Diane Clare

Clare started acting at a young age playing uncredited baby parts in films such as The Ghosts of Berkeley Square and The Silver Fleet, and for a time was one of the most highly paid babies in British films.^[3]

At the age of 3, Clare was too old to continue playing babies so her career came to a standstill. "I'd been longing to play in pictures from the time I was dropped all those years ago because I'd become too old to play baby parts",^[4] she told an interviewer in the late 1950s, after her comeback with roles in The Reluctant Debutante ^[5]and Ice Cold in Alex. She received excellent reviews from playing in the latter film, and one journalist wrote: "I forecast that Miss Diane Clare is going to be one of the big names among actresses in the future."^[3]

She appeared in many horror films during the 1960s such as Hammer Horror's Plague of the Zombies during her career. In 1965, she had a small part as Julie (the girl at the food counter) in the "Death at Bargain Prices" episode of The Avengers.

Diane Dirsztay was born on 8 July 1938 in Wandsworth, London. She lied about her age so she could study at R.A.D.A. After her film comeback in 1958, Clare attributed it to a 'lucky' black beret which she always wore to auditions. "It brings me luck," she told one journalist after appearing in Ice Cold in Alex, "I wore it when I went to the audition for Anna Massey's part [in The Reluctant Debutante], and again when I went to Elstree Studios for my film test." Clare retired from acting when she married the novelist and playwright Barry England (born 1932 – died 2009) in 1967; the couple had two children, Kate (born 1969) and Christopher (born 1971).^[6] Her hobbies included dancing, riding, swimming and going to the cinema.^[3]

Diane Clare died on 21 June 2013, aged 74, from undisclosed causes.^[7]