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{{Short description|English actress and singer (1931–1984)}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name                      = Diana Dors
| image                     = Diana-dors-british-actress.jpg
| image_size                =
| alt                       =
| caption                   = Dors in 1955
| birth_name                = Diana Mary Fluck
| birth_date                = {{Birth date|1931|10|23|df=y}}
| birth_place               = [[Swindon]], [[Wiltshire]], England
| death_date                = {{Death date and age|1984|5|4|1931|10|23|df=y}}
| death_place               = [[Windsor, Berkshire]], England
| resting_place             = Sunningdale Catholic Cemetery
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} -->
| monuments                 =
| other_names               = 
| education                 = 
| alma_mater                = [[London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]]
| occupation                = {{hlist|Actress|TV personality|singer}}
| years_active              = 1947–1984
| known_for                 =
| notable_works             =
| spouse                    = 
{{plainlist|
* {{Marriage|Dennis Hamilton|1951|1959|end=died}}
* {{Marriage|[[Richard Dawson]]|1959|1966|end=divorced}}
* {{Marriage|[[Alan Lake]]|1968}}
}}
| children                  = 3, including [[Mark Dawson]]
| relatives                 =
| awards                    = 
}}

'''Diana Dors''' (born '''Diana Mary Fluck'''; 23 October 1931{{spaced ndash}}4 May 1984) was an English actress and singer.

Dors came to public notice as a [[Bombshell (slang)|blonde bombshell]], much in the style of Americans [[Marilyn Monroe]], [[Jayne Mansfield]], and [[Mamie Van Doren]]. Dors was promoted by her first husband, Dennis Hamilton, mostly in sex film-comedies and risqué modelling. After it was revealed that Hamilton had been defrauding her, she continued to play up to her established image, and she made [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]] headlines with the parties reportedly held at her house. Later, she showed talent as a performer on TV, in recordings, and in [[cabaret]], and gained new public popularity as a regular chat-show guest. She also gave well-regarded film performances at different points in her career.

According to film critic [[David Thomson (film critic)|David Thomson]], "Dors represented that period between the end of the [[World War II|war]] and the coming of ''[[Lady Chatterley's Lover|Lady Chatterley]]'' in paperback, a time when sexuality was naughty, repressed, and fit to burst."<ref>{{cite news|title=Film Studies: She could have been a contender. She could have been Sybil Fawlty...|author=Thomson, David|work=The Independent on Sunday|location=London (UK)|date=16 May 2004|page=13}}</ref>

==Early life==
Diana Mary Fluck was born in [[Swindon]], Wiltshire, on 23 October 1931<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/image_galleries/diana_dors_gallery.shtml|title=Diana Dors: A Life in Pictures|publisher=BBC}}</ref> at the Haven Nursing Home. Her mother, (Winifred Maud) Mary, née Payne, was married to Albert Edward Sidney Fluck, a railway clerk,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-2591302498/dors-diana-19311984.html |title=Dors, Diana (1931–1984)|encyclopedia=Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia |publisher=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=31 May 2015}}</ref> but she had been having an affair with another man, and when she announced she was pregnant with Diana, she admitted she had no idea if the other man or her husband was the father.<ref name=Bret/>

Diana was educated at a small private school, Selwood House, on Bath Road, Swindon, from which she was eventually expelled.<ref>{{cite news |date=22 August 1956 |title=Expelled, but it didn't keep Diana down |volume=24 |page=13 |newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]] |issue=12 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51391683 |access-date=12 July 2020 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Diana would repeatedly talk and otherwise misbehave during French lessons, being given by an elderly Czech Jewish refugee, who admonished her "Pay attention. After the war, you will be able to go on holiday to France and speak with the locals." She replied, " Who wants to go to silly old France anyway?" At this point, he threw a stick of chalk at her. She caught the chalk and threw it back at him, hitting him in the face, for which she was summarily expelled.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

During the war, Diana dated a boy named [[Desmond Morris]] from the Boys' High School, also on Bath Road, Swindon. Morris, who was from one of the town's wealthier, more prominent families, used to take her aboard his rowing boat on the lake in his family's garden. The garden and lake later comprised [[Queens Park, Swindon|Queen's Park]] in Swindon. In the late 1960s, Morris (a zoologist) became famous as the author of ''[[The Naked Ape]]'' and presenter of the TV series adapted from the book.<ref name=Bret/>{{rp|14}}

From the age of eight, her heroines became Hollywood actresses [[Veronica Lake]], [[Lana Turner]], and [[Jean Harlow]], and she enjoyed going to the cinema to watch them.<ref name=Bret/>

Towards the end of the war, Dors entered a [[beauty contest]] to find a [[pin-up girl]] for ''[[Soldier Magazine]]''; she came third. This led her to work as a model in art classes, and she began to appear in such local theatre productions as ''A Weekend in Paris'' and'' [[Death Takes a Holiday]].<ref name="bomb">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|title=A Tale of Two Blondes: Diana Dors and Belinda Lee|date=September 7, 2020|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/a-tale-of-two-blondes-diana-dors-and-belinda-lee/}}</ref>''

==Early career==
===LAMDA===
Having excelled in her elocution studies, after lying about her age, at 14 she was offered a place to study at [[London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]] (LAMDA), becoming the college's youngest student, starting in January 1946.<ref name=Bret/>

She lodged at the [[Earl's Court]] [[YWCA]], and supplemented her £2-per-week allowance, most of which was spent on her lodgings, by posing for the London Camera Club for one [[Guinea (coin)|guinea]] ({{Inflation|UK-GDP|1.05|1946|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}) an hour. Signed to the Gordon Harbord Agency in her first term, she won a bronze medal, awarded by [[Peter Ustinov]], and in her second won a silver with honours.<ref name=WY1/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51391683 |title=Expelled, but it didn't keep Diana down|newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]] |volume=24 |issue=12  |date=22 August 1956 |access-date=2 February 2019 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

===First films===
Just prior to LAMDA, Dors had unsuccessfully auditioned for the part of Kanchi in ''[[Black Narcissus]]'' that was played by [[Jean Simmons]].<ref>Dors 1960 p 13</ref> She acted in public theatre pieces for LAMDA productions, one of which was seen by casting director Eric L'Epine Smith. He suggested Dors for what became the actor's screen debut in the [[film noir|noir]] film ''[[Code of Scotland Yard|The Shop at Sly Corner]]'' (1947). Dors was cast in a walk-on role that developed into a speaking part.  Her pay rate was £8 per day for three days.<ref>Dors 1960 p 15</ref>

During the signing of contracts, in agreement with her father, she changed her contractual surname to Dors, the maiden name of her maternal grandmother; this was at the suggestion of her mother Mary.<ref name=WY1>{{cite web|url=http://www.dianadors.co.uk/1_war_years_30.html|title=The Diana Dors Story – The War Years|work=dianadors.co.uk|access-date=24 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331063945/http://www.dianadors.co.uk/1_war_years_30.html|archive-date=31 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Dors later commented on her name:<ref name=Bret/>
{{blockquote|They asked me to change my name. I suppose they were afraid that if my real name Diana Fluck was in lights and one of the lights blew&nbsp;...}}
Returning to LAMDA two weeks later, she was asked by her agent to audition for ''[[Holiday Camp (film)|Holiday Camp]]'' (1947) by dancing a [[jitterbug]] with young actor [[John Blythe (actor)|John Blythe]]. [[Gainsborough Studios]] gave her the part at a rate of £10 per day for four days.

