Elizabeth Diane Cilento (2 April 1932 – 6 October 2011) was an Australian actress. She is best known for her film roles in Tom Jones (1963), which earned her an Academy Award nomination, Hombre (1967) and The Wicker Man (1973). She also received a Tony Award nomination for her performance as Helen of Troy in the play Tiger at the Gates.
Early life Cilento was born on 2 April 1932"Cilento, Diane (1932–2011)". snaccooperative.org. Retrieved 5 January 2024.Famous People Born in April 1932 - On This DayAncestry.com. UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. in Brisbane, Queensland, the daughter of Phyllis (née McGlew) and Raphael Cilento, both medical practitioners in Queensland. She was the fifth of six children; four of her siblings became medical practitioners, while her sister Margaret was an artist. Cilento's paternal great-grandfather, Salvatore Cilento, arrived from Naples, Italy, in 1855.Desmond O'Connor, Italians in South Australia: The first hundred years , In D. O’Connor and A. Comin (eds) 1993. "Proceedings: the First Conference on the Impact of Italians in South Australia, 16–17 July 1993", Italian Congress: Italian Discipline, The Flinders University of South Australia: Adelaide, pp.15–32.
It was from a young age that Cilento decided to follow a career as an actress. After being expelled from school in Australia, she was schooled in New York while living with her father. Cilento later won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and moved to Britain in the early 1950s.
Career After graduation, Cilento found work on stage almost immediately and was signed to a five-year contract by Alexander Korda. Her first leading film role was in the British film Passage Home (1955), opposite fellow Australian Peter Finch. She was in The Woman for Joe (1955) playing a Hungarian.
Soon securing roles in British films and working steadily until the end of the decade, in 1956, Cilento was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic) for Helen of Troy in Jean Giraudoux's Tiger at the Gates. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Tom Jones in 1963The Official Academy Awards® Database, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1963 and appeared in The Third Secret the following year.
Cilento starred with Charlton Heston in the 1965 film The Agony and the Ecstasy, and with Paul Newman in the 1967 western film Hombre, and had a supporting role in The Wicker Man (1973). She wrote the film The Last Tango with Rudolph Valentino designed by painter Patrick Hockey. Set in Sydney in 1975, it was about a woman so obsessed with Valentino that she has a shrine in her house to keep her memory of him alive.
Cilento can be heard in the Caedmon Records productions of Troilus and Cressida and Jean Cocteau's The Infernal Machine.
Cilento continued working as an actress, in films and television. In the 1980s, she settled in Mossman, north of Cairns, where she built her own outdoor theatre, named "Karnak", in the tropical rainforest. The venture allowed her to participate in experimental drama.
In 2001, she was awarded the Centenary Medal for "distinguished service to the arts, especially theatre".
Personal life In 1955, Cilento married Andrea Volpe, an Italian. She gave birth to their daughter Giovanna in 1957. Cilento and Volpe divorced in 1962. Later that year, Cilento married actor Sean Connery, with whom she had a son, Jason (born 1963).Surprise gift for Diane The Australian Women's Weekly 25 December 1968 p. 2 – Contains photo of Sean, Gigi, Jason and Diane Cilento and Connery separated in 1971 and divorced in 1973. In her autobiography My Nine Lives, Cilento said that Connery was emotionally and physically abusive during their marriage. In 1985, Cilento married playwright Anthony Shaffer, whom she met in 1972 while working on The Wicker Man. They remained married until his death in 2001.
Death Cilento died of cancer at Cairns Base Hospital on 6 October 2011.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes1951Captain Horatio HornblowerUncredited1952Wings of DangerJeannette1952Moulin RougeMidinetteUncredited1953All Hallowe'enHarrietShort film1953Meet Mr LuciferWoman on the streetUncredited1954The Angel1954The Passing StrangerJill1955Passage HomeRuth Elton1955The Woman for JoeMary1957The Admirable CrichtonTweeny1957The Truth About WomenAmbrosine Viney1959Jet StormAngelica Como1960The Full TreatmentDenise Colby1961The Naked EdgeMrs. Heath1962I Thank a FoolLiane Dane1963Tom JonesMolly SeagrimNominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated — Laurel Award for Top Female Supporting Performance 1964The Third SecretAnne Tanner1964Rattle of a Simple ManCyrenne1965Once Upon a TractorGeraldineShort film1965The Agony and the EcstasyContessina de'Medici1967HombreJessie1968NegativesReingard1972Z.P.G.Edna1973Hitler: The Last Ten DaysHanna Reitsch1973The Wicker ManMiss Rose1975The Tiger LilyCharlotte Brain1982Duet for FourMargot MasonFeature film1985The Boy Who Had EverythingMotherFeature film
