Movie and TV Actress. Diane Varsi was in the late 1950s a very promising and competent rising screen star. Her first starring roll was the portrayal of Allison MacKenzie in ‘Peyton Place’. For this work Diane received an Academy Award nomination and was the winner of a Golden Globe as New Star of the Year. Her next three pictures; ‘From Hell to Texas’ with Don Murray, then John O’Hara’s ‘Ten North Frederick’ with Gary Cooper and her final 20th Century Fox film ‘Compulsion’ with Orson Welles were all successful and critically acclaimed roles proformed by Diane. But then in 1959 Diane started turning down role after role. Diane was an enigma never feeling comfortable in the acting profession. She left Hollywood and moved first to Bennington Vermont and then to San Mateo California spending her time writing poetry. After her Fox contract expired in 1964 she did several so-so films and a number of TV shows guest appearances with her last movie being ‘I Never Promised You A Rose Garden’ in 1977. Diane was the daughter of Russell Varsi and Beatrice DeMerchant Varsi. The family moved often and Diane’s childhood was troubled, she was labeled a “oddball” by classmates and a “rebel” by teachers. Not finishing high school she left home ending up in Los Angeles. She married four times and raised a son and a daughter. Her cause of death was from respiratory problems, complications of Lyme Disease. (bio by: Paul Theodore Riegert)