Noteworthy deaths

Famed actress with six-decade career

LOS ANGELES -- Diana Douglas, the first wife of Kirk Douglas and mother of Michael Douglas, died Saturday in Los Angeles. She was 92.

Douglas died of cancer at a motion picture industry retirement home in the Woodland Hills neighborhood, according to an obituary from Michael Douglas's production company, Furthur Films. It cited Diana Douglas's husband of 15 years, Donald Webster of Washington, D.C.

Born Diana Love Dill in Bermuda, Douglas later moved to New York and met Kirk Douglas while they were both studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

She later went to California on a $200-per-week contract with Warner Bros. against Douglas's advice that she try for Broadway instead.

She went on to have a six-decade career as an actress and model, appearing in dozens of movies and television episodes, including the 1987 Steve Martin film Planes, Trains and Automobiles and the TV shows ER and The West Wing.

She also did stage roles, including some on Broadway.

Diana and Kirk Douglas wed in November 1943 and went on the have two sons, Michael and Joel, before divorcing in 1951.

The two remained on amicable terms. She even appeared with him in several movies, including her last film, 2003's It Runs in the Family, which also starred Michael Douglas and one of her grandsons, Cameron.

Douglas was also married to actor Bill Darrid from 1956 until his death in 1992.

Metro on 07/06/2015

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