Diane Varsi

 ( 1938 Births ) 

Peyton Place was released, Adler cast Varsi opposite Don Murray in From Hell to Texas (1958). She appeared in the films Ten North Frederick (1958) and Compulsion (1959). While filming Ten North Frederick, Varsi suffered a nervous breakdown, collapsed, and was hospitalized. Evening Standard - August 5, 1958, Uniontown, Pennsylvania. p.2: Diane Varsi Holds Hollywood's 'Miss Beat Generation' Title She later said: "I'm still trying to find myself. It's still hard for me to separate illusion from reality...I don't know whether acting is the form of creativity best for me."

Varsi rejected the role of Meg in the comedy film Holiday for Lovers in January 1959. On March 18, 1959, she suddenly left Hollywood, abandoning her contract. "I'm running away from destruction," she explained, saying it concerned other people, as well. The Daily Mail - February 21, 1966, Hagerstown, Maryland. p.18: Diane Varsi Reappears and Wants to Return to Acting A week later she elaborated, "Hollywood is too impressed with superficial cheapness." The Newport Daily News - March 26, 1959, Newport, Rhode Island. p.21: Diane Varsi Quits Acting Due to Its Superficial Cheapness Nevertheless, her contract with Fox did not expire until 1965. Her sudden walkout was for a long time rumored to be a publicity stunt to promote the sequel to Peyton Place, Return to Peyton Place (1961), to which Varsi was attached."She Quit For A New Life Of Faith" by John Hyams, Winnipeg Free Press, April 8, 1961, p. 72

By walking out of her contract, Varsi's inclusion in plans for several films was cancelled, including a starring role in The Best of Everything (1959). After leaving Hollywood, Varsi participated in local San Francisco theater productions. At some point thereafter, she made her way to New York long enough to successfully audition for the Actors Studio, which she would attend at least briefly in 1965. Diane Varsi at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection Varsi returned to film acting in the late 1960s, but by this time she was no longer offered major roles and subsequently referred to the movies she made in this period as "cheap films of little merit". Although producers were curious about her, she said, they would not hire her. Her later films include the influential cult film Wild in the Streets (1968); Johnny Got His Gun (1971), which Varsi described as her favorite; and an ABC Movie of the Week, titled The People (1972). In 1970, she was a supporting actress to Shelley Winters in Bloody Mama; Robert DeNiro also appeared in the film as one of Ma Barker's sons. Of Johnny Got His Gun, the actress said: "This is the kind of thing I always wanted to do. It comes very late to me. It's been a long time to wait." She was apprehensive about playing the role, saying: "I felt too inadequate to do ''Johnny. It's so intense, the responsibility."