Dyan Cannon

The Laugh That Broke the Mold

Before becoming Dyan Cannon, she was Samille Diane Friesen. Born in Tacoma, she grew up under the influence of a Russian Jewish mother who instilled in her an iron discipline. In 1969 she starred in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, and the world discovered that her comic timing was a loaded weapon. That film, about the sexual liberation of the American middle class, earned her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

But her name had been circulating in Los Angeles newsrooms long before that. In 1965 she married Cary Grant in a private ceremony in Las Vegas. She was 28 years old and he was 61. The marriage lasted barely three years, but it defined public perception of Cannon for a full decade. The divorce in 1968 was a very public battle over custody of their daughter Jennifer.

It was a professional liberation.

Because Cannon never wanted to be just a legend's wife. After the success of her major breakthrough, she took on projects that played up her nervous energy and her curly mane. In 1973 she appeared in Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York, a suspense puzzle written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins. There, she proved she could hold her own without blinking opposite heavyweights like James Mason or Ian McShane.

The Move into Producing and a Historic Record

In 1976 she made a decision few actresses dared to make in that testosterone-fueled Hollywood. She wrote, directed and produced the short film Number One. The story explored childhood sexual curiosity and worked so well that the Academy nominated it for an Oscar. That year, she became the first woman in history nominated for the statuette for both her work in front of and behind the camera.

And the gamble paid off.

Two years later came Heaven Can Wait. Warren Beatty cast her to play Julia Farnsworth, a histrionic woman who plots her husband's murder. The chemistry with Jack Warden was perfect. In 1978 critics embraced her talent for refined slapstick, and she earned her second nomination as a supporting actress. She won the Golden Globe, but the Oscar slipped away once again.

In 1980 she shared the screen with Willie Nelson in Honeysuckle Rose. The film was not a mass hit, but it let her explore her side as a singer. She wrote songs for the soundtrack and showed that her command of the stage went beyond the written script. But the industry was changing, and leading roles for women over forty were scarce at the major studios.

Surviving the System

Television was her refuge and her new launching pad. In 1997 she joined the cast of Ally McBeal to bring judge Jennifer Cone to life. The role was a supporting one, but her physical presence and unmistakable laugh restored her relevance in the domestic market. She worked on seventeen episodes of the series created by David E. Kelley and won back younger audiences.

She never gave up her passion for professional basketball. It's common to see her courtside at the Staples Center, cheering on the Los Angeles Lakers for more than thirty years. In 2011 she decided to settle scores with her past and published the book Dear Cary: My Life with Cary Grant. The work avoided resentment and focused on the complexities of a man who never got past his own childhood traumas.

In 2021 she took part in the shoot of Hope’s Mission under the direction of Kevin Sorbo.

The production of The Last of Sheila cost roughly 2 million dollars and was shot almost entirely aboard a yacht on the French Riviera over eight weeks. That technically demanding shoot was one of the most complex of her career because of the space limitations for 35-millimeter cameras.