Diana Dors
Born Diana Fluck in Swindon, Wiltshire, England on October 23, 1931, Diana Dors seemed destined to be a star. A movie buff from a young age, Dors wasn't shy about her career goals.
At the tender age of nine, she wrote a school essay in which she declared, "I am going to be a film star, with a swimming pool and a cream telephone."
By the time she was 13, Dors looked quite a bit older than her actual age, and would often claim to be 17 to enter beauty contests. She was one of the pinup girls who modeled far earlier than was appropriate for her age — but she did it with the goal of eventually getting into film.
Dors trained at the Royal Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and quickly became interested in taking on sexpot roles. Dors made her film debut in the 1947 movie The Shop at Sly Corner, and started to use her maternal grandmother's maiden name as her last name.
Later marketed as Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe, Dors lived up to her starlet reputation. She later reflected, "I based my career on men, sex, and money, in that order."
WATFORD/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty ImagesThough she never achieved the same level of success as the real Marilyn Monroe, Diana Dors was widely beloved in Britain and the tabloids followed her every move.
Dors appeared in a number of formulaic comedies, but not many roles of substance came her way. Even so, the British tabloids obsessed over her endlessly. She did finally get critics on her side with a couple of successful films, including A Kid for Two Farthings in 1955 and Yield to the Night in 1956.
By that point, she lived in a 23-bedroom mansion, with her much-desired cream telephone. However, her personal life began to crumble. Her first marriage to Dennis Hamilton was a strained one — and after a short illness, he died when he was only in his 30s.
Dors later married Richard Dawson (of Family Feud fame). They had two sons together — including the entertainment manager Mark Dawson — before parting ways in 1967.
Dors' last marriage was to actor Alan Lake, whom she was with until she died from ovarian cancer at age 52 in 1984. Just a few months after Dors' death, Lake was overcome by his grief and died by suicide.
