Diane Varsi
Biography
Diane Varsi was an American film actress from San Mateo, California. She had stage experience in a production of Gigi before her screen debut as Allison MacKenzie in Peyton Place (1957), for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She also won a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year, sharing the honor with Sandra Dee and Carolyn Jones. 20th Century Fox put her under contract, and she appeared in From Hell to Texas (1958) and Compulsion (1959). In 1959 she left Hollywood and later worked in San Francisco theater and attended the Actors Studio. Varsi returned to films in the late 1960s, though she found herself in smaller roles. Her later credits included Wild in the Streets (1968), Bloody Mama (1970), Johnny Got His Gun (1971), which she called her favorite, and the television movie The People (1972).
54years old at death
- Born San Mateo
- Died Hollywood
- Star sign: PiscesThe sign runs February 19 to March 20
- Also credited as Diane Marie Antonia Varsi
Movie Career
- Films
- 9
- Career span
- 20 years1957 to 1977
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First role
Varsi's screen debut came at age 18 as Allison MacKenzie in Peyton Place (1957), and her performance earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, despite having only stage experience in Gigi.
Early training
After leaving Hollywood, Varsi successfully auditioned for the Actors Studio in New York, which she attended at least briefly in 1965.
A change of course
In the 1950s Varsi became a member of the San Francisco ballet, and at that time her goal was to be a folk singer. With a friend she later hitchhiked to Los Angeles.
Diane Varsi movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Worked with
Diane Varsi shares two films with Shelley Winters, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Shelley Winters's page
Don Murray's page
Robert De Niro's page
Donald Sutherland's page
Bruce Dern's page
Dennis Hopper's page
All films by Dalton Trumbo
All films by Richard Fleischer
Mark RobsonDirector, 1 film, 1957
All films by Mark Robson
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.