Diane Cilento

Diane Cilento
Diane Cilento, photographed in 1954
Born	5 October 1933(1933-10-05) Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia
Died	6 October 2011(2011-10-06) (aged 78) Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Occupation	Actress, author
Years active	1950–2011
Spouse	Andrea Volpe (m. 1956–1960; divorced) Sean Connery (m. 1962–1973; divorced) Anthony Shaffer (m. 1985–2001; his death)
Children	Giovanna Volpe Jason Connery
Parents	Raphael Cilento Phyllis Cilento

Diane Cilento (5 October 1933 – 6 October 2011^[1]) was an Australian theatre and film actress and author.^[2]

Biography

Cilento's parents, Sir Raphael Cilento^[3] and Lady Phyllis Cilento,^[4] were both distinguished medical practitioners.^[2]

At an early age she decided to follow a career as an actress and, after a period living with her father in New York, Cilento won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and moved to England in the early 1950s.^[5] She soon secured roles in British films and worked steadily until the end of the decade. In 1956, Cilento was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic) for Helen of Troy in Jean Giraudoux's Tiger at the Gates.

She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Tom Jones in 1963^[6] and appeared in The Third Secret the following year, but she allowed her film career to decline following her marriage to actor Sean Connery, the second of her three husbands, to whom she was married from 1962 to 1973. They had one son, the actor Jason Connery.

In Connery's James Bond film You Only Live Twice, she doubled for her husband's co-star Mie Hama in a diving scene because Hama was indisposed.^[7]

She starred with Charlton Heston in the 1965 film The Agony and the Ecstasy, and with Paul Newman in the 1967 western film Hombre.

In 1985, Cilento married Anthony Shaffer, a playwright, who wrote the script of The Wicker Man; she met him when she appeared in the film in 1973, and he joined her when she returned to Queensland in 1975. During the 1970s, she studied Sufism under the British spiritual teacher John G. Bennett.^[8]

Cilento continued working as an actress, both in films and in television and, in the 1980s, settled in Mossman, north of Cairns, where she built her own outdoor theatre, named "Karnak", in the rainforest. The venture allowed her to participate in experimental drama.^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, she was awarded the Centenary Medal, for "distinguished service to the arts, especially theatre".^[9]

In 2006, Cilento released her autobiography, My Nine Lives.^[10]

Filmography

• 

  Diane Cilento in I Thank a Fool (1962)

• 

  With Peter Finch during filming of Passage Home (1955)

All Hallowe'en (1952) Wings of Danger (1952) Moulin Rouge (1952) Meet Mr. Lucifer (1953) The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp (1954) Passing Stranger (1954) Passage Home (1955) The Woman for Joe (1955) The Passionate Stranger (1957) The Admirable Crichton (1957) The Truth About Women (1957) Jet Storm (1959) The Full Treatment (1960) The Naked Edge (1961)

I Thank a Fool (1962) Tom Jones (1963) The Third Secret (1964) Rattle of a Simple Man (1964) Once Upon a Tractor (1965) The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) Hombre (1967) Negatives (1968) Z.P.G. (1972) Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973) The Wicker Man (1973) Duet for Four (1982) The Boy Who Had Everything (1984)

Writings

• 1968: Manipulator
• 1972: Hybrid
• 2006: My Nine Lives

Family

Parents

• Sir Raphael Cilento (1893–1985)^[3]
• Lady Phyllis Cilento (1894–1987)^[4]

Siblings

Diane Cilento was the fifth of six children, four of whom became medical practitioners, and the other, Margaret, was an artist.^[5]

Husbands and children

	Husband	Children
1956–1960	Andrea Volpe	Giovanna (Gigi) (10 December 1957–)[11]
1962–1973[12]	Sean Connery (1930–)	Jason Connery (11 January 1963–)[13]
1985–2001	Anthony Shaffer (1926–2001)	In 1975 Shaffer made his home in Queensland with Cilento. They married in 1985. Cilento was Shaffer's third wife; he had two daughters from a previous marriage.[14][15]

Death

Diane Cilento died at Cairns Base Hospital on 6 October 2011, the day after her 78th birthday, after a long battle with cancer.^[16]

References

1. ^ Peter Keepnews (8 October 2011). "Diane Cilento, Oscar-Nominated Actress, Dies at 78". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/movies/diane-cilento-oscar-nominated-actress-dies-at-78.html?ref=deathsobituaries. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Brief Biography: Diane Cilento, Australian Biography (SBS TV), 2000.
3. ^ ^{a b} Mark Finnane, 'Cilento, Sir Raphael West (Ray) (1893–1985)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 17, Melbourne University Press, pp. 216–17.
4. ^ ^{a b} Mary D. Mahoney, 'Cilento, Phyllis Dorothy (1894–1987)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 17, Melbourne University Press, pp. 214–15.
5. ^ ^{a b} Interview transcript tape 1: Diane Cilento, Australian Biography (SBS TV), 2000.
6. ^ Academy Awards Database, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1963
7. ^ Lisenti, Tom; Louis Paul (2002). Film fatales: women in espionage films and television, 1962–1973. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 144. ISBN 0786411945. 
8. ^ TV script : Diane Cilento, Australian Biography (SBS TV), 2000.
9. ^ It's an Honour
10. ^ McFarlane, Brian: Book Review: My Nine Lives, The Age, 29 April 2006.
11. ^ How they live The Australian Women's Weekly 2 July 1958 p.21
12. ^ Australian actress Diane Cilento dies aged 78
13. ^ Surprise gift for Diane The Australian Women's Weekly 25 December 1968 p.2 – Contains photo of Sean, Gigi, Jason and Diane
14. ^ Obituary: Anthony Shaffer, 8 November 2001, The Guardian
15. ^ "Playwright's family fight off mistress's claim to share legacy", 10 February 2004, The Guardian
16. ^ Actress Diane Cilento dies, 7 October 2011, ABC News

External links

• Diane Cilento at the Internet Movie Database
• Diane Cilento's Karnak Playhouse
• "From Stardom to Sufism" – interview with Cilento by Rachael Kohn on ABC Radio National May 2006 (MP3/Podcast available)

Persondata
Name	Cilento, Diane
Alternative names
Short description	Australian actress
Date of birth	5 October 1933
Place of birth	Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia
Date of death	6 October 2011
Place of death	Cairns, Queensland, Australia