Dors' third film was ''[[Dancing with Crime]]'' (1947), shot at [[Twickenham Studios]] opposite [[Richard Attenborough]] during the [[Winter of 1946–1947 in the United Kingdom|coldest winter for nearly 50 years]], for which she was paid £10 per day for 15 days.

Following her return to LAMDA, she graduated in spring 1947 by winning the London Films Cup, awarded to LAMDA by [[Alexander Korda|Sir Alexander Korda]] for the "girl most likely to succeed in films." [[Greta Gynt]] presented the award to her at a ceremony. Dors timed her return to Swindon to visit her parents with the local release of ''The Shop at Sly Corner.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dianadors.co.uk/1_rsing_star_31.html|title=The Diana Dors Story – The Rising Star|work=dianadors.co.uk|access-date=24 October 2011|archive-date=25 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525092919/http://www.dianadors.co.uk/1_rsing_star_31.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Rank Organisation==
===Charm School===
At the age of 15, Dors signed a contract with [[the Rank Organisation]], and joined [[J. Arthur Rank]]'s "[[The Company of Youth|Charm School]]" for young actors, subsequently appearing in many of their films.<ref name=Bret/> The Charm School had been established by producer [[Sydney Box]], whom Rank appointed head of production at [[Gainsborough Studios]], one of the companies under the Rank umbrella. (Other students of the school who went on to become famous included [[Petula Clark]], [[Claire Bloom]], and [[Christopher Lee]].) Dors disliked the Charm School, but received more publicity than other students at the time in part because of her willingness to be photographed in glamour shots and attending premieres.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article149346359|title=Film News|newspaper=Toodyay Herald|volume=47|issue=226|location=Western Australia|date=23 January 1948|access-date=9 February 2019|page=7|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26504263|title=Shows How|newspaper=[[The Mercury (Hobart)|The Mercury]]|volume=CLXIX|issue=24,369|location=Tasmania, Australia|date=17 January 1949|access-date=9 February 2019|page=6|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> An August 1947 article said her nickname was "The Body".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55892164|title=No Praise For Paulette In Drama |newspaper=[[The Mail (Adelaide)|The Mail]]|volume=36|issue=1,840|location=Adelaide|date=30 August 1947|access-date=9 February 2019|page=3 (Sunday Magazine)|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Her first film under contract to Rank was ''Streets Paved with Water'', where she was the fourth lead; filming started in July 1947, but was cancelled after a month.<ref>Dors 1960 p 18</ref> She had a small role as a maid in Gainsborough's ''[[The Calendar (1948 film)|The Calendar]]'' (1948), and a good part in ''[[Good-Time Girl]]'' (1948), as a troubled teen being warned at the beginning and end of the film.  She then played the role of Charlotte in Rank's adaptation of ''[[Oliver Twist (1948 film)|Oliver Twist]]'' (1948), directed by David Lean.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27894613|title=British Film News|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|issue=34,204|date=7 August 1947|access-date=12 July 2020|page=10|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51282269 |title=Oliver Twist |newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]]|volume=16|issue=19|date=16 October 1948|access-date=9 February 2019|page=25|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Dors had a bigger part in a [[B picture|B]] film, ''[[Penny and the Pownall Case]]'' (1948), a 50-minute movie for [[Highbury Productions]]. This was her first significant role, the second female lead after Peggy Evans. [[Bob Monkhouse]] wrote in his memoirs that, when he saw the film in the cinema, he thought it was "really bad" but was impressed by Dors. "It was her energy that at first attracted me", he wrote. "Her acting was raw but promising and her vitality made me remember her afterwards as if her part of the screen had been in colour."<ref>{{Cite book|first=Bob|last=Monkhouse|page=83|title= Crying with laughter: my life story|year=1993 |publisher= Century}}</ref>

In August 1948, Rank announced Dors would be one of its young players that it would be building up into stars. (The others included [[David Tomlinson]], [[Susan Shaw]], [[Patricia Plunkett]], [[Sally Ann Howes]], and [[Derek Bond]].)<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248352277 |title=Actor hated his best gift |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]] |volume=X |issue=6 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=26 December 1948 |access-date=9 February 2019 |page=18 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In September, she was in ''[[A Boy, a Girl and a Bike]]'' (1949) by which stage her fee was £30 a week; she says that the movie took six months to shoot.<ref>Dors 1960 p 23</ref>

After a bit in ''[[My Sister and I (1948 film)|My Sister and I]]'' (1948), Dors was given a showy comic-support part in ''[[Here Come the Huggetts]]'' (1948), a series that followed ''Holiday Camp'', playing the lazy niece of the Huggetts, who causes trouble when she goes to stay with the family. Dors was so well received that she returned for the second movie in the series, ''[[Vote for Huggett]]'' (1949).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22772889 |title="The Argus" Screen Review New British Policy |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |issue=32,126 |location=Melbourne|date=20 August 1949 |access-date=9 February 2019 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Both were produced by [[Betty E. Box]], who recalled, "Diana was all woman", despite only being a teenager. "She thought like a woman, acted like a woman, and looked like a woman."<ref>{{cite book|page=68|title= This is my song : a biography of Petula Clark|last=Kon|first= Andrea|year=1983 |publisher=W.H. Allen }}</ref>  She was also in ''[[It's Not Cricket (1949 film)|It's Not Cricket]]'' (1949).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article149057595 |title=Gosnells Lass Celebrates Her Sixteenth Birthday |newspaper=South Western Advertiser |volume=44 |issue=2280 |location=Western Australia |date=26 May 1949 |access-date=9 February 2019 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

David Shipman later argued that when Dors "was young she was very funny: she did a neat parody of the man-mad teenager, the nubile cousin who ogles the best man at the wedding breakfast, the office junior ready for a bit of slap and tickle behind the filing cupboard. She was the best thing about most of her early films."<ref name="david">{{cite book|first=David|last=Shipman|page=144|title= The great movie stars : the international years|year=1980 |publisher=Hill and Wang }}</ref>

===Leading lady===
Rank promoted Dors to leading roles in 1949's ''[[Diamond City (film)|Diamond City]]'', the story of a boom town in South Africa in 1870. [[Jean Kent]] was originally cast as a saloon owner in love with hero [[David Farrar (actor)|David Farrar]], who loves a missionary played by [[Honor Blackman]]; Kent turned down the role and Dors took over. Filming took place in late 1948 and early 1949, when Dors was only 17 years old. She was paid £30 a week.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22692775 |title=Prize-winning Biscuits... |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |issue=31,943 |location=Melbourne|date=18 January 1949 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=3 (The Argus Woman's Magazine) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She says the part of "Diana" in ''[[The Blue Lamp]]'' was written for her, but she lost it to [[Peggy Evans]] when the director decided he wanted "a waif type"; she also tested for the female lead in ''[[The Cure for Love]]'', but lost out to [[Dora Bryan]].<ref>Dors 1960 p 27</ref>

While waiting for ''Diamond City'' to come out, Rank sent Dors to appear with [[Barbara Murray]] in ''[[The Cat and the Canary (play)|The Cat and the Canary]]'' at the Connaught Theatre, [[Worthing]]. She then appeared on stage in ''The Good Young Man'' with [[Digby Wolfe]]<ref>Dors 1960 p 29</ref> and in September 1949, with Marcel Le Bon in a touring production of ''Lisette'', a three-act play by Douglas Sargeant<ref>Theatre Programme: ''Lisette'', a play in three acts by Douglas Sargeant with music by Louis Master and Al Chinnery. Hippodrome theatre, Margate, week commencing 26 Sept 1949.</ref>''.''

