Dyan Cannon

Dyan Cannon was born Samille Diane Friesen in Tacoma, Washington, on 4 January 1937, and raised in Seattle, where she was crowned Miss West Seattle as a young woman. She studied at the University of Washington before pursuing acting, adopting the stage name Dyan Cannon and making her television debut in 1958, building steady work in guest roles through the early 1960s. Her career accelerated after her marriage to Cary Grant, though she had already been building a career independent of him. Following their divorce, she took the role that made her a star: an uninhibited suburban wife in the counterculture-era comedy Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She continued acting through the 1970s and 1980s, receiving a second Academy Award nomination for Heaven Can Wait (1978), and expanded into writing and directing: her 1976 short film Number One received an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film, making her among the first women nominated for Oscars in both acting and directing/filmmaking categories. She later directed the feature The End of Innocence (1990), in which she also starred. Cannon has continued to work in film and television in subsequent decades and has spoken and written about her marriage to Grant, including in her own memoir. She remains active as an actress into her eighties.