Diana Hyland
Diana Hyland | |
|---|---|
 Hyland as Susan Winter in Peyton Place, 1968 | |
| Born | Diane Gentner January 25, 1936 Cleveland Heights, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | March 27, 1977 (aged 41) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1955–1977 |
| Spouse |
Joe Goodson
(m. 1969; div. 1974) |
| Partner | John Travolta (1976-1977; her death) |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Special 1977 The Boy in the Plastic Bubble; awarded posthumously |
Diana Hyland (born Diane Gentner; January 25, 1936 – March 27, 1977)[1] was an American stage, film, and television actress.
Early years[edit]
Hyland was born Diane Gentner[2] to John Theodore and Mary (Gorman) Gentner in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. She had one sibling, a brother, John Gorman Gentner.[3]
Career[edit]
She made her acting debut in 1955 at age 19 in an episode of Robert Montgomery Presents. Over the next decade she appeared often in guest and supporting roles in various television series, including Naked City, The Eleventh Hour, The Fugitive, The Invaders, The Green Hornet and The Twilight Zone and was cast in the feature film The Chase (1966) with Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, and Robert Redford.
In 1959, she originated the role of Heavenly Finley in Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth[4][5] on Broadway, appearing with Geraldine Page and Paul Newman.
In 1966, she co-starred in the movie Smoky in which she played Julie Richards, owner of the Rockin' R Ranch, who falls in love with Clint Barkeley (Fess Parker), owner of Smokey, a black stallion turned cutting horse. The same year she appeared in an episode of the TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. titled "The Candidate's Wife Affair", and in another episode titled "The Nowhere Affair". From 1958 to 1963, Hyland was a regular on the NBC soap opera Young Doctor Malone, playing Gig Houseman, wife of the younger Dr. Malone.
Hyland's debut in a feature film was in One Man's Way (1963), playing the wife of Norman Vincent Peale.[6][7] She had a continuing role as Susan Winter in the prime-time soap opera Peyton Place[8]: 829 from 1968 to 1969. She appeared in the 1976 television movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, for which she won a posthumous Emmy Award.[6] The following year, she co-starred with Dick Van Patten in the series Eight Is Enough.[8] She appeared in only five episodes before her death, and her character, Joan Bradford, was subsequently killed off.[9]
Personal life[edit]
Hyland married actor Joe Goodson on April 24, 1969. The couple had one son, Zachary, born in July 1973. Hyland and Goodson divorced in August 1974.[citation needed]
She began a romantic relationship with actor John Travolta, 18 years her junior, in 1976 after meeting him when she played his mother in the television movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.[10]
Death[edit]
Hyland was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1975, and underwent a mastectomy.[10] However, the cancer spread and her health continued to deteriorate. Hyland and Travolta remained together until her death at age 41 on March 27, 1977, in Los Angeles. She was survived by her son, brother, and parents.[11]
Filmography[edit]
Film[edit]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | One Man's Way | Ruth Stafford Peale |
| 1966 | The Chase | Elizabeth Rogers |
| Smoky | Julie Richards | |
| 1968 | Jigsaw | Sarah |
Television[edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Robert Montgomery Presents | Judy | Episode: "Second Chance" |
| 1956 | Star Tonight | Louise | Episode: "Two Windows" Episode: "Will Power" |
