Diane Varsi Movies and Career Information

Diane Marie Antonia Varsi (February 23, 1938 – November 19, 1992) was an American film actress best known for her performances in Peyton Place – her film debut, and for which she was nominated for an Academy Award – and the cult film Wild in the Streets. She left Hollywood in order to pursue personal and artistic aims, notably at Bennington College in Vermont, where she studied poetry with poet and translator Ben Belitt, among others. Varsi was born in San Mateo, California, where she unsuccessfully tried to become a model and a restaurant hostess. She joined the San Francisco ballet in the 1950s and initially planned on becoming a folk singer. She later hitchhiked to Los Angeles with a friend. Despite having only experience as an actress in a stage production of Gigi, she made her screen debut at age 18 as Allison MacKenzie in Peyton Place (1957), receiving an Academy Award nomination for an Best Supporting Actress for her performance. The following year, Varsi shared the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress with Sandra Dee and Carolyn Jones. Several famous actresses were tested for the main role in the big-budget film, until the then unknown Varsi was cast in May