Television Year Title Role Notes1951A Tomb with a ViewAmy HeronTV film1955The Alcoa HourSmall ServantTV series, Episode: "The Small Servant"1956The Taming of the ShrewBiancaTV film1956Film FanfareHerselfTV series, 1 episode1957Rich and RichGuestTV series, 1 episode1957–1961ITV Television PlayhouseVarious rolesTV series, 2 episodes1958Television World TheatreNina Leeds EvansTV series, Episodes: "Strange Interlude: Part 1 & 2"1959–1964ITV Play of the WeekVarious rolesTV series, 2 episodes 1959Sunday Night TheatreAnneTV series, Episode: "The Concert"1960Armchair TheatreSadie ThompsonTV series, Episode: "Rain"1961Vanity FairBecky SharpTV series, Episode: "Part 1"1963EspionageLinaTV series, 1 Episode: "Festival of Pawns"1964The 36th Annual Academy AwardsNomineeTV special1964FestivalLysistrataTV series, 1 Episode: "Lysistrata"1964Juke Box JuryPanellistTV series, 1 episode1965BlackmailEuphrasia JonesTV series, 1 Episode: "Cut Yourself a Slice of Throat"1966Court MartialTV series, Episode: "La Belle France"1966The Eamonn Andrews ShowGuestTV series, 1 episode1967Thirty-Minute TheatrePenelopeTV series, 1 Episode: "Another Moon Called Earth"1967Dial M for MurderMargo WendiceTV film1967Whicker's WorldGuestTV series, 1 episode1967Good CompanyHerselfTV series, 1 episode1967The Tonight Show with Johnny CarsonGuestTV series, 1 episode1968Late Night HorrorLady SannoxTV series, Episode: "The Kiss of Blood"1968The Frankie Howerd ShowGuestTV special1968Sydney TonightGuestTV series, 1 episode1969Lady Sarah BellasizeTV series, Regular role, 6 episodes1970Morecambe & WiseGuestTV series, 1 episode1971The Mike Douglas ShowGuestTV series, 1 episode1971The David Frost ShowGuestTV series, 2 episodes1972The Persuaders!Kate SinclairTV series, Episode: "A Death in the Family"1973ThrillerClaraTV series, Episode: "Spell of Evil"1974The Book ProgrammeGuestTV series, 1 episode1975Affairs of the HeartElizabeth DamerelTV series, Episode: "Elizabeth"1975The 17th Annual TV Week Logie AwardsPresenterTV special1975Celebrity Squares ContestantTV series, 2 episodes1978Cappriccio!Herself TV series, 1 episode1978EverymanNarratorTV series, 1 episode1978TycoonDiana ClarkTV series, Regular role, 13 episodes1979Call My BluffHerselfTV series, 2 episodes1979–1984The Mike Walsh ShowGuest - HerselfTV series, 4 episodes1980The British GreatsGuestTV series, 1 episode1980Big ToysMag TV film1981Parkinson in AustraliaGuestTV series, 1 episode1981Diane Cilento: I Love MusicHostTV special19811981 Australian Film Institute AwardsPresenterTV special1982Diane Cilento Festa ItalianaPresenterTV special1983For The Term of His Natural LifeLady Elinor DevineTV miniseries, Recurring role, 2 episodes1983Willesee: SurvivalHerselfTV special1984The Mike Walsh ShowGuest - HerselfTV series, 1 episode1985Fountain of YouthHerselfFilm documentary1985Out of ShotNarratorFilm documentary1986The 1986 Australian Film Institute AwardsPresenterTV special1987; 1992Sunday AfternoonHerselfTV series, 2 episodes1988Queensland Day Royal Expo ConcertHostTV special1989Burke's BackyardCelebrity gardenerTV series, 1 episode1993–1994Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn LeftAuthoritax / PrincipaTV series, Recurring role, 6 episodes1994; 1995: 1998Good Morning AustraliaGuestTV series, 3 episodes1994Ten Eyewitness NewsHerselfTV series, 1 episode1999LawsGuestTV series, 1 episode2003The Brits Go To HollywoodGuestTV series, 1 episode2004Australian StoryHerself TV series, 1 episode2006Enough Rope with Andrew DentonHerselfTV series, 1 episode2006Mornings with Kerri-AnneHerselfTV series, 1 episode20069am with David & KimHerselfTV series, 1 episode2007Ken Adam's Production Films: You Only Live TwiceHerselfVideo
Theatre YearTitleRoleLocationNotes1955Tiger at the GatesHelenHelen Hayes TheatreTheatre World AwardNominated — Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play1959Heartbreak HouseEllie DunnBilly Rose Theatre1960The Good SoupMarie-Paule IIPlymouth Theatre
Writings 1967 novel: The Manipulator. Charles Scribner's Sons. 1970 novel: Hybrid. Dell Publishing. 2007 autobiography: My Nine Lives. Penguin Books.
References
External links
Diane Cilento at the British Film Institute Diane Cilento's Karnak Playhouse "From Stardom to Sufism" – interview with Cilento by Rachael Kohn on ABC Radio National May 2006 (MP3/Podcast available) The Cilento Gift – a collection of books, memorabilia, posters, furniture and original scripts from Diane Cilento's estate