In November 1949, Dors was contracted out to Ealing Studios, which put her in ''[[Dance Hall (1950 film)|Dance Hall]]'' (1950), as  one of the four female leads, along with [[Natasha Perry]], [[Petula Clark]], and [[Jane Hylton]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59501809 |title=Five of Rank's young stars didn't know how to dance |newspaper=[[Sunday Times (Perth)]] |issue=2706 |location=Western Australia |date=8 January 1950 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=20 (Sporting Section) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Dors later called it "a ghastly film – quite one of the nastiest I ever made", although she received good personal reviews.<ref>Dors 1960 p 30</ref>

In February 1950, she went into the play ''Man of the World'' with [[Roger Livesey]] and [[Lionel Jeffries]], directed by [[Kenneth Tynan]], which opened at the [[Shakespeare Memorial Theatre]]. It only had a short run, but she received strong personal notices and was awarded ''Theatre World'' magazine's Actress of the Year award.<ref>{{cite news|title=Economic Unity Of Europe: "Britain the Biggest Obstacle" E.C.A. Officials' View|work=The Scotsman|date=24 Feb 1950|page=6}}</ref>

''Diamond City'' flopped at the box office, though, and with Rank now £18&nbsp;million (equivalent to £{{Format price|{{Inflation|UK-GDP|18000000|1949}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK-GDP}}) in debt, Rank closed their Charm School and made Dors redundant in September 1950.<ref>{{cite news|title=His Charm School Graduates Have Charm, But No Jobs|work=Times Pictorial|location=Dublin, Ireland|date=16 Dec 1950|page=5}}</ref><ref name=DDStar2/><ref name="hall">Dianamite yet: Diana Dors, Hall, John. ''[[The Guardian]]'', 18 March 1970, p. 9</ref> David Shipman argued that "though the Rank Organization knew how to put Dors through its Charm School paces, they had no idea how to handle such an individual talent."<ref name="david"/>

==British stardom==
Dors landed the female lead supporting [[Ronald Shiner]] in ''[[Worm's Eye View]]'' (1951), a comedy that was one of the most popular movies of 1951 in Britain; her fee was £250. She had a leading role in a TV movie for the BBC, ''[[Face to Face (1951 film)|Face to Face]]'' (1951) then appeared in two plays – ''Miranda'' at Stratford, and ''Born Yesterday'' at Henley. She auditioned for the lead in ''[[Lady Godiva Rides Again]]'' and was turned down because it was felt she did not appeal to men and women, but she was given a support role.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229186104 |title=Hunt for beauty |newspaper=[[The Sun (Sydney)|The Sun]] |issue=2497 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=25 February 1951 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=38 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She later said her fee of £750 helped restore her financial situation.<ref>Dors 1960 p 34.</ref>

===Dennis Hamilton===
With her boyfriend in jail and having just undergone her first [[abortion]], Dors met Dennis Hamilton Gittins in May 1951 while filming ''[[Lady Godiva Rides Again]]'' for Rank,<ref name=Bret/> a film that has uncredited appearances by [[Joan Collins]] and [[Ruth Ellis]] (then four months pregnant).<ref name=Bret/> (Dors described herself as "the only sex symbol Britain has produced since [[Lady Godiva]]".)<ref name=Bret/><ref name=Express208200/> The couple married five weeks later at [[Caxton Hall]] on Monday, 3 July 1951.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dianadors.co.uk/1_the_star_3_34.html|title=The Diana Dors Story -The Star 3|work=dianadors.co.uk|access-date=24 October 2011|archive-date=23 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923095647/http://www.dianadors.co.uk/1_the_star_3_34.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48647359 |title=Marriage of Starlet |newspaper=[[The Barrier Miner]] |volume=LXIV |issue=17,508 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=13 July 1951 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Later that month, Dors starred in a British [[film noir]] ''[[The Last Page]]'' (1952),  directed by [[Terence Fisher]] for [[Hammer Films]] in association with producer [[Robert L. Lippert]]; her fee was £450 for four weeks' work. Lippert reportedly offered Dors a one-picture deal on condition that she divorce Hamilton, but Dors refused.<ref>Dors 1960 p 49</ref>

Dors often played characters suffering from unrequited love, and by the mid-1950s, she was known as "the English [[Marilyn Monroe]]".<ref name=Bret/> Hamilton also made sure that she had the lifestyle attachments of a sex symbol, agreeing to a lease-deal with [[Rolls-Royce (car)|Rolls-Royce]] such that a headline could be created in the tabloids that, at the age of 20, she was the youngest registered keeper of a Rolls-Royce in the UK.<ref name=Bret/>

Hamilton went to great lengths to advance Dors' career and his income or influence from it.<ref name=Bret/> After her death, friends and biographers said that Hamilton would lend Dors as a sexual favour to hiring producers and leading actors, much as in the "[[casting couch]]" practices of Hollywood.<ref name=Bret/>

Dors worked with [[Terry-Thomas]] on the TV series ''[[How Do You View?]]'' for £250. The ''Sunday Times'' called her a "charming addition to his crazy household."<ref>{{cite news|title=TV in the North|author=Maurice Wiggin|date=7 Oct 1951|work=The Sunday Times|location=London, England|issue=6703}}</ref>

In December 1951, a newspaper reported that the "likeliest British names for glamour in 1952 are probably Britain's [[Glynis Johns]] and plumpish Diana Dors. Both are going to Hollywood."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248700968 |title=English films need more stars, better stories |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]] |volume=XVI |issue=239 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=28 December 1951 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She gained a second offer from [[Burt Lancaster]] for a lead role in his ''[[His Majesty O'Keefe]]'' (1954), but this time Hamilton turned down the part on her behalf before she even knew of the offer. The result was that her early career was restricted to mainly British films.

===Theatre and Maurice Elvey===
In April 1952, Dors appeared in a stage revue with Wally Chrisham, ''Rendezvous'', which eventually made it to London.''Variety'' said in May she made the "only noteworthy contribution" to the play, which ultimately only had a short run.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.org/details/variety186-1952–05/page/n59/mode/1up?q=%22diana+dors%22+ |title=Review of ''Rendezvous''|work=Variety}}</ref>  However under Hamilton's guidance she received enormous publicity.<ref>{{cite news|title=Housewives Hate Her!: but their husbands love Diana Dors|author=Samson, Leonard|work=Answers|location=London|volume=123|issue=3170|date=31 January 1953|page=10}}</ref> Dors later said these reviews, in addition to Hamilton's publicity, helped turn her career around.<ref>{{cite podcast|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/diana-dors/id529077808?i=1000368629602|title=Diana Dors|website=Desert Island Discs}}</ref> Dors later said Hamilton "promoted me strictly as a sex symbol, never as an actress, but it served its purpose and at the time it was fun."<ref name="bull"/>

[[Laurence Olivier]] reportedly offered her a role in ''[[The Beggar's Opera (film)|The Beggar's Opera]]'', but Dors says the start date kept changing. Instead, she accepted an offer to appear in a show in Blackpool, ''Life with Lyons'' at a fee of £100 a week for three months.<ref>Dors 1960 p 58-59</ref><ref>Another account puts this fee at £175 a week. {{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50510547 |title=World Digest|newspaper=[[The Courier-Mail]] |issue=4873 |location=Brisbane |date=11 July 1952 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>   The ''Times'' newspaper reported on Tuesday  28 July 1953 (page 2) that  Diana (under her married name Diana Mary Gittins) received an absolute discharge after being convicted of the theft of several bottles of spirits from a friend's flat in Blackpool.

