From Page 38

from Lyme Disease, an
inflammation of the joints
that can affece the heart and
nervous rm. (Note: no
mention o} pi rpsy).

“Born in San Mateo,
Calitornia; into a broken
home, she was an admittedly
“difficult and temperamental
child” who was raised ina
series of schools and con-
vents, She married briefly at
15 and for a second time at
17. By her 21st birthday she
had been divorced twice, had
a son, Shawn, and had landed
a prime sereen role in Peyton
Place. This came after wo
ing in various jobs, including
apple picker and factory
worker, (Note: Diane had
hitchhiked to Southern
California to attend a
Krishnamurti lecture in Ojai.
She got distracted from that
goal until I took her to sce
the great teacher years jater).

“The tall scarlet made her
start in the entertainment
world as a folk singer and
drummer with a local band.
She studied acting in L.A:
with Jeff Corey, who recom-
mended his shy student to
Mark Robson, a director who
was casting Peyton Place.

“Robson made her
Turner’s troubled daughter,
Allison Mackenzie, in the
film, based on the best-selling
novel by Grace Metalious. It
won nine Oscar nominations.

“To prepare for the role,
" she told This Week Magazine
in. 1958, she read the novel
six times and the screenplay
30 rimes, making copious
notes about Allison’s appear-

_o afice, education and attitude

"toward 'sex. (Note: Her con-

- scientious intelligence ran

_ deep) After that studied per-

! formance, she made two:
more pictures in quick SUC

Proto Fobert Aiken
VARSi received an Oscar
nomination for her work
in the 1987 melodrama
Peyton Place.

cession, From Hell to Texas, a
chase western starring Don
Murray, and Ten North
Frederick, in which her por-
trayal of Gary Cooper’s
daughter lent her credence as
a serious actress.

“But she also became

known as a difficult interview,

a thoughtful introvert in an
industry dominated by ego
who would answer questions
with more questions. Despite
her seeming lack of interest
in stardom, (Note: not unlike
my own!) interviewers came
under her spell. Hedda
Hopper called her ‘the most
interesting (film) personality
of 1958.’ Joe Hyams said she
was ‘the Marlon Brando of:
actresses.”

“But after one more
screen role (Compulsion in
1959), she moved to
Bennington, Ve; and a sim-
pler life, saying that ‘acting is
destructive to me. I don’t see

any reason to be made miser-

ble just because other peo-
ple szy.I should go on with
my career.’( Note: precisely

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‘star’

how J felt, especially afte
appearing in Russ Mever's
#2 in °68).

“She said she had become
attracted ro New England
while filming parts of Peyton
Place there. By leaving town
she also walked out on 3
long-term 20th Century Fox
contract. That kept her from
films until 1965 when the
contract expired and her
int in acting w
ingly reborn.

“In the interim she mar-
ried for the third time — co
artist Michael Hausman --
and bore a daughter. She is
als survived by a grandson

“Miss Varsi made a series
of low-budget feaares on her
return (Sweet Love Bitter,
Wild In The Streets, Killers
Three, and others) and a
1966 featured TV appearance
ina two-part Dr Kildare.

“In 1971, she quit making
what she cailed “cheap films
of little merit” and took the
role of a compassionate nurse
opposite Donald Sutherland
and Jason Robards Jr. in
Dalton Trumbo's bitter anti-
war film, Johnny Gor His
Gun,

“Jt was, she said, ‘the kind
of role I’ve always wanted...
but it’s been a long wait.’

“Ar the time she was living
in San Rafael with her two
children and doing some pho-
tography and writing. She
made a TV movie of the week
in 1972 called The People and
a final feature film, J Never
Promised You A Rose Garden
in 1977. But that virtually
was the end of her carcer.

“She had walked away
from Hollywood for the final
time, as might have been pre-
dicted by this 1967 comment
to United Press International:
‘t don’t understand the term
movie star. It doesn’t mean
much to me.’”

WILLINGDON