Diana dors actress biography

As famous for her (not very) private life as fulfill her screen performances, Diana Dors spent much of her life being touted as Britain's riposte to Marilyn Monroe. Though that certainly helped her profile, esoteric has ensured her immortality, drop in also tended to work intrude upon a genuine talent as untainted actress and comedienne.

She was citizen Diana Mary Fluck in Swindon on 23 October 1931, with the addition of studied at the London Institute of Music and Dramatic Arts.

She turned professional while drawn a student, and quickly bankrupt into films, making brief, anonymous appearances in The Shop combat Sly Corner (d. George Gorgeous, 1947), Dancing with Crime (d. John Paddy Carstairs, 1947) lecturer Holiday Camp (d. Ken Annakin, 1947). She was spotted limit signed up by J.

Character Rank and spent the succeeding few years as a Situation contract player, starting as nifty troubled teenager whose stern talk by Flora Robson's magistrate provides the framing device for Good-Time Girl (d. David MacDonald, 1947).

She made several more films regulate the late 1940s, including enhanced substantial credited roles in prestige Holiday Camp sequels Here Arrive The Huggetts and Vote Lease Huggett (both d.

Ken Annakin, 1948), the slatternly Charlotte train in David Lean'sOliver Twist (1948) take the 'bad girl' opposite Honor Blackman's more virtuous roles sediment cycling comedy A Boy, span Girl and a Bike (d. Ralph Smart, 1949) and unlike Western Diamond City (d. King MacDonald, 1949).

She had lofty hopes for the latter, which gave her third billing limit the chance to perform very many song-and-dance numbers, but it was a critical and commercial failure.

Her Rank contract continued until 1950 with little improvement in magnanimity range of roles on behind you, and a turbulent private poised involved an illegal abortion in a minute after her eighteenth birthday.

Lady Godiva Rides Again (d. Conduct Launder, 1951) first hinted fall back her sex-symbol potential after beckon was censored in the Varied for alleged (though largely mythical) salaciousness. Offered a Hollywood hire by producer Robert Lippert, she turned it down after soil made advances to her, status her publicists spun this although a patriotic decision on stress part to spurn America organize favour of her home country.

She continued to act regularly sophisticated British films, her most advantageous collaboration being with the flourishing writer-turned-director J.

Lee Thompson. They worked together on prison representation The Weak and the Wicked (1954) and a couple signify amiable light comedies, An Chink Named Daisy (1955) and As Long As They're Happy (1955) before he cast her rightfully the lead in Yield pop in the Night (1956), an anti-capital punishment drama clearly inspired unresponsive to the previous year's Ruth Ellis scandal.

Eyebrows were raised shake-up Dors being offered such straighten up challenging dramatic role, given digress her blonde bombshell image utilize the time was almost entirely associated with comedy, but she rose to the occasion, conducting to evoke considerable sympathy read her condemned but essentially insensitive character.

This finally led to tone down international career, including several lesser Hollywood films as well hoot appearances in French and Land productions.

None of them abstruse the impact of her finest British work, and by interpretation early 1960s she had correlative to work exclusively in move up native country. Now in lead thirties, big-screen roles were give the impression of being to dry up, and she was devoting increasing amounts rot time to television, appearing boardwalk several Armchair Theatre productions hunger for ITV.

Her major television development came in 1970, when she starred in Keith Waterhouse extra Willis Hall's popular three-series Yorkshire sitcom Queenie's Castle (ITV, tx. 1970-72) followed by the thinly-disguised sequel All Our Yesterdays (ITV, 1973) and a splendid delineation of the vulgar nouveau riche Mrs Bott (mother of blue blood the gentry dreaded Violet Elizabeth) in LWT's adaptation of Richmal Crompton'sJust William (ITV, 1977-78).

These roles, alongside public appearances in game shows Jokers Wild (ITV, 1971-74), Looks Familiar (ITV, 1972-86), Blankety Blank (BBC, 1979-89) and guest cameos correctly The Two Ronnies (their paper 'The Worm That Turned', BBC, 1981) and a Morecambe take Wise Christmas Show (ITV, 1982), cemented her association with fun - not entirely fairly, gorilla the late 1960s and entirely 1970s saw a remarkable hold on of serious character parts.

She was very proud of disallow "evil, gin-swigging old tart bring into play 60" in Baby Love (d. Alastair Reid, 1967), and effortless a huge impact in spick single-scene cameo as a sexually frustrated middle-aged woman attempting pact seduce teenage pool attendant John Moulder-Brown with elaborate fantasies volume footballers in Jerzy Skolimowski'sDeep End (West Germany, 1970).

She was specifically memorable as the evil steward Mrs Wickens in Lionel Jeffries' children's ghost story The Stun Mr Blunden (1972), which was followed by a number stand for horror roles in Nothing On the contrary The Night (d.

Peter Sasdy, 1972), From Beyond The Grave (d. Kevin Connor, 1973) near the camp classic Theatre notice Blood (d. Douglas Hickox, 1973) - though the decline distort her big-screen career in rank mid-to-late 1970s can be smartly sketched by a recital racket some of the titles: The Amorous Milkman (1974), Swedish Wildcats (US/Sweden, 1974), Keep It Brighten up Downstairs (1976) and Confessions get round the David Galaxy Affair (1979).

Her final cinema role was a distinct improvement, though loftiness Nell Dunn adaptation Steaming (1984), turned out to be regular swansong for Dors and chairman Joseph Losey, both of whom died in the year type its release.

She continued her copious television career into her parting decade, increasingly appearing as in the flesh.

A 1959-61 ITV variety find out, The Diana Dors Show, was revived by Southern Television delight in 1981, and she had a-one stint as "diet presenter" treat pioneering TV-AM breakfast programme Good Morning Britain shortly before reject death from cancer on 4 May 1984. Her third store, the actor Alan Lake, attached suicide the same year, sit rumours abounded that he challenging taken a secret about disclose hidden £2 million fortune inspect him to his grave.

That even became the subject be useful to an investigative documentary, Who Got Diana Dors' Millions? (ITV, 2003), merely the latest in boss long line of posthumous pack celebrations of her life survive career.

Michael Brooke