Dors' film career started to improve when she was cast in a support role in ''[[My Wife's Lodger]]'' (1952), directed by [[Maurice Elvey]], who subsequently cast her in a small role in another low-budget comedy called ''[[The Great Game (1953 film)|The Great Game]]'' (1953) made by [[Adelphi Films]].

In December 1952, Dors appeared on stage in ''It Remains to be Seen'', which only ran seven performances.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248847568 |title=World-wide Film and Theatre News |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]] |volume=XIV |issue=6 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=28 December 1952 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=34 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The ''Observer'' said Dors "bangs at it with goodwill."<ref>{{cite news|title=Grimm and Gay|work=The Observer|location=London (UK)|date=21 Dec 1952|page=6}}</ref> The ''Daily Telegraph'' said she "carries blondeness to its ultimate pitch, works very hard, and is likeable as a good-hearted little trollop."<ref>{{cite news|title=Mad World of Jazz & Murder|author=W. A. Darlington|date=17 Dec 1952|page=8|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London, England}}</ref>

In March 1953, Dors did a cabaret act in Glasgow. ''Variety'' said she showed "little ability to be a personality act."<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety189-1953–03/page/n58/mode/1up?q=%22diana+dors%22+|title=Review Empire Glasgow|page=57|date=4 March 1953}}</ref> She began touring a variety act and performed variations of this act throughout her career.

Adelphi were impressed by Dors, announcing in February 1953 that they had bought the screen rights to the popular play ''[[Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?]]'' (1953) as a vehicle for Dors; it was directed by Elvey in April.<ref>{{Cite magazine|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety189-1953–02/page/n193/mode/2up?q=%22diana+dors%22+|date=18 February 1953|page=62|title=London}}</ref> Her fee was £1,000 for four weeks work.<ref>Dors 1960 p 84</ref> She was paid that for another comedy, ''[[It's a Grand Life]]'' (1953) with [[Frank Randle]].

Dors had a supporting part for Hammer in ''[[The Saint's Return]]'' (1954).<ref>{{Cite news|title=Diana Dors dies at 52|author= Beresford, David|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=5 May 1984|page=1}}</ref> In September 1953 the producer of that movie, Julian Lesser, announced he had an option for Dors' services on two more movies.<ref>{{cite news|title=Warners, Metro Slate African Subjects; Jimmy Wakely Back in Cinema|author=Schallert, Edwin|date=16 Sep 1953|work=Los Angeles Times|page=B9}}</ref>

===British stardom===
Dors' career stepped up another level when she was cast in a supporting role alongside Glynis Johns in a prison drama, ''[[The Weak and the Wicked]]'' (1954), directed by [[J. Lee Thompson]]. She made the movie in August 1953, only a few weeks after having been convicted in real life of stealing alcohol from a friend's house.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230220790 |title=Blonde Diana Dors goes to jail—in new film |newspaper=[[The Sun (Sydney)|The Sun]] |issue=2624 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=9 August 1953 |access-date=7 July 2020 |page=61 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230353035 |title=Film Star Guilty Of Larceny|newspaper=[[The Sun (Sydney)|The Sun]] |issue=13,561 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=28 July 1953 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=5 (Late Final Extra) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> By this stage she was earning a reported £12,000 a year.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230220790 |title=Blonde Diana Dors goes to jail—in new film |newspaper=[[The Sun (Sydney)|The Sun]] |issue=2624 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=9 August 1953 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=61 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> When the film came out, it was a big hit in Britain and earned Dors some excellent reviews.

She played [[Aladdin]] as a Christmas pantomime in 1953 and did ''The Lovely Place'' for ''[[Rheingold Theatre]]'' on TV.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230220790 |title=Blonde Diana Dors goes to jail—in new film |newspaper=[[The Sun (Sydney)|The Sun]] |issue=2624 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=9 August 1953 |access-date=2 February 2019 |page=61 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In April 1954 she said "I'm picking and choosing my parts now. That doesn't mean I'm waiting for the perfect part, but I'm sick to death of being the sexy siren."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article172058136 |title=The Dumb Blonde" With The Rolls-Royce |newspaper=[[Truth (Sydney newspaper)|Truth]] |issue=3351 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=18 April 1954 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

In 1954, Hamilton had the idea of exploiting the newly printed technology of [[Stereoscopy|3D]]. He engaged photographer [[Horace Roye]] to take a number of nude and seminude photographs of Dors, which Hamilton subsequently had published in two forms; the semi-nude pictures were issued as a set called "Diana Dors 3D: the ultimate British Sex Symbol", which was sold together with a pair of 3D glasses; the full-nude test shot photographs became part of Roye's booklet ''London Models'' (1954).<ref name=Bret/><ref name="Veysey, Arthur j24">{{cite news|title=Diana Dors... Britain's Blonde Beauty!|author=Veysey, Arthur|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=22 May 1955|page=j24}}</ref> Police pressed charges, alleging the books were obscene but a court ruled that they were not.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243440891 |title=Film star pictures "not obscene" |newspaper=[[The Herald (Melbourne)|The Herald]] |issue=24136 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=5 October 1954 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Adelphi called her back for ''[[Miss Tulip Stays the Night]]'' (1955) for a fee of £1,500. She then played one of the leads in ''[[A Kid for Two Farthings (film)|A Kid for Two Farthings]]'' (1955), directed by [[Carol Reed]] in mid-1954 for Alex Korda, paid £1,700; the film was one of the most popular movies of 1955 in Britain.<ref>{{cite news|title=Diana Dors, Actress in Britain|author=Wolfgang Saxon|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=5 May 1984|page=13}}</ref> Dors was offered the female lead in Thompson's ''[[As Long as They're Happy]]'' (1955) with Jack Buchanan, but was unable to accept; she agreed to do a guest role, instead, at £200 a day.<ref>Dors 1960 p 111</ref> ''Filmink'' argued "she steals the film."<ref name="group">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|date=30 May 2025|access-date=30 May 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-studios-group-film-productions|title=Forgotten British Studios: Group Film Productions}}</ref>

In October 1954, questions were asked in Parliament about why she was allowed to claim her mink coat as a tax deduction.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mink Coats And Actresses: Tax Allowances Worry M.P.s|work=The Manchester Guardian|date=29 Oct 1954|page=1}}</ref>

