- Born
- Birth nameDiane Alexandra Franklin
- Height5′ 2″ (1.57 m)
- Diane Franklin is an iconic 80s American film actress, known for her dark curly hair, and dialects. Beginning her acting career at the age of ten, Diane started with modeling, theater, commercials, and soap opera work. She then won the lead role of the dream girl, Karen, in cult classic THE LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN (1982) and soon after played the daughter, Patricia Montelli in AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION. Her break-out film role was the spirited French-exchange student, Monique Junot, from the off-beat comedy BETTER OFF DEAD. And her most notable commercial success was playing the medieval Princess-babe, Joanna, from 1980s iconic comedy, BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE. Diane sang the NATIONAL ANTHEM at Dodger Stadium in 2004, and wrote two autobiographies about her career: Diane Franklin: The Excellent Adventures of the Last American, French Exchange Babe of the 80s (Amazon/Kindle), and Diane Franklin: The Excellent CURLS of the Last American, French Exchange Babe of the 80s (Amazon/Barnes&Noble) Her other acting credits include episodic television, such as Charles in Charge, Murder She Wrote, Matlock and Dallas : The Early Years. She also re-curred in televisions series, and movies made for television, such as SummerGirl and Deadly Lessons. Over the years Diane has also performed in her daughter/filmmaker, OLIVIA DELAURENTIS' award winning comedies: HUMANIZED (L.A. Film Festival,) MY BETTER HALF (Soho Film Festival,) and more recently a comedy web-series on YouTube titled SUGARBABIES (Barely Legal Comedy). Diane returns to acting, on the big screen, in 2018 with the following films: WALLY GOT WASTED, WAKING NIGHTMARE, THE FINAL INTERVIEW and THE AMITYVILLE MURDERS: THE HAUNTING ON LONG ISLAND.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Diane Franklin
- SpouseRay DeLaurentis(May 6, 1989 - present) (2 children)
- Children
- Gender / Gender identityFemale
- Dark curly hair.
- Beauty mark above right side of mouth
- She had an extensive modeling and television commercial career as a teenager, including campaigns for Coca-Cola, Trident, Jell-o and Maxwell House coffee.
- Sang the National Anthem at Dodger Stadium on June 1, 2004.
- Was one of the final two choices to replace Meg Tilly in Amadeus (1984). She and Elizabeth Berridge were flown to Prague and spent a week doing screen tests on set. Berridge was ultimately cast because director Milos Forman told them that Franklin was too pretty for the role.
- Mother of Olivia DeLaurentis and Nick DeLaurentis.
- With her appearance in The Last American Virgin (1982), she kickstarted the curly-hair fashion trend of the 1980s.
- I still love acting. I just think it's so much fun. I'm very serious about it but I'm still having a blast and I just love it.
- When you grow up on Long Island, you just want to get to the city. It's a big trek. You really want it because it's a different way of life. California is more laid back. In New York, there's more of a feeling of striving for perfection, which is admirable. I grew from being a Long Island girl, but at the same time I didn't forget my roots and I didn't forget the people around me.
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