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Diana Hyland
Hyland as Susan Winter in Peyton Place, 1968
Born	Diane Gentner (1936-01-25)January 25, 1936 Cleveland Heights, Ohio, U.S.
Died	March 27, 1977(1977-03-27) (aged 41) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1955–1977
Spouse	Joe Goodson ​ ​(m. 1969; div. 1974)​
Partner	John Travolta (1976-1977; her death)
Children	1
Awards	Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Special 1977 The Boy in the Plastic Bubble; awarded posthumously

Diana Hyland (born Diane Gentner; January 25, 1936 – March 27, 1977) was an American stage, film, and television actress.

Early years

Hyland was born Diane Gentner to John Theodore and Mary (Gorman) Gentner in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. She had one sibling, a brother, John Gorman Gentner.

Career

She made her acting debut in 1955 at age 19 in an episode of Robert Montgomery Presents. Over the next decade, she appeared often in guest and supporting roles in various television series, including Naked City, The Eleventh Hour, The Fugitive, The Invaders, The Green Hornet, and The Twilight Zone, and she was cast in the feature film The Chase (1966) with Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, and Robert Redford.

In 1959, she originated the role of Heavenly Finley in Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth on Broadway, appearing with Geraldine Page and Paul Newman.

In 1966, she co-starred in the movie Smoky in which she played Julie Richards, owner of the Rockin' R Ranch, who falls in love with Clint Barkeley (Fess Parker), owner of Smokey, a black stallion turned cutting horse. The same year she appeared in an episode of the TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. titled "The Candidate's Wife Affair" and in another episode titled "The Nowhere Affair". From 1958 to 1963, Hyland was a regular on the NBC soap opera Young Doctor Malone, playing Gig Houseman, wife of the younger Dr. Malone.

Hyland's debut in a feature film was in One Man's Way (1963), playing the wife of Norman Vincent Peale. She had a continuing role as Susan Winter in the prime-time soap opera Peyton Place from 1968 to 1969. She appeared in the 1976 television movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, for which she won a posthumous Emmy Award. The following year, she co-starred with Dick Van Patten in the series Eight Is Enough. She appeared in only five episodes before her death, and her character, Joan Bradford, was subsequently killed off.

Personal life

Hyland married actor Joe Goodson on April 24, 1969. The couple had one son, Zachary, born in July 1973. Hyland and Goodson divorced in August 1974.

She began a romantic relationship with actor John Travolta, 18 years her junior, in 1976 after meeting him when she played his mother in the television movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.

Death

Hyland was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1975, and underwent a mastectomy and chemotherapy . However, the cancer spread and her health continued to deteriorate. Hyland and Travolta remained together until her death at age 41 on March 27, 1977, in Los Angeles. She died with Travolta, Eight Is Enough co-star Dick Van Patten, and his wife Patty by her side.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

1. Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (third ed.). McFarland. p. 365. ISBN 978-1476625997. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
2. "Mary Gentner in the 1940 Census | Ancestry®". Ancestry.com.
3. "Hyland dies of cancer". The San Bernardino County Sun. Associated Press. March 29, 1977. p. 2. Retrieved November 9, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Diana Hyland. The Broadway League. August 19, 2016. ISBN 9781476625997. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
5. "Diana Hyland, performer". Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017.
6. ^ Rubin, Steven (2017). Twilight Zone Encyclopedia. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1613738917. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
7. Pack, Harvey (March 4, 1964). "Introducing Diana Hyland". Asbury Park Evening Press – via Newspapers.com.
8. ^ Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 300–301. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
9. Bellmont, Brian. "When a TV show loses an actor," MSNBC.com, Sunday, September 14, 2003. Retrieved January 1, 2022
10. ^ Smilgis, Martha (June 13, 1977). "Life After Loss". People. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
11. "John Travolta Lost Girlfriend Diana Hyland to Breast Cancer Decades Before Kelly Preston's Death". People. July 13, 2020.
12. "St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri". Newspapers.com. August 7, 1977. Retrieved May 19, 2024.

External links

• Diana Hyland at IMDb 
• Diana Hyland at the Internet Broadway Database
• Diana Hyland portrait gallery at NY Public Library (Billy Rose collection)

• Biography
• Ohio
• Los Angeles
• California
• Theatre
• Film
• Television

• 1936 births
• 1977 deaths
• 20th-century American actresses
• Actresses from Ohio
• American film actresses
• American soap opera actresses
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• Deaths from breast cancer in California
• Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners
• People from Cleveland Heights, Ohio
• Primetime Emmy Award winners