Diana Hyland was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actress best known for her television appearances and occasional films.

Career

Hyland made her acting debut in 1955 in an episode of Robert Montgomery Presents

Robert Montgomery Presents

Robert Montgomery Presents is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950 until June 24, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its seven-year run, and the title was altered to feature the sponsor, usually Lucky Strike cigarettes, for example,...

. Over the next decade she played numerous guest and supporting roles in various television series, including Happy Days

Happy Days

Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....

, The Eleventh Hour

The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)

The Eleventh Hour is an American medical drama about psychiatry starring Wendell Corey, Jack Ging, and Ralph Bellamy, which aired sixty-two new episodes plus selected rebroadcasts on NBC from October 3, 1962, to September 9, 1964.-Series premise:...

, The Fugitive

The Fugitive (TV series)

The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...

 and The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)

The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...

, before being cast in a featured role in The Chase

The Chase (1966 film)

The Chase is a 1966 American drama film directed by Arthur Penn, about a series of events set into motion by a prison break. Since one of the two escapees is Charlie "Bubber" Reeves , the escape causes a stir in a nearby town where Bubber is a well-known figure.The film deals with themes of racism...

 (1966) with Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...

, Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...

, and Robert Redford

Robert Redford

Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...

.

In 1959 she originated the role of Heavenly Finley in Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams

Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...

' Sweet Bird of Youth

Sweet Bird of Youth

Sweet Bird of Youth is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star, Princess Kosmonopolis , whom he hopes to use to help him break into the movies...

 on Broadway, with Geraldine Page

Geraldine Page

Geraldine Sue Page was an American actress. Although she starred in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater...

 and Paul Newman

Paul Newman

Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...

. From 1958-1963, Hyland was a regular on the NBC soap opera, Young Doctor Malone, where she played the role of Gig Houseman, wife of the younger Dr. Malone. She also played a continuing role in the primetime soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 Peyton Place

Peyton Place (TV series)

Peyton Place is an American prime-time soap opera which aired on ABC in half-hour episodes from September 15, 1964 to June 2, 1969.Based upon the 1956 novel of the same name by Grace Metalious, the series was preceded by a 1957 film adaptation. A total of 514 episodes were broadcast, in...

 from 1968 until 1969.

In 1976, she appeared in the television movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble is a 1976 made-for-TV movie inspired by the lives of David Vetter and Ted DeVita, who lacked effective immune systems. It stars John Travolta, Glynnis O'Connor, Diana Hyland, Robert Reed, and P.J. Soles...

 for which she won a posthumous Emmy Award

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

. The following year, she signed on to play the wife of Dick Van Patten

Dick Van Patten

Richard Vincent "Dick" Van Patten is an American actor, best known for his role as patriarch Tom Bradford on the television sitcom Eight is Enough. He began work as a child actor and was successful on the [New York] stage, appearing in more than a dozen plays as a teenager...

's character in the series Eight is Enough

Eight Is Enough

Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series which ran on ABC from March 15, 1977 until August 29, 1981. The show was modeled after syndicated newspaper columnist Thomas Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book with the same name...

. The first four episodes would be her last role.

Personal life

She dated actor Joe Goodson briefly before the two were married on April 24, 1969. The union bore one child in 1973, a son named Zachary, before they divorced in 1975.

In 1976, she began a romantic relationship with the actor John Travolta

John Travolta

John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...

 after meeting him on the set of the television movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. She was eighteen years older than Travolta.

Death

In 1977, Hyland was diagnosed with breast cancer

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

, and underwent a mastectomy

Mastectomy

Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. Mastectomy is usually done to treat breast cancer; in some cases, women and some men believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation prophylactically, that is, to prevent cancer...

. Despite the mastectomy, her cancer continued to spread, and her health deteriorated. Hyland and Travolta remained together until her death, on March 27, 1977 in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. Hyland died in Travolta's arms.

After Hyland's death, her son (then four years old), was placed in Goodson's custody.

