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Diane Hart | |
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| Born | Diane Lavinia Hart (1926-07-20)20 July 1926 Bedford,Bedfordshire, England |
| Died | 7 February 2002(2002-02-07) (aged 75) London, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1942–1999 |
| Spouse | Kenneth MacLeod (1953–2002) (her death) |
| Children | 2 |
Diane Lavinia Hart (20 July 1926 – 7 February 2002) was an English actress in both films andWest End theatre, political campaigner, and inventor.
Born in 1926, Hart was educated at various convents and then at Abbot's Hill School,King's Langley (where she was aClassics scholar). After her Matriculation at 14, she went toRADA at a very young age in 1941. She started working for theBBC as a secretary and, in the middle years of theSecond World War, was anaudio engineer, where she was instrumental in playingHitler'sspeeches back to the Germans from the BBC in the UK over their airwaves.
In 1943, Hart started on stage as a feed in adouble act with the comedian (later an agent) Pat Aza at theFinsbury Park Empire. This led to a six-month tour of theMoss Empires circuit on the halls. After this, she continued her war service entertaining the troops forENSA.
Her theatre breakthrough came with her casting in a supporting role inDaughter JanieApollo Theatre (1944), which led toWilliam Douglas-Home's early hitThe Chiltern Hundreds (Vaudeville Theatre (1946), andBooth Theatre, New York (1949). In this political light comedy, centred round an 'Earl of Lister' and a localby-election, Hart played the comic role of the young housemaid Bessie oppositeA. E. Matthews.
WhenGlynis Johns – the original choice – became unavailable forTerence Rattigan's comedyWho Is Sylvia? at theCriterion Theatre (1950), Hart was cast instead. In this production, she had to play three roles, one in each act, as an office girl, an actress and a model. The play opened at the home of Rattigan's first success,French Without Tears, and also co-starred two of its cast,Robert Flemyng andRoland Culver. It ran for just under a year and gained the young Hart positive critical reviews.
InNancy Mitford's version of Andrew Roussin's FrenchfarceThe Little Hut at theLyric Theatre in 1950, Hart was cast for the West End version instead of the American actress who had created the role,Joan Tetzel, taking over oppositeRobert Morley, with Peter Brook as director. She also enjoyed a six-month stint as Mollie Ralston in one of the earliest runs ofThe Mousetrap (Ambassadors Theatre (1953), and then abandoned the stage for 11 years in favour of television and the cinema.
In March 1963, she translated the Sardou playDivorce A La Carte and appeared in the production of the same withJohn Justin,Barry Shawzin andKaty Greenwood at thePhoenix Theatre in London. In 1964, she appeared on the West End stage with her friend,Margaret Lockwood (with whom she had first worked inThe Wicked Lady) inEvery Other Evening, also at the Phoenix. A long-running engagement came Hart's way with Joyce Rayburn's West End comedyThe Man Most Likely To... (Vaudeville Theatre (1968), oppositeLeslie Phillips. She had another long vaudeville residency acting withTerence Alexander and replacingMoira Lister in the successfulRay Cooney/John Chapman farceMove Over, Mrs Markham (1972).
Hart also participated in theatre inSloane Square when she worked at theRoyal Court Theatre. Her first appearance there was as the mother in an earlyHoward Barker play,Cheek at theRoyal Court Theatre Upstairs (1970). She then took a role inMorality (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1971), a piece by Jeremy Seabrook and Michael O'Neill, directed byWilliam Gaskill, a domestic drama about a schoolboy involved in ahomosexual relationship with a teacher.
In later years, she often worked in regional theatre, playing, among other parts, the title role inSomerset Maugham'sMrs Dot (Everyman Theatre,Cheltenham, 1974), inThe Bank Manager (East Grinstead, 1974),Miss Adams Will Be Waiting (Yvonne Arnaud,Guildford, 1975) andThe Pleasure Principle (New End,Hampstead 1989) and other plays.