In December 1954, she reportedly turned down a seven-year contract with Rank worth £100,000 (equivalent to £{{Format price|{{Inflation|UK-GDP|100000|1954}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK-GDP}}) because she could make more freelance.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248937362 |title=World-wide Film and Theatre News |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]] |volume=XVI |issue=6 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=26 December 1954 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=25 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She did sign a three-picture deal with Rank worth £15,000 (equivalent to £{{Format price|{{Inflation|UK-GDP|15000|r=-3|1954}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK-GDP}}).<ref name="bank">{{cite news|title=Diana Dors Describes £100,000 Gun Threat|date=4 Oct 1968|work=The Daily Telegraph|page=26}}</ref> The first of these was ''[[Value for Money]]'' (1955) for director [[Ken Annakin]] starring with [[John Gregson]], filmed in early 1955,<ref name="Veysey, Arthur j24"/> and ''[[An Alligator Named Daisy]]'' (1955), directed by Thompson, also for Rank, starring Donald Sinden.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46456813 |title=Reptile star of new comedy is no lady |newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]] |volume=23 |issue=19 |date=5 October 1955 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=60 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

The success of her movies, particularly ''Kid for Two Farthings'', led to British exhibitors voting her the ninth-most popular British star at the box office in 1955 – the sole female star in the top 10. She ranked after Dirk Bogarde, John Mills, Norman Wisdom, Alastair Sim, Kenneth More, Jack Hawkins, Richard Todd, and Michael Redgrave, and in front of Alec Guinness.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Dam Busters|work=The Times|location=London, England|date=29 December 1955|page=12|via=The Times Digital Archive}}</ref> In November 1955 the press criticised her for wearing revealing necklines when meeting royalty.<ref>{{cite news|title=British Call Plunging Necklines Royal Slur|work=Los Angeles Times|date=22 Nov 1955|page=9}}</ref>

Dors made a fourth film with Thompson, ''[[Yield to the Night]]'' (1956), filmed in late 1955. It was a crime drama with Dors playing a role similar to [[Ruth Ellis]]. She received some of the best reviews of her career.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71701628 |title=I fell for the Men. Italy Can't Beat Our Girls|newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |location=Melbourne|date=15 October 1955 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=7 (The Argus Weekender) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She was acclaimed at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dors Opens The Drama Door|work=Pictorial|location=Dublin, Ireland|date=12 May 1956|page=3}}</ref> J. Lee Thompson said he cast Dors in ''Yield'' over the objections of the studio who wanted [[Olivia de Havilland]] adding in May 1956 that "I must find a new part for Diana Dors. I'm looking for one all the time. It isn't easy because you can't take chances with Diana – not any more..."<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Kensington News and West London Times|date=18 March 1956|page=3|title=Film spot}}</ref> But she would never work with Thompson again.

Dors turned down the female lead in Rank's ''[[The Big Money (film)|The Big Money]]''. On being offered that role and turning it down, she said:<blockquote>If that's the best you can offer, then I'm rather surprised […] They still think I'm only good for the dumb blonde parts I played five years ago, I thought everyone in the business knew I'd come some way since then.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75863144 |title=Diana now wants to play serious roles |newspaper=[[The Mirror (Western Australia)|Mirror]] |volume=36 |issue=1814 |location=Western Australia |date=3 March 1956 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref></blockquote>

She later said:<blockquote>After I did ''Yield to the Night'', it [all the publicity] went a bit sour. It should have been toned down to give me the chance to become a serious actress.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46459076 |title=Diana Secrets "Behind Closed Dors" |newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]] |volume=47 |issue=2  |date=13 June 1979 |access-date=15 August 2020 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref></blockquote>

==Hollywood==
===RKO===
[[File:Diana Dors in The Unholy Wife trailer cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|Dors in ''[[The Unholy Wife]]'' (1957)]]
Dors' performance attracted interest in Hollywood. In February 1956, she guest-starred on a TV special [[Bob Hope]] made in England.<ref>{{cite news|title=TV: Hope From England: Girls, Fernandel Spice Comedian's Show Absent 'Visitor'|author=Jack Gould|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=8 Feb 1956|page=67}}</ref>

In May 1956, Dors signed a contract with RKO to support George Gobel in ''[[I Married a Woman]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Diana Dors Signed by R.K.O.|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=25 May 1956|page=26}}</ref> She left [[Southampton]] on board the {{RMS|Queen Elizabeth||2}} for New York City and then to Hollywood.<ref>{{cite news|title=Diana Dors, England's Reply to Monroe, Here: Calls Marilyn 'Greatest Thing That Ever Happened;' Plans Film With George Gobel|work=Los Angeles Times|date=30 June 1956|page=3}}</ref> She said: <blockquote>I'm hoping to enjoy myself, keep my sense of fun and do a good job. It took me 10 years [of] hard work in poor[ly received] pictures, in revue, in straight plays, and touring to become a star, and I don't intend to let Hollywood push me about, crop my hair, change my style or personality.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75862495 |title=Gossip From The Films And At Stage |newspaper=[[The Mirror (Western Australia)|The Mirror]] |volume=37 |issue=1831 |location=Western Australia |date=30 June 1956 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref></blockquote>

In July 1956, Dors—through her company, Treasure Pictures—signed a contract with RKO Pictures to make three more movies, the first of which was to be ''[[The Unholy Wife]]'' (1957) with Rod Steiger, which started filming in September. Her fee was a reported $75,000 ({{Inflation|US-GDP|75000|1956|r=-3|fmt=eq|cursign=$}}), with the other films to go up $25,000.<ref name="rko">{{cite news|title=Diana Dors Sues RKO for $1.275 Millions|work=Los Angeles Times|date=17 February 1959|page=4}}</ref> Dors reportedly had an affair with [[Rod Steiger]] during the filming of ''The Unholy Wife''. In October 1956, Hamilton started an affair with [[Raymond Bessone|Raymond "Mr. Teasy-Weasy" Bessone]]'s estranged wife in London.<ref name=DDStar5/> In November, Dors announced  Hamilton and she were separating.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71763738 |title=Parting is such sweat (£99000) sorrow |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |location=Melbourne|date=3 November 1956 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Dors later said, "They tried getting me in the gas chamber again in Hollywood [...] but [the film] wasn't good. They edited it badly."<ref name="bull">{{cite magazine|magazine=The Bulletin|page=22|title=The Night-Club Dors Learning her lessons in the big cruel world |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-697851397 |date=9 November 1963|first=Jan|last=Smith}}</ref>

[[File:Diana Dors in I Married a Woman trailer.jpg|thumb|left|Dors in ''[[I Married a Woman]]'' (1958)]]
William Dozier of RKO announced Dors would star in ''Blondes Prefer Gentlemen'' with [[Eddie Fisher]], but the film was never made.<ref>{{cite news|title=Looking at Hollywood: Diana Dors to Co-Star with Eddie Fisher|author=Hopper, Hedda|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=28 July 1956|page=18}}</ref> In August 1956, she announced she had signed a one-picture deal to appear in a Bob Hope movie.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bogeaus To Make 2 Movies For Fox: Independent Producer Will Start With Adaptation of Bromfield's 'Early Autumn' Republic Pulls Out Stops|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=18 Aug 1956|page=11}}</ref> This never happened; neither did a project [[Robert Aldrich]] announced he wanted to make with Dors and Paul Douglas at UA, ''Potluck for Pomeroy''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mann Changes Assignment|date=29 August 1956|work=[[The New York Times]]|page=25}}</ref>

