Los Angeles, July 5 (IANS) Actress Diana Douglas, the first wife of actor-filmmaker Kirk Douglas and the mother of the “Fatal Attraction” star Michael Douglas, died at the age of 92.
Diana, who was married to Kirk from 1943 until their divorce in 1951, died on Friday from cancer in Woodland Hills, said Donald Webster, her husband of 15 years, reports hollywoodreporter.com.
She and Kirk had two sons, Michael and Joel.
She appeared with her ex-husband and Michael in the 2003 film “It Runs in the Family”. The film marked her final big screen appearance.
In 1956, Diana wed Bill Darrid, a Broadway producer and novelist; their marriage ended with his death in 1992.
“I’ve always enjoyed Kirk’s sense of humour, even when I was angriest at him. He could always make me laugh, somehow, which annoyed the hell out of me. But then I think we both decided too, when the time of divorce came, that we had to maintain a certain amount of civility because of the children,” Diana said in a 2011 interview.
“I know Michael has said since being an adult that he was always very grateful that we never did badmouth each other. Sometimes we probably wanted to. And also, I think that after (Kirk) got married to Anne, (she) made it very much easier, because she and I cooperated very much in terms of bed times and what they could watch on television and that kind of thing,” she added.
She began her career with Warner Bros, and modelled on the cover of Life Magazine in 1943 and officially retired from cinema in 2008 at the age of 85.