| Diane was a California native who studied Drama at Santa
Ana College before dropping out to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse in
New York. After appearing in summer stock for several months, she got her
first major stage role in the Broadway rock musical "Hair". As
understudy to the lead, she gained attention by not removing any of her
clothing. In 1970, Woody Allen cast her in his Broadway play "Play It
Again, Sam", which had a successful run. It was during this time that
she became involved with Woody and thereafter she appeared in a number of
his films. The first one was the comedy Play It Again, Sam (1972) which
was the screen adaption of the stage play. That same year Coppola cast her
as Kay in the Oscar winning movie Godfather, The (1972) and she was on her
way to stardom. She reprised her role as Kay in the sequel Godfather: Part
II, The (1974) otherwise she appeared with Woody in Sleeper (1973),
0073312 and so on. In 1977, she broke away from her comedy image to appear
in the chilling Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), which would give her a
Golden Globe nomination. It was the same year that she would appear in the
Woody Allen movie Annie Hall (1977) and what an impact she would make. She
would win the Oscar and the British Award for Best Actress and Woody would
win the Director Award from the DGA. Diane would start a fashion trend
with her unisex clothes and would be the poster girl for a lot of young
males. Her mannerisms and awkward speech would become well known. But the
question being asked was- is she just a lightweight playing herself or is
there more depth to her personality. For whatever reason, she appeared in
but one film a year for the next two years and those films were by Woody
Allen. When they broke up, she was next involved with Warren Beatty and
appeared in his film Reds (1981), as the bohemian female journalist Louise
Bryant. For her performance, she would receive nominations for the Academy
Award and the Golden Globe. For the rest of the 80's she would appear
infrequently in films, but she would continue to win nominations in three
of them. Trying to break her typecasting, she became the tool of the
terrorist in the film Little Drummer Girl, The (1984). To offset her lack
of movie work, Diane began directing. She directed the documentary Heaven
(1987), as well as some music videos. For Television she directed an
episode of the popular, but strange, "Twin Peaks" (1990). For
the 90's, she has matured as an mainstream actress who reprised her role
as Kay for the third Godfather film and Nina in Father of the Bride (1991)
and Father of the Bride Part II (1995). In 1993, she would again team with
Woody Allen in his film Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) which would be
well received. In 1995, Diane would receive high marks for Unstrung Heroes
(1995), her first major feature as a director. |