Hart's film career started much earlier, in the 1940s, with a small role as a bridesmaid in theMargaret Lockwood costume dramaThe Wicked Lady (1945), and included a contract to20th Century-Fox. Hart also worked forJean Negulesco inBritannia Mews (1949), scripted byRing Lardner Jr., and playing oppositeDavid Niven in the musicalHappy Go Lovely (1951). Hart's then husband, Kenneth MacLeod, was also in the film with a small part.
She made many television appearances, beginning atAlexandra Palace during the war, as well as radio performances forVal Gielgud. Hart playedTed Ray's wife in series 6 of the popular comedy seriesRay's a Laugh.[1]
Apart from acting, one of her inventions was the "Beatnix" corselet,[2] which during the 1960s had large sales at Britain'sMarks and Spencer. One customer was in theSoviet Union, MrsAlexei Kosygin, the wife of the Russian premier. She also tried to persuade theMinistry of Defence to adopt another of her inventions, when she suggested they attachharrows to ahelicopter to clear landmines during theFalklands campaign.
In politics, Hart once tried to set up a Women's Party for the UK. She posted an anonymous advertisement in the personal columns ofThe Times which read: "Ladies. Don't just sit there. If you are sick of castles in the air, sit in theHouse of Commons. Wanted, 630 ladies willing to gamble £500 each fighting a constituency." "Castles in the air" was a reference toBarbara Castle, MP, who at the time was the only prominent British female politician. Hart hiredCaxton Hall incentral London for a rally, but only about forty women turned up.
Later, she ran in thegeneral election of 1970 as anIndependent candidate forLewisham South, but lost her deposit. She was criticised byGermaine Greer in a footnote in the last pages of Greer's workThe Female Eunuch.
In 1977, Hart led a legal action[3] against the actors' unionEquity, of which she was a longstanding member, to stop a referendum of their members over changes to union rules. Four years later, she also successfully took on theAga Khan Foundation United Kingdom, conducting the five-day 'plaintiff in person' without legal counsel. She was awarded £750 damages at theHigh Court[4] to compensate her for the noise and nuisance caused by the construction of theIsmaili Centre opposite her home in London nearby theVictoria and Albert Museum.
Hart was alsoplaintiff in person in her litigation in 1985, when she was awarded £15,000[5] inlibel damages after a clip was taken fromGames That Lovers Play (1971), a film in which she appeared withJoanna Lumley,Richard Wattis,Jeremy Lloyd,Penny Brahms and Nan Munro. This clip was incorporated illegally into a pornographic film calledElectric Blue, 002.
In her last years, Hart spent time at theChelsea Arts Club, where she was a member, and where every day completedThe Times andThe Daily Telegraphcryptic crosswords with great speed. She could usually be seen cycling to and from the club, between the West End and theKing's Road, on her bicycle in a full-length mink coat.
For 12 years from 1956, Hart was married to the television broadcaster Kenneth MacLeod, until they separated in 1968. MacLeod was one of the first seen in the early days ofRediffusion, and from 1968 for many years he was the 6 o'clock eveningWestward Diary anchorman atWestward Television. They had two daughters.
Hart died on 7 February 2002, aged 75.[6]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | The Wicked Lady | Minor Role | Uncredited |
| 1947 | The Ghosts of Berkeley Square | Minette | Uncredited |
| 1949 | Britannia Mews | The Blazer | |
| 1951 | Happy Go Lovely | Mae | |
| 1951 | I'll Never Forget You | Dolly | Uncredited |
| 1952 | Something Money Can't Buy | Joan | |
| 1952 | You're Only Young Twice | Ada Shore | |
| 1952 | Father's Doing Fine | Doreen her daughter | |
| 1952 | The Pickwick Papers | Emily Wardle | |
| 1955 | One Jump Ahead | Maxine | |
| 1956 | Keep It Clean | Kitty, Marchioness of Hurlingford | |
| 1956 | My Wife's Family | Stella Gay | |
| 1959 | The Crowning Touch | Tess | |
| 1961 | Enter Inspector Duval | Jackie | |
| 1971 | Games That Lovers Play | Mrs. Hill |