| 1960 | Play of the Week | Mabel | Episode: "Climate of Eden" |
| 1961 | Play of the Week | Episode: "No Exit/The Indifferent Lover" Episode: "A Cool Wind Over the Living" | |
| 1961–1962 | Young Doctor Malone | Gig Houseman Malone | |
| 1962 | The Defenders | Mary DiFalco Robinson | Episode: "The Unwanted" |
| The United States Steel Hour | Episode: "Wanted: Someone Innocent" | ||
| Alcoa Premiere | Liza Laurents | Episode: "The Voice of Charlie Pont" | |
| Sam Benedict | Donna Heistand | Episode: "The Bird of Warning" | |
| 1963 | Ben Casey | Greta Bauer | Episode: "Rigadoon for Three Pianos" |
| Stoney Burke | Eileen Fowler | Episode: "To Catch the Kaiser" | |
| The DuPont Show of the Week | Ellen Graham | Episode: "The Shark" | |
| Naked City | Vivian North | Episode: "Stop the Parade! A Baby Is Crying!" | |
| Wagon Train | Kitty Pryer | Episode: "The Kitty Pryer Story" | |
| Dr. Kildare | Dr. Lilith McGraw | Episode: "Love Is a Sad Song" | |
| The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Janet Nelson | Season 1 Episode 19: "To Catch a Butterfly" | |
| 1964 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Grace Renford | Season 2 Episode 14: "Beyond the Sea of Death" |
| Twilight Zone | Anne Henderson | Episode: "Spur of the Moment" | |
| The Eleventh Hour | Madelyn Marner | Episode: "A Full Moon Every Night" | |
| Kraft Suspense Theatre | Laura DeLinda Stevenson / Laura Murdoch | Episode: "The Sweet Taste of Vengeance" | |
| The Fugitive | Carol Hollister | Episode: "When the Bough Breaks" | |
| 1965 | Stella Savano | Episode: "Set Fire to a Straw Man" | |
| Dr. Kildare | Marguerite Williams | Episode: "Please Let My Baby Live" | |
| Burke's Law | Celeste Martel | Episode: "Run for the Money" | |
| The Nurses | Dr. Mai Lind | Episode: "The April Thaw of Doctor Mai" | |
| Hercules and the Princess of Troy | Princess Diana | TV movie | |
| Convoy | Lt. Katya Katrovich | Episode: "Katya" | |
| The Wackiest Ship in the Army | Margaret Cochran | Episode: "The Sisters" Episode: "I'm Dreaming of a Wide Isthmus" | |
| Run for Your Life | Ellen Henderson | Episode: "The Girl Next Door Is a Spy" | |
| 1966 | Run for Your Life | Diana Hays | Episode: "I Am the Late Diana Hays" |
| Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Mrs. Collier | Episode: "Guilty or Not Guilty" | |
| Scalplock | Marta Grenier | TV movie (pilot for the TV series Iron Horse) | |
| A Man Called Shenandoah | Nancy Pruitt | Episode: "An Unfamiliar Tune" | |
| Iron Horse | Marta Grenier | ||
| I Spy | Marisa Terizcu | Episode: "So Coldly Sweet" | |
| The Green Hornet | Attorney Claudia Bromley | Episode: "Give 'Em Enough Rope" | |
| Twelve O'Clock High | Heidi Voss | Episode: "Practice to Deceive" | |
| The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Mara Miranda Bryant / Irina |
Episode: "The Nowhere Affair" Episode: "The Candidate's Wife Affair" | |
| Felony Squad | Cloris Harte | Episode: "Killer with a Badge" | |
| {The Fugitive | Penny | Episode: "The Devil's Disciples" | |
| 1967 | Alison Priestley | Episode: "Dossier on a Diplomat" | |
| 1967 | The F.B.I. | Marie-Louise Karn Virginia Lamberth |
Episode: "The Hostage" Episode: "Overload" |
| Tarzan | Diana Russell | Episode: "The Fanatics" | |
| The Invaders | Sherri Vikor Ellie Markham |
Episode: "Vikor" Episodes: "Summit Meeting, Part I"; "Summit Meeting, Part II" | |
| 1968 | Judd, for the Defense | Jessie Tree | Episode: "Fall of a Skylark: Part 1 - The Trial" Episode: "Fall of a Skylark: Part 2 - The Appeal" |
| 1968–1969 | Peyton Place | Susan Winter | 56 episodes |
| 1969 | The Name of the Game | Lisa Adrian | Episode: "The Perfect Image" |
| 1970 | Ritual of Evil | Leila Barton | TV movie |