Selected filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1964	One Man's Way	Ruth Stafford Peale
1966	Smoky	Julie Richards
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	Star Tonight Star Tonight Star Tonight, an American television anthology series, aired on ABC from February 1955 to August 1956.-Adaptations and actors:It consisted of 80 total episodes, 30 from 1955 and 50 from 1956. Each episode was a self-contained story, usually adapted from famous plays, short-stories or novels by some...	Louise	2 episodes
1962	The Defenders	Mary DiFalco Robinson	1 episode
1963	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	Janet Nelson	1 episode
1963	Ben Casey Ben Casey Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, *, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph...	Greta Bauer	1 episode
1964	Kraft Suspense Theatre Kraft Suspense Theatre Kraft Suspense Theatre, an anthology series, was telecast from 1963 to 1965 on NBC. Sponsored by Kraft Foods, it was seen three weeks out of every four and was pre-empted for Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall specials once monthly...	Linda Stevenson	1 episode
1964	Twilight Zone Twilight zone -Television series and spinoffs:*The Twilight Zone, the anthology television series and its franchise:**The Twilight Zone , the 1959–1964 original television series***Twilight Zone: The Movie, a 1983 film based on the original series...	Anne Marie Henderson	1 episode
1964	The Fugitive The Fugitive (TV series) The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...	Carol Hollister	1 episode
1965	The Wackiest Ship in the Army The Wackiest Ship in the Army (TV series) The Wackiest Ship in the Army is an American comedy series that aired for one season on NBC between September 19, 1965, and April 17, 1966. Produced by Harry Ackerman and Herbert Hirschman, the series is loosely based on the 1960 film starring Jack Lemmon and Ricky Nelson.-Synopsis:The series is...	Margaret Cochran	2 episodes
1965	The Fugitive The Fugitive (TV series) The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...	Stella Savano	1 episode
1966	A Man Called Shenandoah A Man Called Shenandoah A Man Called Shenandoah is a Western series that aired on ABC-TV from 1965 to 1966 by MGM Television.-Synopsis:The series starred Robert Horton as a man who was found shot and left for dead on the trail and is revived...	Nancy Pruitt	1 episode
1966	The Green Hornet The Green Hornet The Green Hornet is an American radio and television masked vigilante created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell, in 1936. Since his radio debut in the 1930s, the Green Hornet has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of media...	Claudia Bromley	1 episode
1966	The Fugitive The Fugitive (TV series) The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...	Penny	1 episode
1966	The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...	Miranda Bryant Mara	2 episodes
1967	The Invaders The Invaders The Invaders, a Quinn Martin Production , is an ABC science fiction television program created by Larry Cohen that ran in the United States for two seasons, from January 10, 1967 to March 26, 1968...	Sherri Vikor Ellie Markham	3 episodes
1967	The Fugitive The Fugitive (TV series) The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...	Alison Priestley	1 episode
1968	Judd, for the Defense Judd, for the Defense Judd, for the Defense is an American legal drama originally broadcast on the ABC network on Friday nights from September 8, 1967, to September 19, 1969.-Synopsis:...	Jessie Tree	2 episodes
1968-1969	Peyton Place Peyton Place Peyton Place may refer to:* Peyton Place , a 1956 novel by Grace Metalious* Peyton Place , a 1957 film, adapted from the novel* Return to Peyton Place, a 1959 follow-up novel also by Grace Metalious...	Susan Winter	52 episodes
1969	The Name of the Game The Name of the Game (TV series) The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack that ran from 1968 to 1971 on NBC, totaling 76 episodes of 90 minutes. It was a pioneering wheel series, setting the stage for the likes of The Bold Ones and the NBC Mystery Movie in the 1970s...	Lisa Adrian	1 episode
1970	Bracken's World Bracken's World Bracken's World is an American drama series broadcast on NBC from September 19, 1969 to December 25, 1970. The series was created and produced by Dorothy Kingsley.-Synopsis:...	Mary Draper	1 episode
1970	Ritual of Evil	Leila Barton	TV movie
1971	Alias Smith and Jones Alias Smith and Jones Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from 1971 to 1973. It stars Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Jedediah "Kid" Curry, a pair of Western cousin outlaws trying to reform...	Clara Phillips	1 episode
1972	Banyon Banyon Banyon is a detective series broadcast in the United States by NBC as part of its 1972-73 television schedule, though a standalone two-hour television movie was broadcast first in March 1971. The series was a Quinn Martin Production Banyon is a detective series broadcast in the United States by NBC...	Julia Egan	1 episode
1973	Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law is an American legal drama, jointly created by David Victor and former law professor Jerry McNeely, that starred actor Arthur Hill. The series was broadcast on ABC from 1971 to 1974...	Lita Coleman	1 episode
1973	Gunsmoke Gunsmoke Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....	Dallas Fair	1 episode
1975	Harry O	Sandra Dawes	1 episode
1975	Mannix Mannix Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors...	Janice Graham	1 episode
1976	Barnaby Jones Barnaby Jones Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. A spin-off from Cannon, the show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement...	Nora Bradford	1 episode
1977	Happy Days Happy Days Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....	Adrianna Prescott	1 episode
1977	Eight is Enough Eight Is Enough Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series which ran on ABC from March 15, 1977 until August 29, 1981. The show was modeled after syndicated newspaper columnist Thomas Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book with the same name...	Joan Bradford	4 episodes

External links

• Diana Hyland portrait gallery at NY Public Library (Billy Rose collection)