Biography for
Dyan Cannon More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

4 January 1937, Tacoma, Washington, USA

Birth Name

Samile Diane Friesen

Nickname

Frosty (high school)

Height

5' 5" (1.65 m)

Mini Biography

Perhaps best known for her trademark curly blond tresses and her faithful appearances at L.A. Lakers basketball games, Dyan Cannon has enjoyed nearly fifty years in the entertainment industry. Born in Tacoma, Washington on January 4, 1937, Cannon had early dreams of becoming an actress. She made her screen debut with a small part in the critically acclaimed crime drama The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960). A short-lived TV series and This Rebel Breed (1960) followed that same year. It was during this time that she caught the eye of one of Hollywood's favorite leading men, Cary Grant, who was 33 years her senior. The couple, a hotbed of Hollywood gossip, experienced an on-again, off-again relationship until marrying in 1965. Cannon left her acting career behind during her short-lived marriage to Grant and bore his daughter, Jennifer Grant, in 1966. Cannon and Grant were divorced in 1968, and she returned to the big screen in 1969 in the pop-culture classic Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), garnering an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. A series of less-than-remarkable TV and feature films followed in the early '70s, but comedies proved her most successful medium. Cannon received another Oscar nomination for Heaven Can Wait (1978), where she played a money-hungry, adulterous wife who hatches a plot to kill her husband only to find that another man has been reincarnated via her husband's body. The multi-talented Cannon, who is also a singer/songwriter, found success behind the camera as well as in front of it. In 1976, she produced, directed, wrote, and edited the short film Number One (1976), an Academy Award nominee for Best Short Film-Live Action. The tedious experience of wearing so many hats deterred her from writing and directing again until 1991, with the release of The End of Innocence (1990). She gave a strong and critically acclaimed performance in the picture, but it received a lukewarm response overall. The '80s and '90s found Cannon on the small screen more often than the big one, as she starred in several made-for-TV movies and made guest appearances in numerous series. Most notable was her recurring role on the hit show "Ally McBeal" (1997), where, in 1997-98, she played Judge Jennifer "Whipper" Cone in several episodes of the wacky comedy/drama. Though it's been 20 years since Cannon scored a major movie success and she's outgrown her sexpot image (early nude photos of the actress are still in circulation), she continues to find respectable roles in decent-though-not-great films, most recently Out to Sea (1997) with the aging comedy duo of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon; 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997), That Darn Cat (1997) and Kangaroo Jack (2003).

IMDb Mini Biography By: Lisa Kelly Eason

Spouse

Stanley Fimberg	(18 April 1985 - 1991) (divorced)
Cary Grant	(22 July 1965 - 21 March 1968) (divorced) 1 daughter

Trivia

Mother of Jennifer Grant (born on February 26, 1966).

Always seen courtside at Los Angeles Lakers home basketball games.

Attended the University of Washington, Seattle, but didn't graduate.

'Miss West Seattle' of 1955.

"Discovered" while having lunch on the Sunset Strip.

Got her stage name from producer Jerry Wald who said he kept seeing something explosive in her.

Her commitment to Christianity has led her to hold twice-monthly revival-style Bible study meetings on the CBS studio lot.

In the early 1970s, Paramount had plans that were unrealized to remake Double Indemnity (1944) with Cannon in the Barbara Stanwyck role.

Wanted a nose job early in her career, but a doctor told her she had a beautiful nose and wasnt going to do anything to it. She then decided not to get the nose job.

Ex-mother-in-law of Randall Zisk.

Cary Grant first saw her on a TV show in 1961, when she was already a 24-year-old TV vet. They started lived together in 1963.

Recently came in fourth (behind Sophia Loren, Ann-Margret, and Raquel Welch in the "Sexiest Older Actress" category held by the website Third Age.

Was extremely nervous about doing the famous bedroom scene in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). She claimed all four participants were a wreck. Elliott Gould busily stuffed food in his mouth; Robert Culp talked a mile a minute and Natalie Wood wouldn't even come out of her trailer at first.

Second husband, Stanley Fimberg was a real estate mogul who executive produced her movie The End of Innocence (1990).

Considered the second-most-famous Laker fan behind Jack Nicholson.

Dyan and Cary Grant's baby, Jennifer Grant, weighed only 4.5 pounds at birth; she was born seven months after Dyan and Cary's wedding.

She was reluctant to drop acid with regular user Cary Grant, her husband at the time, who believed it had psychological value, but he compelled her to do it twice, and she got violently sick each time.

Her high school nickname was "Frosty".

Personal Quotes

I don't acknowledge age. I'm not afraid of what's called age. The only thing that would ever frighten me would be losing my vitality or energy or the stars in my eyes or love for life. And I don't believe that's connected with numbers.

[on working with director Otto Preminger on Such Good Friends (1971)] I was warned about him -- but could anybody really be that bad? Yeah, they could. Elaine May wrote a great screenplay. He took a piece of beauty and screwed it up. It was an incredible part and he destroyed it. I have been the victim of some killers in my time. He's one of the biggest. He's a horrible man. Phew! But who ever hears of him anymore? Is he still alive?

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