| Bracken's World | Mary Draper | Episode: "The Mary Tree" | |
| 1971 | Ironside | Hrûska Pazoureck | Episode: "From Hrûska, with Love" |
| The Interns | Writer | Episode: "Casualty" | |
| Marcus Welby, M.D. | Cynthia Crowley | Episode: "Cynthia" | |
| Alias Smith and Jones | Clara Philips | Episode: "Return to Devil's Hole" | |
| Dan August | Phyllis Hendricks | Episode: "Days of Rage" | |
| Medical Center | Susan | Episode: "Suspected" | |
| The F.B.I. | Joanne Kenster | Episode: "The Stalking Horse" | |
| 1972 | Pat Laner | Episode: "Arrangement with Terror" | |
| Banyon | Julia Egan | Episode: "The Graveyard Vote" | |
| 1973 | Hawkins | Jennifer Pearson | Episode: "Candidate for Murder" |
| Search | Anjeanette Marie Shanahan | Episode: "Let Us Prey" | |
| Gunsmoke | Dallas Fair | Episode: "Shadler" | |
| Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law | Lita Coleman | Episode: "Final Semester" | |
| The ABC Afternoon Playbreak | Episode: "The Things I Never Said" | ||
| 1974 | Hawkins | Jennifer Pearson | Episode: "Candidate for Murder" |
| Medical Center | Pat Londean | Episode: "Three-Cornered Cage" | |
| 1975 | Marcus Welby, M.D. | Janet Trent | Episode: "Dark Fury: Part 1" Episode: "Dark Fury: Part 2" |
| Harry O | Sandra Dawes | Episode: "The Confetti People" | |
| Mannix | Janice Graham | Episode: "A Ransom for Yesterday" | |
| S.W.A.T. | Joanna Bishop | Episode: "Kill S.W.A.T." | |
| Cannon | Nedra Cameron | Episode: "The Melted Man" | |
| 1976 | Kojak | Cleo Donatello | Episode: "A Grave Too Soon" |
| Barnaby Jones | Nora Bradford | Episode: "Deadly Reunion" | |
| The Boy in the Plastic Bubble | Mickey Lubitch | TV movie | |
| 1977 | Happy Days | Adrianna Prescott | Episode: "Fonzie's Old Lady" |
| Eight Is Enough | Joan Bradford | Main cast, 4 episodes |
References[edit]
- ^ Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (third ed.). McFarland. p. 365. ISBN 978-1476625997. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
- ^ "Mary Gentner in the 1940 Census | Ancestry®". Ancestry.com.
- ^ "Hyland dies of cancer". The San Bernardino County Sun. Associated Press. March 29, 1977. p. 2. Retrieved November 9, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Diana Hyland. The Broadway League. August 19, 2016. ISBN 9781476625997. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
- ^ "Diana Hyland, performer". Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017.
- ^ a b Rubin, Steven (2017). Twilight Zone Encyclopedia. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1613738917. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
- ^ Pack, Harvey (March 4, 1964). "Introducing Diana Hyland". Asbury Park Evening Press – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 300–301. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
- ^ Bellmont, Brian. "When a TV show loses an actor," MSNBC.com, Sunday, September 14, 2003. Retrieved January 1, 2022
- ^ a b Smilgis, Martha (June 13, 1977). "Life After Loss". People. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
- ^ "John Travolta Lost Girlfriend Diana Hyland to Breast Cancer Decades Before Kelly Preston's Death". People. July 13, 2020.
External links[edit]
- Diana Hyland at IMDb
- Diana Hyland at the Internet Broadway Database
- Diana Hyland portrait gallery at NY Public Library (Billy Rose collection)
- 1936 births
- 1977 deaths
- 20th-century American actresses
- Actresses from Ohio
- American film actresses
- American soap opera actresses
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- Deaths from breast cancer in California
- Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners
- People from Cleveland Heights, Ohio
- Primetime Emmy Award winners