Diane Varsi

Early life

Varsi was born in San Mateo, California, a suburb of San Francisco, the daughter of Beatrice (née DeMerchant) and Russell Varsi. Varsi unsuccessfully tried to become a model and a restaurant hostess in her teen years. While in high school, she was called an "oddball" by her classmates. She often was truant from school to visit San Francisco, so was labeled a "rebel". She dropped out of school in her junior year at age 15, failing in all studies, and saying: "I was bored. I didn't like the social sides – the cliques." Around the same time, she married an 18-year-old. Their marriage was annulled before her son Shawn was born.

She joined the San Francisco ballet in the 1950s and initially planned to become a folk singer. She later hitchhiked to Los Angeles with a friend.

''Peyton Place''

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 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 1957. She was discovered by producer Buddy Adler, who immediately put her under contract at 20th Century Fox.

Career

By the time she was cast, Varsi already had an agent and had been searching for film roles for a long while, without any luck. She made rounds at several studios, but according to the actress, they all thought she was suitable for character parts only. She was even dropped by her agent in 1956, because he saw no future in her career.

Varsi rejected the role of Meg in the comedy film Holiday for Lovers in January 1959. On March 18, 1959, she suddenly left Hollywood, abandoning her contract. "I'm running away from destruction," she explained, saying it concerned other people, as well. A week later she elaborated, "Hollywood is too impressed with superficial cheapness." Nevertheless, her contract with Fox did not expire until 1965. Her sudden walkout was for a long time rumored to be a publicity stunt to promote the sequel to Peyton Place, Return to Peyton Place (1961), to which Varsi was attached.

By walking out of her contract, Varsi's inclusion in plans for several films was cancelled, including a starring role in The Best of Everything (1959). After leaving Hollywood, Varsi participated in local San Francisco theater productions. At some point thereafter, she made her way to New York long enough to successfully audition for the Actors Studio, which she would attend at least briefly in 1965. Varsi returned to film acting in the late 1960s, but by this time she was no longer offered major roles and subsequently referred to the movies she made in this period as "cheap films of little merit". Although producers were curious about her, she said, they would not hire her. Her later films include the influential cult film Wild in the Streets (1968); Johnny Got His Gun (1971), which Varsi described as her favorite; and an ABC Movie of the Week, titled The People (1972). In 1970, she was a supporting actress to Shelley Winters in Bloody Mama; Robert DeNiro also appeared in the film as one of Ma Barker's sons. Of Johnny Got His Gun, the actress said: "This is the kind of thing I always wanted to do. It comes very late to me. It's been a long time to wait." She was apprehensive about playing the role, saying: "I felt too inadequate to do [Johnny Got His Gun]. It's so intense, the responsibility."

Personal life

While in Hollywood, Varsi was known for being unglamorous, wearing no makeup or expensive clothes. She avoided Hollywood parties and was quoted as saying: "I'd rather meet Aldous Huxley than Clark Gable." Her fellow Fox actors remembered her as "a frightened, birdlike girl who was bewildered by her sudden success" and as "disillusioned by the way certain studio officials treated her". She dated Russ Tamblyn, her co-star in Peyton Place, following the film's release.

From November 26, 1956, to August 29, 1958, Varsi was married to James Dickson, whom she made her manager while working as an actress. She then married Michael Hausman on May 21, 1961; they had a daughter, Willo.

Death

On November 19, 1992 in Los Angeles, Varsi died of respiratory failure at the age of 54. She also suffered from Lyme disease. She is buried at Mount Tamalpais Cemetery in San Rafael, California.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. ''San Antonio Light'' - January 3, 1971, San Antonio, Texas. p.46: ''Diane Varsi is on the way back''
2. Hyams, Joe (December 16, 1957). [https://www.mediafire.com/view/nr2ny9qko36mlqu "In Hollywood: Diane Varsi Sees Herself as 'Just an Actor,' Not Star"]. ''New York Herald Tribune''. p. 15. Retrieved January 21, 2021. "'I'm just an actor.' Don't you mean actress? 'No, I'm an actor, not an actress. Stanislavsky always talks about the actor and he means female as well as male. Well, I'm an actor.'"
3. [https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8XV-FVV Varsi Marriage Certificate] accessed 1-2-2016
4. ''[[El Paso Herald-Post]]'' - December 31, 1957, El Paso, Texas. p.16
5. ''[[Corpus Christi Caller-Times]]'' - April 19, 1959, Corpus Christi, Texas. p.97: ''Diane Varsi: Runaway Star''
6. Folkart, Burt A.. (23 November 1992). "Diane Varsi; Actress Was Oscar Nominee for 1st Role".
7. "New Star Of The Year - Actress (1958)". [[Golden Globe Award]]s.
8. ''[[Altoona Mirror]]'' - May 29, 1957, Altoona, Pennsylvania. p.4
9. ''[[Evening Standard]]'' - August 5, 1958, Uniontown, Pennsylvania. p.2: ''Diane Varsi Holds Hollywood's 'Miss Beat Generation' Title''
10. "Notes for Holiday for Lovers (1959)". [[Turner Classic Movies]].
11. ''[[The Daily Mail]]'' - February 21, 1966, Hagerstown, Maryland. p.18: ''Diane Varsi Reappears and Wants to Return to Acting''
12. ''[[The Newport Daily News]]'' - March 26, 1959, Newport, Rhode Island. p.21: ''Diane Varsi Quits Acting Due to Its Superficial Cheapness''
13. "She Quit For A New Life Of Faith" by John Hyams, ''[[Winnipeg Free Press]]'', April 8, 1961, p. 72
14. "Notes for The Best of Everything (1959)". [[Turner Classic Movies]].
15. link. (2013-10-04)
16. Ebert, Roger. (20 May 1968). "WILD IN THE STREETS". Chicago Sun-Times.
17. "IN COMPETITION – FEATURE FILMS - JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN - International Critic's Prize by the F.I.P.R.E.S.C.I., 1971". Festival de Cannes ([[Cannes Film Festival]]).
18. "The People (1972 USA, TV)".
19. ''[[Lawton Constitution]]'' - March 26, 1959, Lawton, Oklahoma. p.26: ''Tamblyn Thinks Diane Varsi Will Never Go Back To Films''
20. (24 December 1992). "Diane Varsi, 54, Dies; Former Film Actress". [[The New York Times]].
21. (23 November 1992). "Diane Varsi". [[Penske Business Media, LLC.]].
22. Burk, Margaret Tante. (1996). "Final Curtain: Eternal Resting Places of Hundreds of Stars, Celebrities, Moguls, Misers & Misfits". Seven Locks Press.
23. Wilson, Scott. (19 August 2016). "Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons". [[McFarland Publishing]].