Diane Jergens

Cute, elfin-like blonde Dianna Irgens was born in Minneapolis of Norwegian and Austro-Hungarian ancestry. She gained her first performing experience in high school. After several movie bit parts, Dianna kick-started her career in the early 50s as a member of songwriter Jimmy McHugh and His Singing Starlets, a smash hit all-star musical revue which toured coast-to-coast. Her first notable foray into films was playing the younger sister of Olympic decathlon champion Bob Mathias in a 1954 Allied Artists biopic. This was followed by -- often uncredited -- yeoman work as guest star in assorted early TV dramas and comedies. While full of promise and possessed of a fresh-faced 'girl-next-door' quality, few of her films seriously tested her mettle as an actress. The majority were pleasant if unexceptional B-pictures tailored to appeal to juvenile audiences. Some, like High School Confidential! (1958) -- an 'expose' of dope peddling to teenagers -- were lurid exploitation flicks. Others, like Island of Lost Women (1959), were pure Hollywood hokum.