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Diane Varsi

Diane Marie Varsi (February 23, 1938 - November 19, 1992) was an American film and television actress.

Born in San Mateo, California, Varsi made her screen debut in Peyton Place (1958), and received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The same year, she shared a Golden Globe as "Most Promising Newcomer" with Sandra Dee and Carolyn Jones. She appeared in the films Ten North Frederick (1958) and Compulsion (1959) and worked steadily throughout the 1960s. Her film career faded by the end of the decade and during the 1970s she played several television roles.

Science fiction and fantasy film fans probably remember Varsi best as Valancy Carmody in The People, a 1972 ABC-TV Movie of the Week based on a story by Zenna Henderson about peaceful alien refugees living on earth. Her portrayal of the would-be Oldest One with a dead-flat affect but compassionate expression and soft, recollected speaking voice was partly caused by the death of her father just before filming began. The director, John Korty, would not let Varsi off for her dad's funeral. Varsi was rendered virtually mute and had to dub in her voice parts later.

Another very brief but memorable Varsi role was Sylvia in I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, based on the Joanne Greenberg novel about a Jewish teen whose allegiance to an alternate universe called the Kingdom Of Yr has led to her being diagnosed as a schizophrenic. In the book, Sylvia was a patient in the mental hospital who ordinarily stood frozen by the wall and very rarely spoke, although completely aware of everything around her. Varsi appears only for a moment in the film and is almost unrecognizable; Deborah, the central character, crumples in misery on the floor of the dayroom, and Varsi breaks away from the wall, kneels by Deborah's side, and whispers a Roman Catholic blessing. It was the last time she was seen on film.

Varsi suffered from Lyme disease, which contributed to her death from respiratory failure.


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Varsi suffered from Lyme disease, which contributed to her death from respiratory failure. The Champrau d'Amour, designed by Louis Mariette, is valued at $2.7 million (US) and is covered in diamonds. It was the last time she was seen on film. On June 14, 2004, Witt modeled what is believed to be the most expensive hat ever made, for Christie's auction house in London. Varsi appears only for a moment in the film and is almost unrecognizable; Deborah, the central character, crumples in misery on the floor of the dayroom, and Varsi breaks away from the wall, kneels by Deborah's side, and whispers a Roman Catholic blessing. with her cat Jessie and her boyfriend, screenwriter Nathan Foulger. In the book, Sylvia was a patient in the mental hospital who ordinarily stood frozen by the wall and very rarely spoke, although completely aware of everything around her. Witt currently resides in L.A.

Another very brief but memorable Varsi role was Sylvia in I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, based on the Joanne Greenberg novel about a Jewish teen whose allegiance to an alternate universe called the Kingdom Of Yr has led to her being diagnosed as a schizophrenic. She plays Kriemhild in this filmic interpretation of the epic poem Das Nibelungenlied. Varsi was rendered virtually mute and had to dub in her voice parts later. In between these two gigs, she went to South Africa to shoot the German TV-Movie Kingdom in Twilight. The director, John Korty, would not let Varsi off for her dad's funeral. In 2003 and 2004, she turned her back to Hollywood and lived in the UK most of the time, filming The Upside of Anger opposite Kevin Costner and starring as Evelyn in a new stage-production of Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things. Her portrayal of the would-be Oldest One with a dead-flat affect but compassionate expression and soft, recollected speaking voice was partly caused by the death of her father just before filming began. She turned down the role of Mary Jane Watson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and made her comeback to mainstream cinema in the 2002 romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice.

Science fiction and fantasy film fans probably remember Varsi best as Valancy Carmody in The People, a 1972 ABC-TV Movie of the Week based on a story by Zenna Henderson about peaceful alien refugees living on earth. She also played a college graduate who talks about losing her virginity in the experimental Ten Tiny Love Stories and the trailer trash girl Barbie in American Girl, which has not been released yet. She appeared in the films Ten North Frederick (1958) and Compulsion (1959) and worked steadily throughout the 1960s. Her film career faded by the end of the decade and during the 1970s she played several television roles. She had a small part in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky, which was in fact intended as a reference to her roles in Dune and Liebestraum. The same year, she shared a Golden Globe as "Most Promising Newcomer" with Sandra Dee and Carolyn Jones. In the years following, things got more quiet around Witt. Born in San Mateo, California, Varsi made her screen debut in Peyton Place (1958), and received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Demented and her stage-debut in Robbie Fox's musical The Gift at the now closed Tiffany Theater in Los Angeles, in which she played a high priced stripper with a disease.

Diane Marie Varsi (February 23, 1938 - November 19, 1992) was an American film and television actress. 2000 was a busy year for Witt with guest starring roles on the shows Ally McBeal, and The Sopranos, the lead in the comedy Playing Mona Lisa, an instant-classic turn as an anal porn star in John Waters' Cecil B. After Cybill got cancelled, Alicia got another leading role in the Scream-ish campus-horror Urban Legend and the animated feature Gen 13 which was never released, because the studio stopped funding before the completion of the movie. Holland's Opus, Alexander Payne's abortion comedy Citizen Ruth, Passion's Way and Bongwater. Between seasons, she kept on starring in feature films; Mr.

She was introduced to a larger audience playing the role of Zoey Woodbine, the daughter of actress Cybill Shepherd's character in the sitcom Cybill from 1995 to 1998. This performance made Madonna want Witt to be cast as her witch-lover in the first segment The missing ingredient of Four Rooms. In 1994, Alicia landed her first lead-role in a feature film playing the disturbed teenager Bonnie in Fun. She received the Special Jury Recognition Award at the Sundance Festival and was nominated for Best Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards. She then went on to small parts in Mike Figgis' Liebestraum (in which her brother Ian also appears), the Gen-X drama Bodies, Rest & Motion and the TV-Movie The Disappearance of Vonnie.

At that time, Alicia was already supporting herself playing the piano at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. That was the last collaboration between the two for the time being. He would again cast her in the segment Blackout in his short-lived HBO series Hotel Room. Soon, David Lynch, whom she refers to as a mentor, created the role of Gersten Hayward in his hit series Twin Peaks especially for her.

At age 14, Alicia earned her High School Diploma and, shortly thereafter, moved permanently to Hollywood with her mother to pursue a career as a full-time actress. She took piano lessons at Boston University and won several national and international classical piano competitions, including the Bartok-Kabalevsky International Piano Competition. After this, Witt left Hollywood for six years, concentrating on school and music. He then cast her for the movie Dune (1984), where she played Muad'Dib's young sister Alia of the Knife.

Witt was discovered by David Lynch, when she appeared on the first episode of That's Incredible in 1980, reciting Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Alicia Roanne Witt (born August 21, 1975 in Worcester, Massachusetts) is an American actress. Dune (1984) as Alia. Twin Peaks (1990, Episode 8) as Gersten Hayward.

Fun (1994) as Bonnie. Four Rooms (1995) as Kiva. Holland's Opus (1995) as Gertrude Lang. Mr.

Citizen Ruth (1996) as Cheryl. Urban Legend (1998) as Natalie Simon. Demented (2000) as Cherish. Cecil B.

Playing Mona Lisa (2000) as Claire Goldstein. Vanilla Sky (2001) as Libby. Two Weeks Notice (2002) as June Carter.