Due to meet Hollywood columnists [[Hedda Hopper]] and [[Louella Parsons]], interviews were arranged to be held at the Hollywood home of her friend, celebrity hairdresser [[Raymond Bessone|Mr. Teasy-Weasy]], who owned a Spanish-style villa off [[Sunset Boulevard]], formerly owned by [[Marlene Dietrich]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/73/Diana+Dors/index.html|title=Diana Dors – The Private Life and Times of Diana Dors|work=glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com|accessdate=18 January 2015}}</ref> To coincide with the publication of the articles, Hamilton and Raymond arranged a Hollywood launch party at Raymond's house in August 1956, with a guest list that included [[Doris Day]], Eddie Fisher, [[Zsa Zsa Gabor]], [[Liberace]], [[Lana Turner]], [[Ginger Rogers]], and [[John Wayne]]. After 30 minutes, while lining up next to Raymond's pool with her US agent Louis Shurr and her dress designer [[Howard Shoup]], all four, including Dors and Hamilton, were pushed into the pool after the party crowd and photographers surged forward. Hamilton emerged from the pool and hit the first photographer before he could be restrained. The headlines in the ''[[National Enquirer]]'' read: "Miss Dors Go Home—And Take Mr. Dors With You". Because of the resulting negative publicity, the couple failed to buy Lana Turner's house, settling into a rental property in [[Coldwater Canyon]].<ref name=Bret/><ref>{{cite news|title=Gop Throws Strength Behind Ike And Nixon: Lensman Beaten as Diana Dors, Three Dunked Violent Aftermath of Party Diana Dors|work=Los Angeles Times|date=20 August 1956|page=1}}</ref>

She was meant to make three films produced by [[Anna Neagle]], the first with [[Frankie Vaughan]] called ''The Cast Iron Shore''; however, Dors pulled out in September.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dors Drops out of Neagle Film|author=Cecil Wilson|date=3 Sep 1956|work=Daily Mail|location=London, England|page=3}}</ref>

In October, Dors appeared again on the ''Bob Hope Show''. ''[[The New York Times]]'' said she "displayed considerable stage presence. The gal can handle her lines."<ref>{{cite news|title=TV: Ray Bolger Show: Gifted Dancer Is Still Dogged by Bad Luck On Opening of 'Washington Square'|author=Jack Gould|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=22 Oct 1956|page=41}}</ref> Hedda Hopper reported around this time that Dors had replaced her agent "and her popularity is slipping even before her first film is shown." Hopper also said Dors' fee for British films was now $40,000, up from $20,000.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Movie Firm Buys Tale of Texas Tycoons|author=Hopper, Hedda|date=24 Oct 1956|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|page=b2}}</ref> In November, Dors, returning to London, announcing she and Hamilton had separated, with the latter blaming Steiger.<ref>{{cite news|title=French Seen in Israel by U.S. Woman|work=Los Angeles Times|date=3 Nov 1956|page=4}}</ref>

===Return to Britain===
[[File:Phil Silvers Diana Dors 1958.jpg|thumb|upright|Dors with [[Phil Silvers]], 1958]]
In England she made ''[[The Long Haul (1957 film)|The Long Haul]]'' (1957) for Columbia with [[Victor Mature]], which started filming in February 1957.<ref>{{cite news|title=Diana Dors to Star With Bob Mitchum|author=Hopper, Hedda|work=Los Angeles Times|date=29 September 1956|page=12}}</ref> While making ''The Long Haul'', Dors started a relationship with co-star Mature's stuntman, Tommy Yeardye. Details about the affair were reportedly leaked to the press by Yeardye.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1460720/Tommy-Yeardye.html Obituary: Tommy Yeardye], ''The Daily Telegraph'' (London), 1 |May 2004</ref>

[[Gerd Oswald]] wanted her for ''The Blonde''.<ref>{{Cite news|title='Rifleman Dodd' Aimed at Meeker; New Italian Beauty 'Blonde' Choice|author=Schallert, Edwin|date=21 June 1957|work=Los Angeles Times|page=23}}</ref> In October 1957, Hedda Hopper reported that Dors intended to make the last two films under her RKO contract, but Hopper thought "she was just whistling Dixie."<ref>{{Cite news|title='Black Sunday' Will Reclaim Actor Quinn|author=Hopper, Hedda|date=3 Oct 1957|work=Los Angeles Times|page=B8}}</ref> 

Dors went to Italy to play an American in the French-Italian ''[[The Love Specialist]]'' (1957) with Vittorio Gassman. She stayed in crime for ''[[Tread Softly Stranger]]'' (1958), made for [[Gordon Parry (film director)|Gordon Parry]] with [[George Baker (British actor)|George Baker]] co-starring. She later said her three 1957 films made her £27,000.<ref name="bank"/> In November 1957 she was released from her contract with Rank.<ref name="kine">{{cite magazine|magazine=Kinematograph Weekly|page=50|title=Pollock directs first top feature|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_kinematograph-weekly_1957-11-07_487_2621/page/50/mode/1up?|date=7 November 1957|first=Peter|last=Evans}}</ref> Director [[Lewis Gilbert]] later said Dors would have been a better choice than [[Virginia McKenna]] to play [[Violette Szabo]] in the 1958 film ''[[Carve Her Name with Pride]]'', saying "it should have been someone like Diana Dors, who was much rougher, because Violet was a Cockney who had lived in Brixton, a very poor area of London." However, Rank insisted McKenna play the part.<ref>{{cite book|first=Brian|last=McFarlane|year=1997|publisher=Methuen|title= An autobiography of British cinema : as told by the filmmakers and actors who made it|page=222}}</ref> ''Filmink'' wrote that if Dors had been cast in ''Carve Her Name with Pride'' it "would have launched Dors to the top rank and she might have become the genuine star that she should have been."<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=21 June 2025|access-date=21 June 2025|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-studios-the-rank-organisation-films-of-1958/|title=Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation Films of 1958}}</ref> 

Gassman and Dors were to reunite in ''Strange Holiday'', but it was not made.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Andy Hardy's Return Forecast; Diana Dors Will Rejoin Gassman|author=Schallert, Edwin|date=15 Oct 1957|work=Los Angeles Times|page=A9}}</ref> She was a prostitute in ''[[Passport to Shame]]'' (1958).  In August 1958, she reported she had been robbed of £11,000.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103119103 |title=Actress Robbed Of £11,000 |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=32 |issue=9,570 |date=28 August 1958 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=23 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In the same year, she reportedly was paid £20,000 for three day's work on television commercials for a brand of British champagne.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46241138 |title=Maid Marian wants real romance with Robin |newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]] |volume=26 |issue=19  |date=15 October 1958 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=82 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Dors' RKO films flopped, so RKO elected not to make the other two films. In December 1958, RKO terminated its contract with Dors, alleging she "has become an object of disgrace, obloquy, ill will, and ridicule." Dors sued the studio for $1,250,000 in damages;<ref name="rko"/> in July 1960, she settled for $200,000.<ref>{{cite news|title=Diana Dors to Get $200,000 in Studio Suit|work=Los Angeles Times|date=11 July 1960|page=B3}}</ref>

[[Joseph Kaufman (producer)|Joseph Kaufman]] announced he wanted to make a film starring her called ''Stopover'', but it was never made. In May 1959, she said she wanted to retire from acting and focus on her other interests, including a shampoo factory.<ref>{{cite news|title=Diana Dors Will Leave Films|work=Los Angeles Times|date=7 May 1959|page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Filmland Events: Diana Dors Chosen for 'Stopover' Lead|work=Los Angeles Times|date=2 May 1959|page=B2}}</ref> She had a cameo on ''[[Scent of Mystery]]'', shot in Spain.

