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 No.9. - Diana Dors (1931 - 1984) Actress
When Diana Dors was very young, under school age in fact, she and her mother spent a lot of time at the cinema. They would go as often as four times a week and as a result, Diana soon became hooked on Hollywood style movies.
She was born Diana Mary Fluck in Swindon on October 23rd 1931. It was a difficult birth and both mother and child almost lost their lives. By the time she was fourteen she had convinced her parents that she wanted to be an actress and succeeded in becoming the youngest ever student at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She excelled at LAMDA in her first year and, when a change of name was suggested she adopted Dors, her grandmother's maiden name. She dyed her hair blonde and, almost immediately, was offered small film roles. The first of these was as Mildred in "The Shop at Sly Corner" and, by the time she joined the J Arthur Rank School for young actors, she was already an established name.
Her first major role came in the 1948 film "Here Come the Huggets" in which she played Diana Hopkins and, a year later, she had the leading role of Dora in "Diamond City". The film which launched her as a sex symbol in 1951 was "Lady Godiva Rides Again", in which she played the bikini babe Dolores August.
By 1956 Diana had become Britain's highest paid film star and was probably ready to make the trip to Hollywood. Bad press, however, concerning what was described as "a scandalous affair" with Rod Steiger, did not improve her
popularity and a further article about her stormy marriage caused her to be denounced by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Her career went into decline. Offers of worthwhile film roles dried up and she was forced into bankruptcy. A marriage and divorce from her second husband, comedian Dickie Dawson, did nothing to improve the situation. A third marriage, to actor Alan Lake was more successful and she appeared with him on the West End stage in " hree Months Gone". This seemed to revive her career but she began to accept roles as the typical busty blonde in low-budget comedy and horror films which were a long way from the heady days of being the highest paid actress. In 1974 she suffered from an attack of meningitis which put her into a coma. Her recovery surprised her doctors but it put paid to any hope of continuing with a film career. She made several appearances on television in chat shows and panel games and as an "agony aunt" on the breakfast programme. One or two character roles in films came her way and in 1984 she had a part in "Steaming". This proved to be her last film and she died of stomach cancer on 4th May. She appeared at the Kenton from August 7th - 14th 1950 in the play "Born Yesterday".
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