movies she made in this period as "cheap films of little merit".[1] Although producers were curious about her, she said, they would not hire her.[1] Her later films include the influential cult film Wild in the Streets (1968);[15] Johnny Got His Gun (1971),[16] which Varsi described as her favorite; and an ABC Movie of the Week, entitled The People (1971).[17] Of Johnny Got His Gun, the actress said: "This is the kind of thing I always wanted to do. It comes very late to me. It's been a long time to wait."[1] She was apprehensive about playing the role, saying: "I felt too inadequate to do [Johnny Got His Gun]. It's so intense, the responsibility."[1]
Personal life
While in Hollywood, Varsi was known for being unglamorous, wearing no make-up or expensive clothes.[4] She avoided Hollywood parties and was quoted as saying: "I'd rather meet Aldous Huxley than Clark Gable."[4] Her fellow Fox actors remembered her as "a frightened, birdlike girl who was bewildered by her sudden success" and as "disillusioned by the way certain studio officials treated her".[10] She dated Russ Tamblyn, her co-star in Peyton Place, following that film's release.[18]
From November 26, 1956, to August 29, 1958, Varsi was married to James Dickson, whom she made her manager while working as an actress.[5] She then married Michael Hausman on May 21, 1961; they had a daughter, Willo.
In 1968, while working on the set of Wild in the Streets, Varsi suffered extreme trauma to her cervical spine, which led to years of misdiagnosed pain and numerous surgeries. In 1977, she contracted Lyme disease and lived for five years with undiagnosed and unremitting meningitis that several times brought her close to death. Her Lyme disease was not diagnosed until 1989.[citation needed]
Death
On November 19, 1992, in Los Angeles, Varsi died of respiratory failure and complications of Lyme disease at the age of 54.[19][20] She is buried at Mount Tamalpais Cemetery in San Rafael, California.[21][22]
Filmography
Film | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1957 | Peyton Place | Allison MacKenzie | |
1958 | Ten North Frederick | Ann Chapin | |
From Hell to Texas | Juanita Bradley | Alternative title: Man Hunt | |
1959 | Compulsion | Ruth Evans | |
1967 | Sweet Love, Bitter | Della | Alternative titles: Black Love, White Love It Won't Rub Off, Baby! |
Roseanna | Mary Jane | ||
1968 | Wild in the Streets | Sally LeRoy | |
Killers Three | Carol Warder | ||
1970 | Bloody Mama | Mona Gibson | |
1971 | Johnny Got His Gun | Fourth Nurse | |
1977 | I Never Promised You a Rose Garden | Sylvia | (final film role) |
Television | |||
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1959 | Playhouse 90 | Lurene Dawson | 1 episode |
1966 | Dr. Kildare | 2 episodes | |
1969 | My Friend Tony | 1 episode | |
1971 | Cannon | Mrs. Hill | 1 episode |
1972 | The People | Valancy Carmody | TV movie |
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Result | Category | Film or series |
---|---|---|---|---|
1958 | Academy Award | Nominated | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Peyton Place |
Golden Globe Award | Most Promising Newcomer - Female | |||
Laurel Awards | Nominated | Top New Female Personality | ||
Top Female Supporting Performance | Peyton Place |
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h San Antonio Light - January 3, 1971, San Antonio, Texas. p.46: Diane Varsi is on the way back
- ^ Varsi Marriage Certificate accessed 1-2-2016
- ^ a b c d e f El Paso Herald-Post - December 31, 1957, El Paso, Texas. p.16
- ^ a b c d Evening Standard - August 5, 1958, Uniontown, Pennsylvania. p.2: Diane Varsi Holds Hollywood's 'Miss Beat Generation' Title
- ^ a b c Corpus Christi Caller-Times - April 19, 1959, Corpus Christi, Texas. p.97: Diane Varsi: Runaway Star
- ^ Folkart, Burt A. (23 November 1992). "Diane Varsi; Actress Was Oscar Nominee for 1st Role". LATimes.com. Los Angeles Times.
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(help) - ^ "New Star Of The Year - Actress (1958)". GoldenGlobes.com. Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ a b c d Altoona Mirror - May 29, 1957, Altoona, Pennsylvania. p.4
- ^ "Notes for Holiday for Lovers (1959)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
- ^ a b c The Daily Mail - February 21, 1966, Hagerstown, Maryland. p.18: Diane Varsi Reappears and Wants to Return to Acting
- ^ The Newport Daily News - March 26, 1959, Newport, Rhode Island. p.21: Diane Varsi Quits Acting Due to Its Superficial Cheapness
- ^ "She Quit For A New Life Of Faith" by John Hyams, Winnipeg Free Press, April 8, 1961, p. 72
- ^ "Notes for The Best of Everything (1959)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
- ^ Diane Varsi at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection Archived 2013-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ebert, Roger (20 May 1968). "WILD IN THE STREETS". RogerEbert.com. Chicago Sun-Times.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ "IN COMPETITION – FEATURE FILMS - JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN - International Critic's Prize by the F.I.P.R.E.S.C.I., 1971". Festival-Cannes.com. Festival de Cannes (Cannes Film Festival). Retrieved 14 September 2018.
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(help) - ^ "The People (1972 USA, TV)". Modcinema.com. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
- ^ Lawton Constitution - March 26, 1959, Lawton, Oklahoma. p.26: Tamblyn Thinks Diane Varsi Will Never Go Back To Films
- ^ The Associated Press (24 December 1992). "Diane Varsi, 54, Dies; Former Film Actress". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. 19. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
- ^ Associated Press (23 November 1992). "Diane Varsi". Variety. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ^ Burk, Margaret Tante (1996). Hudson, Gary (ed.). Final Curtain: Eternal Resting Places of Hundreds of Stars, Celebrities, Moguls, Misers & Misfits. Seven Locks Press. p. 69. ISBN 9780929765532.
- ^ Wilson, Scott (19 August 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3rd ed.). McFarland Publishing. p. 772. ISBN 9781476625997.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Diane Varsi at IMDb
- Diane Varsi at the TCM Movie Database
- Diane Varsi at Find a Grave
- 1938 births
- 1992 deaths
- Actresses from the San Francisco Bay Area
- Actors Studio alumni
- American film actresses
- American television actresses
- Deaths from Lyme disease
- Deaths from respiratory failure
- People from San Mateo, California
- American ballerinas
- San Francisco Ballet dancers
- 20th Century Fox contract players
- 20th-century American actresses
- New Star of the Year (Actress) Golden Globe winners