===Cabaret===
Following her final separation from Hamilton in 1958, Dors discovered that her company, Diana Dors Ltd, was in serious debt. Hamilton had steered the company toward the dual purpose of publicising his wife and helping himself, over paying tax bills and establishing financial stability.<ref name=DDStar5/> Having been forced by Hamilton "at gunpoint" to sign over all of her assets prior to the end of their marriage, and in need of money to pay her divorce lawyers and their accountants, she agreed to the suggestion of agent Joseph Collins to undertake a theatre-based cabaret tour titled "The Diana Dors Show". In July 1958, Dors was the top of the bill act at a cabaret in Coventry, being paid £2,500 a week.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sabrina is No Rival Says Diana Dors|author=Edward Goring|date=29 July 1958|work=Daily Mail|location=London, England|issue=19368|page=6}}</ref>

Yeardye suggested that they hire comedian Dickie Dawson, later known as [[Richard Dawson]]; Dawson subsequently scripted the show and wrote most of the material. Dors started a relationship with Dawson and ended the relationship with Yeardye, who subsequently emptied her cash box at [[Harrods]] of £18,000 and sold his story to the media.<ref name=Bret/> This brought negative publicity to the show, but audience numbers remained high, which allowed Dors extra time to explain her affairs to a subsequent [[Inland Revenue]] investigation of her cash holdings.<ref name=DDStar5>{{cite web|url=http://www.dianadors.co.uk/1_the_star_5_36.html|title=The Diana Dors Story -The Star 5|work=dianadors.co.uk|access-date=24 October 2011|archive-date=20 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520111131/http://www.dianadors.co.uk/1_the_star_5_36.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1959, Hamilton died, and Dors married Dawson in New York while making an appearance on ''[[The Steve Allen Show]]''. "[[The Diana Dors Show]]" was commissioned for two studio-based series on television at [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]].<ref name=Bret/>

In 1960, it was announced Dors and Dawson would make a film of the stage show ''Grab Me a Gondola'', but it never happened.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Dmytryk to Direct Paramound Picture: 'Appointment in Zahrain' His First Since 'Mountain'|author=Scheuer, Philip K.|date=10 Oct 1960|work=Los Angeles Times|page=C13}}</ref>

''Filmink'' magazine said, "no decent British film roles seemed forthcoming" around this time. "The Rank Organisation, who could have used Dors around this time, did not seem interested. Neither did Hammer Films, who were experiencing global success with their horror movies. Perhaps most frustratingly for Dors, J. Lee Thompson, who had given her the two best opportunities, made a series of films featuring parts that Dors could have played, but which, for whatever reason, were taken by other actors."<ref name="bomb"/>

===Back in Hollywood===
After the birth of her first child in February 1960, and wishing to stay in the United States with Dawson, Dors undertook a cabaret contract to headline at the [[Dunes (hotel and casino)|Dunes hotel and casino]] in Las Vegas.<ref name=Bret/> In September 1960, she did a cabaret act at Ciro's, which ''Variety'' said was "pleasant enough".

She appeared in some American films: ''[[On the Double (film)|On the Double]]'' (1961), a [[Danny Kaye]] comedy, and ''[[The Big Bankroll]]'' (1962), a crime film also known as ''King of the Roaring 20's: The Story of Arnold Rothstein''. She also sold her memoirs to News of the World for $140,000.<ref>{{cite news|title='North From Rome' Will Star Mitchum: He's Set for Three UA Films; Diana Dors in 'Big Bankroll'|author=Scott, John L.|work=Los Angeles Times|date=2 November 1960|page=A7}}</ref> She later claimed she turned down a role in ''[[Saturday Night and Sunday Morning]]''.<ref name="hall"/> She was meant to be in ''[[The Ladies' Man]]'' with Jerry Lewis but was fired at the last minute.

During the summer of 1961, Dors shot "[[The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Alfred Hitchcock Presents)|The Sorcerer's Apprentice]]", based on [[Robert Bloch]]'s story, for ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]''. The episode was so gruesome that it was suppressed for decades.

Dors returned to Britain. In 1961, she narrowly escaped death at a [[Guy Fawkes Night]] party in [[Wraysbury]], where fireworks were accidentally ignited indoors. The house was destroyed, three people died in the fire and another one had a fatal heart attack, and Dors was slightly injured while escaping through a window.<ref>{{cite news|title=Diana Dors Leaps Out Window as Blast and Blaze Kill 3 at Party|work=Los Angeles Times|date=6 November 1961|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Diana Dors Injured, 3 Killed in Party Blast|periodical=Globe and Mail|location=Toronto|date=6 November 1961|page=37}}</ref>

She appeared in ''[[Mrs. Gibbons' Boys (film)|Mrs. Gibbons' Boys]]'' (1962), ''[[West 11]]'' (1963), ''[[The Counterfeit Constable]]'' (1964), and ''[[The Sandwich Man (1966 film)|The Sandwich Man]]'' (1966).

In the early 1960s, she was living in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46450013 |title=Diana Could Find An Aussie Cousin |newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]] |volume=31 |issue=21  |date=23 October 1963 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> While there she guest starred on episodes of ''[[Burke's Law (1963 TV series)|Burke's Law]]'' and ''[[The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)|The Eleventh Hour]]'', and starred in a 1963 episode of ''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]'' titled "Run for Doom", co-starring [[John Gavin]], and episodes of ''[[Straightaway (TV series)|Straightaway]]'' and ''[[Armchair Theatre]]'' in Britain.

She toured Australia in 1963. While there, she said 1956 was "my biggest year, and you never can tell whether you will do it again. That is what makes show business so fascinating —you never can tell."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51193839|title=The Three Faces Of Diana Dors|newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]]|volume=31|issue=26|date=27 November 1963|access-date=12 July 2020|page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

=== Film production ===
By 1957, Dors owned or part-owned a company called Diador Film Productions.<ref name="kine" /> Its only recorded output is the comedy [[Alive and Kicking (1959 film)|''Alive and Kicking'']],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Collections Search: Alive and Kicking |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150024410 |access-date=3 June 2025 |website=British Film Institute}}</ref> released in the UK in 1959 and in the US in 1964.

==Later career==
===Bankruptcy===
Dors divorced Dawson in 1966 and returned to the UK to find work, leaving behind her two sons.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52250279 |title=welcomes home her lost son |newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]] |volume=47 |issue=4 |date=27 June 1979 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=24 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She resumed cabaret work with her pianist and musical director [[Denny Termer]], and subsequently was served with a writ of bankruptcy. As her popularity had fallen, this time she was touring [[working men's club]]s,<ref name=Bret/> and smaller venues.

