Big Red Book
Celebrating television's This Is Your Life
Diana DORS (1931-1984)
THIS IS YOUR LIFE – Diana Dors, actress, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in the audience at the King's Theatre, Hammersmith, having been brought along by her husband, Dennis Hamilton.
Diana, who was born in Swindon, studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before making her film debut in 1947 in The Shop at Sly Corner. In the same year, aged 16, she was placed under contract to the Rank Organisation and joined the company's 'charm school'.
She became known as a 'blonde bombshell' in the style of Marilyn Monroe and appeared in such comedy films as Lady Godiva Rides Again and It's A Grand Life, but by the mid-1950s, she had progressed to more dramatic roles in such films as A Kid for Two Farthings and Yield to the Night.
Diana Dors was a subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions - surprised again by Eamonn Andrews in September 1982 at the Royalty Theatre in London.
programme details...
- Edition No: 30
- Subject No: 30
- Broadcast live: Mon 1 Apr 1957
- Broadcast time: 7.30-8.00pm
- Venue: King's Theatre, Hammersmith
- Series: 2
- Edition: 15
on the guest list...
- Donald Zec
- Peter Fluck - father
- Kit Evans - aunt
- Ivor Payne - uncle
- Percy Payne - uncle
- Edgar Payne - uncle
- Enid Barraclough
- Eric L'Epine Smith
- Dennis Hamilton - husband
- Wolf Mankowitz
- Forrest Tucker
- Stewart Sawyer
- Frances Cullinan
related appearances...
- Lionel Jeffries - Apr 1971
- Pete Murray - Dec 1973
- Ted Ray - Feb 1975
- Russell Harty - Dec 1980
- Cannon and Ball - Nov 1981
- Bob Monkhouse - Feb 1982
production team...
- Researchers: Peter Moore, Nigel Ward
- Writer: Gale Pedrick
- Director: unknown
- Producer: T Leslie Jackson
- names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life
second tribute
spotlight on the stars
surprised again!
Stories behind This Is Your Life
a review of the second series
the show's fifty year history
This Is Your Life by Eamonn Andrews
Weekend Magazine reports from behind-the-scenes
Photographs of Diana Dors This Is Your Life
At the studios we had reached the stage where we had to film at night, and it was before one of these night sessions that Dennis suggested we go to a show.
Imagine my surprise when I found myself the star of it as the television cameras swung on to me in the audience and I was Eamonn Andrews' guest in his new television programme, This Is Your Life.
It was all a nostalgic trip, with the arrival of my father, Aunty Kit, several uncles, my old elocution teacher and many others. I cried unashamedly, as the world could see in the papers the next day.
One more surprise guest had been flown in too! The photographer who had pushed us into the pool in Hollywood.
I saw Dennis's tense expression, and his fists clench, as the man walked through the curtain, and I feared for a moment what might happen.
But Dennis, realising there had been enough bad publicity already from punching him, restrained himself, and the two of them shook hands, smiling like razors.
Z is for DONALD ZEC
In my opinion the wittiest show-business journalist we have in this country! I met Donald nearly thirty years ago, when we were both starting out in our various fields, and have followed his marvellous columns ever since, always finding his style of writing hilarious, even when it was against myself.
In 1957 when the television show This Is Your Life had me as its victim, Donald was brought on to give an acid speech to start the ball rolling. Along with all the other cooing which is prevalent in this show, it made a bit of excitement and truth for a change, and even though I probably cringed at some of his merciless criticisms, I had to admit he was right.
In my life I have received as much publicity as Errol Flynn though I never paid for it, and my name and photograph have appeared in thousands of newspapers all over the world. Of all the publicity I have received, good, bad or otherwise, none has been so fantastic as the time when Donald Zec allotted me three whole pages of the Daily Mirror - front cover and two inside pages, with the heading 'Blond Gold Mine' to titillate the readers! He also titled me 'The Bosom of Bray' when I lived there, which provoked much mirth, and after I bought a fifteenth-century farm in Sussex, he changed it to the 'Bust of Billingshurst'. His descriptions of my opulent style of living back in the early Fifties caused such a furore that the income-tax man came around personally to investigate the tiger-skin rugs which he had vividly described, and my earnings were even discussed on the lunch-time news thanks to Donald's handiwork.
Yes Mr Zec, I have a great deal to thank you for, one way and another. I still respect your pen, whether it is dipped in sugar or spice, and if I were unable to write a book myself, I can think of no one I would rather have do it for me.
On April 1, there was a surprise in store for Diana. Before taking his wife to the studio for some night filming, Dennis suggested they go to a show. He drove her to the King's Theatre, Hammersmith. Cameras suddenly swung in the audience's direction and to the seat in which the blonde was sitting. She was the unwitting subject of This Is Your Life.
