- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDolores Marie Loehr
- Nickname
- Dolly
- Height5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
- She was a child prodigy and pianist at age 10. Her first movie was There's Magic in Music (1941) aka The Hard-Boiled Canary (1941), under the name Dolly (a short version of her real name, Dolores) Loehr. She signed a long-term contract with Paramount in 1942 and had her name changed to Diana Lynn. She had good parts in The Major and the Minor (1942), The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943), and Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944). She got fewer roles as she matured; she did do My Friend Irma (1949) and My Friend Irma Goes West (1950), based on the popular radio sitcom, and Bedtime for Bonzo (1951), and had a nice career on TV. Her first marriage was from 1948 to 1954 to architect John C. Lindsay (no children); then, on December 6, 1956, she married Mortimer C. Hall, president of L.A. radio station KLAC. His mother was Dorothy Schiff, then publisher of the New York Post. She had four children with him between 1958 and 1964. They moved to New York City so he could assume a post on his mother's paper. Diana Lynn passed away on December 17, 1971, of a stroke/brain hemorrhage in Los Angeles.- IMDb Mini Biography By: kenn_honeyman
- SpousesMortimer Wadhams Hall(December 8, 1956 - December 18, 1971) (her death, 4 children)John Carl Lindsay(December 18, 1948 - June 5, 1954) (divorced)
- ChildrenRichard Roman HallMatthew W. HallDorothy Theresa HallMaryaman M. HallMargaret A. Hall
- Although she was semi-retired and living in New York in 1971, Paramount offered her the role of Anthony Perkins' wife in Play It As It Lays (1972). She returned to Los Angeles in preparation for her role, but suffered a fatal stroke before filming began.
- Retired for the most part in 1970 to become the director of GO (Travel) Agency in Manhattan, but died a year later at age 45, just nine days after suffering a stroke.
- In the late 1960s she operated "GO," a travel agency situated at a Bonwit Teller store in New York City.
- Starred with the late Gail Russell in the highly popular Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944), in which she played writer Emily Kimbrough and Russell played close friend and author Cornelia Otis Skinner. Both Kimbrough and Skinner would outlive their 20-odd-years younger screen actresses playing them.
- According to Laura Wagner's article on Diana in "Films of the Golden Age" (Winter 2013/2014 issue), Diana also played piano for a couple of movies and albums but eventually let that enormous talent slip away. One summer, the actress claims, she broke her arm and just never started back again.
- Acting was my own decision, a kind of rebellion. I loathed playing piano for people and I always have. I was so young when I started; I was used and exploited, and I didn't have the courage or the brains to say 'no' to the use of whatever talents I had.
- I see no barrier between family and career. I had my children in the past five years and think I can achieve the proper separation. I don't burden my husband with every detail of stagecraft. I try to be instinctive about raising my children. I try to hear what they're not saying. It's working out. They're nice; they're happy; they've got manners
- My public image was the kind of girl you bring home to mother.
- My awkward age didn't arrive 'til I was eighteen. By that time, everyone at Paramount regarded me as their kid-sister. When I became eighteen, the boys up front still thought of me as that pink-cheeked youngster they'd known so long. They considered me too young for ingénue roles, too young for glamor roles, and too young for romance. I didn't do anything. Everyone thought I was old hat.
- It was great fun--at least most of it was. I'm certainly glad I did it, although I don't miss acting or Hollywood. I still have pretty clothes and I meet celebrities . . . I think that's glamorous. I hope there's no one out there feeling sorry for me, because I love my life.
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