- Diana Millay
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Diana Millay Born Diana Claire Millay
June 7, 1935
Rye, New York, USAYears active 1955-1971 Spouse Geoffrey Jones (1966-1968) (divorced) 1 child Diana Millay (born Diana Claire Millay, June 7, 1935 in Rye, New York)[1] is an American actress. She is best known for her work in television, having guest starred in close to 200 primetime TV shows and later played continuing roles on two daytime offerings, Dark Shadows and The Secret Storm.
Diana started her career as a model, first as a child for the Montgomery Ward catalog, and later as a top Conover model for John Robert Powers.
Every year during high school summer vacation, she appeared in summer stock productions, playing leading or featured roles in classic stage plays such as Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, The Girl on the Via Flaminia, Come Back, Little Sheba, Time of the Cuckoo, The Seven Year Itch, Ladies in Retirement, Bell, Book and Candle, Time Out for Ginger, Picnic, The Little Foxes, Tobacco Road, Life With Father and many more. In total, she appeared in seven seasons of summer stock. In 1957, Broadway came calling and she starred opposite Sam Levene and Ellen Burstyn in Fair Game.[2] Her subsequent Broadway appearances include Drink to Me Only opposite Tom Poston, Roger the Sixth opposite Alan Alda, The Glass Rooster opposite Michael Allinson and Boeing Boeing opposite Ian Carmichael. In addition, she spent a year touring the United States and Canada opposite Eddie Bracken in The Seven Year Itch.
Diana's first film role was in the United Artists movie Street of Sinners, opposite George Montgomery.[3] Her other film credits include Paramount's Tarzan and the Great River opposite Mike Henry & Jan Murray[4][5] and MGM's Night of Dark Shadows opposite David Selby.[5][6]
She began her extensive television career when she guest starred on Star Tonight in an episode entitled "Taste". She continued to appear in other "live" productions such as Robert Montgomery Presents, Kraft Television Theatre, Studio One, U.S. Steel Hour, Omnibus, Pond's Theatre, Philco Television Playhouse, Playhouse 90, and many others. Her filmed television credits include guest star roles on most of the major shows that were running during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, including Father Knows Best, My Three Sons, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Virginian, Arrest and Trial, 77 Sunset Strip, Perry Mason, Rawhide, Tales of Wells Fargo, Wagon Train, Laramie, Route 66, Hawaiian Eye, The Rifleman, Thriller, Maverick, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Dobie Gillis, The Westerner, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and many others. Diana made three pilot films for prospective new TV series', Slezak and Son, Boston Terrier and Las Vegas Beat.
In 1962 she was chosen as "Miss Emmy", due in part to her extensive list of appearances on primetime TV shows.[7]
In November 1966, executive producer Dan Curtis offered her the contract role of "Laura Collins" on his ABC-TV daytime series, the cult classic Dark Shadows.[8] She went on to appear in 62 episodes,[9] and became the show's first supernatural character, playing an immortal phoenix-woman who is burned in a fire and reborn to spend another 100 years on Earth. After her present day incarnation was again consumed in a fire, she returned during the flashback story which took place in the 19th century, as yet another reincarnation of "Laura Collins".
In 1970, Diana was offered another daytime role, this time as "Kitty Styles" on the CBS soap The Secret Storm. Her run on this show provided her the opportunity to work once again with former Dark Shadows alumni Robert Costello, who was a producer on both shows and Joel Crothers who played "Joe Haskell" on Dark Shadows and "Ken Stevens" on The Secret Storm.
Her interests changed from acting to writing and she has published several books, including I'd Rather Eat Than Act,[10] The Power of Halloween and How to Create Good Luck. She has also been successful in the business world, having brokered both fine art and commercial real estate.
She was married to Broadway producer Geoffrey Jones, but they separated shortly after the birth of their son, Kiley Christopher.[1][2][9]
References
- ^ a b "Diana Claire Millay, Actress, Betrothed to Geoffrey Jones". The New York Times. August 5, 1966. p. 27. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40915FD3D58117B93C7A91783D85F428685F9. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
- ^ a b "Diana Millay entry, Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen". Glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com. http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/188/Diana+Millay/. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
- ^ Hamrick, Craig (2004). 'About Diana,' introduction to 'I'd Rather Eat Than Act'. p. xi. ISBN 978-0595326082. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Sjhvkoq8H3QC&pg=PT11&dq=%2B%22Diana+Millay%22+%2B%22Rye%22&ei=J2RbS8uSNoq6zgShzqmWCQ&cd=1#v=onepage&q=%2B%22Diana%20Millay%22%20%2B%22Rye%22&f=false.
- ^ Bowker (1983). "Variety"'s Film Reviews: 1964-1967 Volume 11. R. R. Bowker. ISBN 978-0835227902. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gmtZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Diana+Millay%22&dq=%22Diana+Millay%22&ei=QGBbS8L4HoiGygTv7sWCCQ&client=firefox-a&cd=10.
- ^ a b Halliwell, Leslie; John Walker, Ruth Halliwell (2007). John Walker. ed. Halliwell's Film, DVD & Video Guide 200 7 (21 ed.). HarperCollins. ISBN 978 00072347707.
- ^ Willis, John. Screen world 1972, Volume 23. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=w2YEAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Diana+Millay%22&dq=%22Diana+Millay%22&lr=&ei=R2JbS_rLG6HiyQTi_uWBDQ&client=firefox-a&cd=15.
- ^ "Diana Will Be Miss Emmy". St. Petersburg Times. 1962-05-13. http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=UV4LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vVIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5276,1856506&dq=diana-millay&hl=en. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
- ^ "entry". Darkshadowsonline.com. http://www.darkshadowsonline.com/where-millay.html. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
- ^ a b Hamrick, Craig (2003). Barnabas & Company: The Cast of the TV Classic Dark Shadows. iUniverse.com. p. 77. ISBN 978-0595290291. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ajZUK5Tq0DYC&pg=PT95&dq=%2B%22diana+millay%22+%2Brye&ei=UyVcS8f1GoLmzAS7ns3dAw&client=firefox-a&cd=2#v=onepage&q=%2B%22diana%20millay%22%20%2Brye&f=false.
- ^ Millay, Diana (2004). I'd Rather Eat Than Act. ISBN 978-0595326082. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Sjhvkoq8H3QC&pg=PT11&dq=%2B%22Diana+Millay%22+%2B%22Rye%22&ei=J2RbS8uSNoq6zgShzqmWCQ&cd=1#v=onepage&q=%2B%22Diana%20Millay%22%20%2B%22Rye%22&f=false.
External links
Categories:- American actors
- Living people
- 1935 births
- People from New York
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