It was a nostalgic trip. Bert Fluck, Auntie Kit and three uncles appeared. Also present was her elocution teacher. Miss Leason. Eamonn Andrews introduced Donald Zec, the Daily Mirror columnist, saying that he knew there were many flattering things which Zec could say about Diana. "But... The spot we've put you on is quite different - it's to do the opposite. It's all yours."
Diana laughed: "I'd better leave, I think."
Donald took a deep breath.
"Dear me," he said, "oh well, let's face it, Diana, you represent the most calculated, hard-boiled exploitation of sex I've ever seen in British pictures."
Zec paused. "Do you want me to go on?" he asked.
"Not really," laughed Diana.
"Everything you say, everything you wear, everything you do is calculated to create a very big sensation... Sensations like falling into swimming pools - by accident."
"Let's not go into that," said Diana.
It did not deter Zec.
"And wearing mink bikinis - which I don't think was an accident!"
"Yes," butted in Diana, "I also remember your remarks on it."
"Although I think at times you are brash - perhaps at times very outrageous - I would also like to think you are unique."
"No one can ignore Diana Dors. You have that rare quality which I admire and which I write about all the time... you a star."
Diana rose, clasped his hand. Zec kissed her.
There was one big surprise for Diana, and that was kept to the end of the programme. Stewart Sawyer, the Hollywood photographer involved in the pool incident, came through the curtains.
"Diana, I've travelled 6,000 miles to shake your hand."
Compare Eamonn added, "All the way from Hollywood to reassert his innocence."
Diana immediately quipped, "If I'd known you were going to be here, I'd have worn my bathing suit!"
Dennis became tense at the appearance of the photographer. He clenched the arms of his chair. When the curtain rang down on This is Your Life, Diana, with red book in hand, found herself hard pressed to prevent her husband doling out another beating.
After a couple of very awkward days, it became clear that Diana could either suffer an awful atmosphere in someone else's house or face one at home, so she returned to Dennis. Again, his forgiveness was a compromise — The Long Haul was still shooting, and Dennis knew that his 10 per cent cut as manager depended on her completing the film to the producers' satisfaction. He also knew, unbeknownst to Diana, that the BBC were planning to feature her on This Is Your Life, a flattering show in which unwitting celebrities, sometimes has-beens, were surprised with friends, relatives and fellow celebrities often in dire need of exposure. It was primarily a show for stars in the twilight of their career and, at the age of twenty-five, Diana was an unusually young choice.
When 1 April came around, The Long Haul was still shooting a lot of night scenes, so Dennis suggested a trip to the theatre to break up the monotony of waiting. He told her they were going to see Sophie Tucker, an ageing Russian-American vaudeville singer, but when they arrived at the King's Theatre in Hammersmith, Diana was surprised to find This Is Your Life host Eamonn Andrews waiting for her and she was taken up onstage. He brought out her father, who played a nostalgic piece on the piano, Aunt Kit, and some uncles she hadn't seen in a long while but it was the show business guests who made it a memorable night. In fact, it was praised for its directness, especially for the way in which Andrews broke with tradition, opening with a barrage of tongue-in-cheek criticism from Mirror writer Donald Zec. 'Let's face it, Diana,' Zec told her, 'you represent the most calculated, hardboiled, exploitation of sex I've ever seen in British pictures. Do you want me to go on?' 'Not really,' she replied. But, of course, there was a sweetener. 'Although I think at times you are brash - perhaps at times very outrageous - I would also like to say that I think you are unique,' he concluded. 'No one can ignore Diana Dors. You have that rare quality which I admire and I write about all the time... You are a star.'
But this was still quite a combative show, and Diana was amused when Wolf Mankowitz, the journalist turned screenwriter whom Diana had known since his work on A Kid for Two Farthings, rather nicely described her as: 'The bleached blonde the whole world knows is bleached.' She had to compose herself when Andrews introduced another special guest - Stewart Sawyer, flown in from Hollywood at an estimated cost of £361 13s. 'I've come 6,000 miles to shake your hand,' said Sawyer. 'If I'd known you were coming,' Diana replied, 'I'd have worn my swimsuit.'
Diana spent several nights at the Pertwees' flat in London, until Hamilton called her and begged her to come home, with the usual sob story that he would never lose his temper again. Because he was officially her manager, she said, she had decided to stay with him only until The Long Haul wrapped: then, she and Tommy Yearly would set up home somewhere, and she would file for divorce. Hamilton wormed his way back into her affections on 1 April by promising her an evening out she would never forget. Sophie Tucker, one of Diana's favourite singers, was appearing at the King's Theatre, Hammersmith and he had managed to secure tickets to see her. As a safety precaution, Tommy Yearly tagged along in case Hamilton turned nasty again – he followed the couple in his own car, though he too had been let in on the secret, and at the theatre introduced himself as Diana's bodyguard. And it was at this stage that she realised that she had been set up, for the curtains swung open to reveal not the great Jewish singer, but Eamonn Andrews, who pronounced the words, 'Diana Dors, this is your life!'
