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Dianne Foster, a curvaceous and attractive lead and second lead actress of the 1950s and 1960s, was born Olga Helen Laruska on October 31, 1928, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Of Ukrainian descent, she began her acting career in high school plays and local community theater. Recognizing her talent, her school drama teacher encouraged her to pursue further studies, leading her to enroll at the University of Alberta with a major in drama.
She eventually moved to Toronto, working as a model and as a radio and stage actress. With encouragement from her high school teacher, she saved money to travel to England for advanced training and job opportunities. There, she landed a stage role in the play "The Hollow" starring Jeanne De Casalis, which later went on tour. After a radio role with Orson Welles, he offered her the role of Cassio's mistress in a West End production of "Othello," featuring Laurence Olivier directing at the St James Theater. Welles and Peter Finch starred as Othello and Iago, respectively.
Establishing herself as a "bad girl" second lead in British "B" films like The Quiet Woman (1951), where she played a scheming ex-girlfriend of Derek Bond, and The Big Frame (1952), as a temptress opposite Mark Stevens, Dianne was encouraged to move to Hollywood in the early 1950s. Her Hollywood debut was a British character role in a TV episode of "Four Star Playhouse" opposite David Niven. Impressed by her performance, Harry Cohn signed her to a contract with Columbia Pictures despite her not having an agent. She mostly appeared in standard adventure films, often providing a charming counterpoint to the rugged action, though she occasionally took on more substantial parts.
Dianne made a solid US film debut in the film noir Bad for Each Other (1953), playing a dedicated nurse and love interest to Dr. Tom Owen, portrayed by Charlton Heston. Lizabeth Scott played the antagonist in that film. She stood out in westerns as well, acting opposite Dana Andrews in Three Hours to Kill (1954), Glenn Ford and Edward G. Robinson in The Violent Men (1955), and James Stewart and Audie Murphy in Night Passage (1957). She also delivered a notable performance as Richard Conte’s wife in The Brothers Rico (1957), where they grapple with his mob connections. Returning to England, she appeared in Uncle Willie's Bicycle Shop (1953) as a snobbish American heiress aiming to impress Robert Urquhart, and briefly in Gideon of Scotland Yard (1958) as Ronald Howard's wife, who threatens Jack Hawkins' title character. Her final two films of the 1950s included roles opposite Alan Ladd in The Deep Six (1958) and Spencer Tracy in The Last Hurrah (1958).
In the 1960s, Dianne transitioned to episodic television, guest-starring in dramas such as Perry Mason (1957), Route 66 (1960), Peter Gunn (1958), Ben Casey (1961), Hawaiian Eye (1959), The Detectives (1959), and Honey West (1965); comedies including Petticoat Junction (1963), My Three Sons (1960), and Green Acres; and westerns like Bonanza (1959), The Deputy (1959), Have Gun—Will Travel, Laramie (1959), Wagon Train (1957), Gunsmoke (1955), and The Big Valley (1965). She appeared in just two more films before retiring in 1967: King of the Roaring 20's: The Story of Arnold Rothstein (1961) with David Janssen, and the light comedy Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963) alongside Dean Martin and Elizabeth Montgomery.
Married twice, Dianne had one child from her first marriage and twins from her second. She retired to devote herself to her family and her passion for painting.
She lived in the Los Angeles area for the remainder of her life and passed away on July 27, 2019, at the age of 90.
