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4 hours ago
5
I was shocked when I heard about Diane’s passing. I loved her. There was nobody like her. Bright, talented, generous, and very smart and witty. She had more than just a sense of humour; she was hysterical. Whatever it was, she just had it.
The first time I saw her was in a deodorant commercial where she bit somebody’s ear. Everything about her was original. I’d be interested in anything she was involved in because she was so keen and so smart and so witty. And anybody who got to work with her was in for a treat – as I later found.
We first met when she came in to audition for a picture that I was preparing called A Glimpse of Tiger. She didn’t get the part, and I wound up not doing the picture, but I remember even back then how unique she seemed, as well as very down to earth and extremely normal.
I then did three pictures with her – I Will, I Will … For Now; Harry and Walter Go to New York and The Lemon Sisters – and we became friends. She sang and danced in that final one and was fabulous at both. She was perfect to work with: always prepared, always present.
She was beautiful, she was sexy, and she was nice! What more can you ask for? She became a legitimate superstar class American artist, yet she stayed exactly the same person regardless of her fame.
She was such a complete professional. Even when the pictures didn’t all quite work, she always worked. I’d always remember when we were making our first picture together, in a little town called Ojai in California. After dinner, we snuck away into the bush together and she said to me: “This is called making out.” She was brilliantly talented and funny, but she was also plain-speaking and really nice.
It’s a beautiful thing in a way, that all of us come and all of us must go. But I didn’t expect Diane to go, even though I knew she wasn’t well. I’m so happy to have known her.