A few years later, footballer Danny Blanchflower would tell Eamonn Andrews exactly what to do with his red book, and Diana came very close to doing the same. She and her husband were not speaking, she still bore the bruises from the latest thrashing he had given her, and she was not in the least interested in some of the 'friends' the programme had lined up to tell her how wonderful they thought she was, when the feeling was not always mutual. The first guest was her father, who she had not seen in a while, and an aunt and two uncles she had hoped never to see again. After the show, Bert Fluck snubbed Hamilton, who he had loathed since first setting eyes on him. Though Miss Leason, Diana's elocution teacher from Selwood House, turned up for the show, the Misses Cockey who still ran the establishment declined to appear, telling the producer, 'The fact that Diana Dors attended our school is something we would prefer not to be broadcast to the world. We have not seen any of her films, nor would we want to!' Genuine, warm-hearted tributes came from co-stars and directors she had worked with, but someone Diana had definitely not wanted to see was the Daily Mirror's show-business columnist Donald Zec, who in the past had written extended features about her under such titles as 'Blonde Gold Mine' and 'The Bosom of Bray' – not always complimentary, though he thought of himself as her friend. Diana was angry with him at this time, though towards the end of her life she would forgive him his trespasses. The banter between them on This Is Your Life was decidedly uneasy:
DIANA: (seeing Zec appear): I'd better leave, I think!
ZEC: Dear me! Let's face it, Diana. You do represent the most calculated, hard-boiled exploitation of sex I've ever seen in British pictures!
DIANA: Not really...
ZEC: Everything you say, everything you wear and everything you do is calculated to create a very big sensation. Sensations like falling into swimming pools by accident...
DIANA: Let's not go into that.
ZEC: And wearing mink bikinis, which I don't think was an accident!
DIANA: Hmm, and I remember your remarks on that!
ZEC: (apologetically): Diana, though I think at times you're brash, perhaps at times very outrageous, I'd also like to think you unique. No one can ignore Diana Dors. You have that rare quality which I admire and which I write about all the time. You're a star!
Equally unwelcome, coming straight after Zec's reference to the swimming pool incident, was Stewart Sawyer, who sneeringly told her that he had flown 6,000 miles just to shake her hand. 'All the way from Hollywood to reassert his innocence,' host Eamonn Andrews put in. Diana just as coldly replied, 'If I'd known you were coming, I'd have put on a bathing suit!' Sitting next to her, Dennis Hamilton was seen to clench his fists, and immediately after the live broadcast Sawyer made a hasty exit from the studio, fearful of another showdown with the still-irate husband.
Diana returned and enjoyed a period of relative quiet. Dennis even surprised her one night, telling her he was taking her to the theatre. But instead of watching other actors, Diana found herself the star of the popular television show This Is Your Life, hosted by Eamonn Andrews.
Diana couldn't stop the tears as her father, her Aunt Kit and her first elocution teacher were brought on stage. Even Stewart Sawyer, the photographer who had pushed Diana and Dennis into the swimming pool had been flown in from Hollywood.
'I've come 600 miles to shake your hand,' he said.
'If I'd known you were coming, I'd have worn my swimsuit,' Diana replied.
However, with The Long Haul still to complete, a compromise had to be reached and Diana once more found herself returning to Dennis. His ten per cent as her manager was dependent on her completing the film, and he also knew that the BBC were planning to have her as a subject for their This Is Your Life programme. The Long Haul was now entering a phase of having to shoot night scenes. Before Diana was due at the studios one night for filming, Dennis suggested that they go to a show. Diana found herself at a theatre where she was to be the star of the evening as the cameras turned on her for the Eamonn Andrews programme This Is Your Life. The evening was a nostalgic and emotional one for her with the appearance of her father, Auntie Kit, other family members, and her old elocution teacher. The big surprise of the evening was not such a pleasant one for Diana however as the photographer who had pushed them into the swimming pool - Stewart Sawyer, had been flown in from Hollywood "I've come 6,000 miles to shake your hand" said Sawyer. "If I'd known you were coming I'd have worn my swimsuit" was Diana's reply.
Diana was one of the first celebrities to appear on popular television show This Is Your Life, with Eamonn Andrews surprising her at a night out at the theatre in early 1957. Invited guests included her father and her Aunty Kit, and her elocution teacher from her teens, and Diana cried unashamedly. There was another surprise for both her and Hamilton when the photographer who had pushed them into the swimming pool in Hollywood walked out as a guest. Hamilton resisted the urge to punch him this time, instead enduring a reluctant handshake.
Series 2 subjects
Peter Scott | Ada Reeve | Peter Methven | Sue Ryder | Harry S Pepper | Compton Mackenzie | Maud Fairman | Billy SmartBrian Hession | John Barbirolli | Duncan Guthrie | Esmond Knight | Sammy McCarthy | Edwin Madron | Diana Dors
Parry Jones | Percy Flood | G H Elliott | Stuart Hibberd