Farewell Diane

 
It was so sad to hear that one of the most classically beautiful actresses ever seen on the big screen, Diane Cilento, has died in her native Queensland after a long illness. She was 78.

She was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of Molly in the 1963 picture Tom Jones, which won best picture and best director for Tony Richardson.  

The previous year she married Sean Connery,  her second marriage, and had a son, Jason, with him before the couple divorced in 1973.

Cilento married for a third time in 1985 to Anthony Shaffer, who wrote Sleuth and The Wicker Man, a film in which she also appeared. Shaffer died in 2001.

Cilento's friend, playwright Michael Gow told Australia's ABC TV network he was with her at a dinner party last weekend. 

"She was a performer to the end, and she put on a great display for all the guests at that dinner," he said. "She kept us all hugely entertained until the day before yesterday, when she just couldn't manage any more and we took her to hospital."