Diana Millay

Diana Claire Millay (June 7, 1935 – January 8, 2021) was an American actress. She was best known for her work in television, having guest starred in close to one hundred prime time shows, both live and filmed, and for playing continuing roles on two daytime soap operas, Dark Shadows and The Secret Storm.

Diana Millay
Millay in 1960.
Born
Diana Claire Millay

(1935-06-07)June 7, 1935
Rye, New York, United States
DiedJanuary 8, 2021(2021-01-08) (aged 85)
New York City
Years active1955–1971
Spouse(s)
Geoffrey Jones
​
​
(m. 1966; div. 1968)​
Children1

Career

Millay was born in Rye, New York[1] and started her career as a model, first as a child for the Montgomery Ward catalogue, and later as a top Conover model for John Robert Powers.

Every year during high school summer vacation, she appeared in summer stock productions, playing leading or featured roles in classic stage plays such as Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, The Girl on the Via Flaminia, Come Back, Little Sheba, Time of the Cuckoo, The Seven Year Itch,[2] Ladies in Retirement, Bell, Book and Candle, Time Out for Ginger, Picnic, The Little Foxes, Tobacco Road, Life With Father and many more. In total, she appeared in seven seasons of summer stock.

Broadway

In 1957, Broadway came calling and Millay starred opposite Sam Levene and Ellen Burstyn in Fair Game.[3] Her subsequent Broadway appearances include Drink to Me Only[4] opposite Tom Poston, Roger the Sixth opposite Alan Alda, The Glass Rooster opposite Michael Allinson and Boeing Boeing[4] opposite Ian Carmichael. In addition, she spent a year touring the United States and Canada opposite Eddie Bracken in The Seven Year Itch.

Millay's first film role was in the 1957 United Artists movie Street of Sinners, opposite George Montgomery.[5]

Television

Her television debut came on an episode of the anthology series Star Tonight.[6] After that, one of Millay's early roles on television was being the timekeeper on Masquerade Party in 1956.[7] She began her extensive television career when she guest starred on Star Tonight in an episode entitled "Taste". She continued to appear in other "live" productions such as Robert Montgomery Presents, Kraft Television Theatre, Studio One, U.S. Steel Hour, Omnibus, Pond's Theatre, Philco Television Playhouse, Playhouse 90, and many others. She made three guest appearances on the CBS courtroom drama series Perry Mason, starring Raymond Burr. In 1961 she played Debra Bradford in "The Case of the Resolute Reformer," and title character and defendant Sue Ellen Frazer in "The Case of the Unwelcome Bride." In 1963 she played murder victim Eula Johnson in "The Case of the Bouncing Boomerang."

Her filmed television credits include guest star roles on most of the major shows that were running during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, including Stagecoach West, Father Knows Best, The Tab Hunter Show, My Three Sons, The Americans, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Virginian, Arrest and Trial, 77 Sunset Strip, Rawhide, Tales of Wells Fargo, Wagon Train, Laramie, Route 66, Hawaiian Eye, The Rifleman, Thriller, Maverick (in the episode "Dodge City or Bust" with Jack Kelly and a brief appearance by Roger Moore), The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Dobie Gillis, Sam Peckinpah's The Westerner, Perry Mason, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. Millay made three television pilots for prospective new television series, Slezak and Son, Boston Terrier, and Las Vegas Beat.

In 1962, she was chosen as "Miss Emmy" because of her extensive appearances on primetime TV shows.[8]

Dark Shadows

After completing Paramount's Tarzan and the Great River opposite Mike Henry and Jan Murray that was shot in Brazil,[9][10] executive producer Dan Curtis offered her the contract role of "Laura Collins" on his ABC-TV daytime series, the cult classic Dark Shadows in November 1966.[11] She went on to appear in sixty-two episodes,[12] and became the show's first supernatural character, playing an immortal phoenix-woman who is burned in a fire and reborn to spend another century on Earth. After her present day incarnation was again consumed in a fire, she returned during the flashback story which took place in the 19th century, as yet another reincarnation of "Laura Collins". She appeared in a feature film inspired by the series, MGM's 1971 Night of Dark Shadows opposite David Selby.[10][13]

In 1970, Millay was offered a daytime role as "Kitty Styles" on the CBS soap The Secret Storm. Her run on this show gave her the opportunity to work once again with former Dark Shadows alumni Robert Costello, who was a producer on both shows, and Joel Crothers who played "Joe Haskell" on Dark Shadows and "Ken Stevens" on The Secret Storm.

Books

Millay's interests shifted from acting to writing and she published several books, including I'd Rather Eat Than Act,[14] The Power of Halloween, and How to Create Good Luck.

Personal life

She was married to Broadway producer Geoffrey Jones, but they separated shortly after the birth of their son, Kiley Christopher, who was born on Diana's birthday, June 7, 1967.

Millay died on 8 January 2021 at the age of 85.[15]

References
  1. "Diana Claire Millay, Actress, Betrothed to Geoffrey Jones". The New York Times. August 5, 1966. p. 27. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  2. "Casino Theater Opening Tonight; Henry Morgan Stars In '7 Year Itch'". Newport Daily News. Rhode Island, Newport. June 25, 1956. p. 9. Retrieved March 19, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Diana Millay entry, Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen". Glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  4. "Dana Millay". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  5. Hamrick, Craig (2004). 'About Diana,' introduction to 'I'd Rather Eat Than Act'. p. xi. ISBN 978-0-595-32608-2.
  6. Stern, Harold (June 25, 1961). "Rising Young TV Actress Is Rough on Hollywood". Hartford Courant. Connecticut, Hartford. p. 130. Retrieved March 19, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Wilson, Earl (March 8, 1956). "That's Earl For Today". The Evening Standard. Pennsylvania, Uniontown. p. 3. Retrieved December 26, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Diana Will Be Miss Emmy". St. Petersburg Times. May 13, 1962. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  9. Bowker (1983). "Variety"'s Film Reviews: 1964-1967 Volume 11. R. R. Bowker. ISBN 978-0-8352-2790-2.
  10. Halliwell, Leslie; Walker, John; Halliwell, Ruth (2007). Walker, John (ed.). Halliwell's Film, DVD & Video Guide 2007 (21 ed.). HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-723470-7.
  11. "entry". Darkshadowsonline.com. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  12. Hamrick, Craig (2003). Barnabas & Company: The Cast of the TV Classic Dark Shadows. iUniverse.com. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-595-29029-1.
  13. Willis, John. Screen world 1972, Volume 23.
  14. Millay, Diana (2004). I'd Rather Eat Than Act. ISBN 978-0-595-32608-2.
  15. Diana Millay (1935-2021)
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