In June 1968, she reported that she owed £53,000, of which £48,000 was to the [[Inland Revenue]], and had assets of a little over £200.<ref>{{cite news|title=Diana Dors 'has debts of £53,000'|work=The Guardian|date=6 July 1968|page=4}}</ref> She declared bankruptcy in October 1968.<ref>{{cite news|title=Diana Dors Files for Bankruptcy|work=Los Angeles Times|date=October 5, 1968|page=17}}</ref>

Dors' film career was now strictly supporting roles: ''[[Danger Route]]'' (1967); ''[[Berserk!]]'' (1967), with [[Joan Crawford]]; ''[[Hammerhead (film)|Hammerhead]]'' (1968); ''[[Baby Love (1968 film)|Baby Love]]'' (1968); ''[[Deep End (film)|Deep End]]'' (1970); and ''[[There's a Girl in My Soup]]'' (1970). She returned to the West End in 1970 for the first time in 17 years in a play called ''[[Three Months Gone]]''.<ref name="hall"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131685376 |title=Eyes on Adelaide |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=44 |issue=12,536 |date=4 February 1970 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=21 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

===Television stardom and supporting film roles===
Dors played the title role in the sitcom, ''[[Queenie's Castle]]'' (1970–72), which ran for three series. Less popular was the follow-up, ''[[All Our Saturdays]]'' (1973). During this period, she appeared in a TV adaptation of ''[[A Taste of Honey]]'' (1971) and episodes of ''[[Z Cars]]'', ''[[Dixon of Dock Green]]'', ''[[Just William (1977 TV series)|Just William]]'', ''[[The Sweeney]]'', ''[[Hammer House of Horror]]'', and ''[[Shoestring (TV series)|Shoestring]]''.

Dors' film work included ''[[Hannie Caulder]]'' (1971); ''[[The Pied Piper (1972 film)|The Pied Piper]]'' (1972); ''[[The Amazing Mr. Blunden]]'' (1972); ''[[Swedish Wildcats]]'' (1972); ''[[Nothing but the Night]]'' (1972); ''[[Theatre of Blood]]'' (1973); ''[[Steptoe and Son Ride Again]]'' (1973); ''[[From Beyond the Grave]]'' (1973); and ''[[Craze (film)|Craze]]'' (1974).<ref>{{cite news|title=Britain's Diana Dors; called 'blond bombshell'|date=5 May 1984|work=Chicago Tribune|page=9}}</ref>

In the mid-1970s, she became in high demand for sex comedies: ''[[The Amorous Milkman]]'' (1975), ''[[Bedtime with Rosie]]'' (1975), ''[[What the Swedish Butler Saw]]'' (1975), ''[[Three for All]]'' (1976), ''[[Adventures of a Taxi Driver]]'' (1976), ''[[Keep It Up Downstairs]]'' (1976), ''[[Adventures of a Private Eye]]'' (1977), and ''[[Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair]]'' (1979).

In 1974, she appeared on stage in a production of ''Oedipus Rex''.<ref>Diana Dors dies of cancer, ''[[The Irish Times]]'', 5 May 1984, p. 6</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51386541 |title=The indestructible Diana Dors |newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]] |volume=42 |issue=24  |date=13 November 1974 |access-date=2 February 2019 |page=60A |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

In 1977, she won a court battle to prevent [[Wolf Rilla]] from writing a biography based on interviews she had done with Rilla.<ref>Diana Dors wins life story ban, ''[[The Irish Times]]'', 23 April 1977, p. 4</ref>

===Final years===
[[File:Portret van Diana Dors, Bestanddeelnr 921-7794.jpg|thumb|upright|Dors in 1968]]
Still making headlines in the ''[[News of the World]]'' and other print media in the late 1970s thanks to her adult parties, in her later years, Dors' status began to revive.

In 1979 while touring Australia, she said, "I used to think it was a lot of hooey that life begins at 40. But I know what I can put up with; I've mellowed. I'm a homey person, although I don't expect people to believe it."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46459076 |title=Diana – Secrets "Behind Closed Dors" |newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]] |volume=47 |issue=2  |date=13 June 1979 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Although her film work consisted mainly of [[Sex comedy|sex comedies]], her popularity climbed thanks to her television work, where her wit, intelligence, and catchy one-liners developed as a cabaret performer won over viewers. She became a regular on ''[[Jokers Wild (TV series)|Jokers Wild]]'', ''[[Blankety Blank]]'' and ''[[Celebrity Squares]]'', and was a regular guest on [[BBC Radio 2]]'s ''The Law Game''. She also had a recurring role in a serial segment "[[The Two Ronnies#The Worm That Turned (1980)|The Worm That Turned]]" in ''[[The Two Ronnies]]'' in 1980, in which she played the leader of a feminist dictatorship.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/image_galleries/diana_dors_gallery.shtml?27|title=Diana Dors: A Life in Pictures|publisher=BBC}}</ref>  A popular chat-show guest, an entire show&nbsp;– ''[[Russell Harty]]: At Home with Dors''&nbsp;– came from the pool room of her home, Orchard Manor.<ref name=DDTwilight/> Younger musical artists engaged her persona, brought about after the 1981 [[Adam and the Ants]] music video "[[Prince Charming (Adam and the Ants song)|Prince Charming]]", where she played the [[fairy godmother]] opposite [[Adam Ant]], who played a male [[Cinderella]] figure.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prince Charming by Adam & The Ants |url=https://www.songfacts.com/facts/adam-the-ants/prince-charming |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=www.songfacts.com}}</ref> Dors was also namechecked on the track "Scorpios" on the Ants' ''[[Prince Charming (album)|Prince Charming]]'' parent album.

Dors' other final appearances were in a [[BBC]] tv adaptation of ''[[Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1980 film)|Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]'' (1980), ''[[Timon of Athens]]'' (1981), ''[[Dick Turpin (TV series)|Dick Turpin]]'' (1981),  and ''[[Cannon and Ball]]'' (1981).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44795698 |title=The highwayman and the scrubber |newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]] |volume=48 |issue=11  |date=13 August 1980 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=27 (Your TV Magazine) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Having turned her life story into a cash flow through interviews and leaked tabloid stories, like many celebrities in their later careers, she turned to an autobiography to generate retirement cash. In 1960, she wrote and published ''Swingin' Dors'', and between 1978 and 1984, she published four autobiographical books under her own name: ''For Adults Only'', ''Behind Closed Dors'', ''Dors by Diana'', and ''A. to Z. of Men''.

Diana Dors was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' on two occasions, in April 1957, when she was surprised by [[Eamonn Andrews]] at the BBC Television Theatre, and in October 1982, when Andrews surprised her at London's Royalty Theatre.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

By the early 1980s, when she went through her first round of cancer treatment, her weight had significantly increased; she addressed the issue through co-writing a diet book,<ref>{{cite book|title=X-Cel diet|author=Diana Dors & Michael Waterfield|publisher=Julian P.|date=May 1983|isbn=0-901943-20-7}}</ref> and creating a diet and exercise [[videocassette]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131849511 |title=Dors diet adviser |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=57 |issue=17,427 |date=16 June 1983 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=20 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> This resulted in her working for [[TV-am]], ITV's breakfast station, in the summer of 1983, in a regular slot "Diana Dors Diet" focusing on diet and nutrition, tracking her progress in shedding weight, along with that of twelve fellow dieters, the "Dors Dozen". This later developed into an [[Advice column|agony aunt]] segment once Dors had reached her target weight. As the cancer treatment took its toll again, however, her appearances became less frequent.<ref name=DDTwilight>{{cite web|url=http://www.dianadors.co.uk/twilight_years_13.html|title=The Diana Dors Story – Twilight Years|work=dianadors.co.uk|access-date=24 October 2011|archive-date=6 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806003620/http://www.dianadors.co.uk/twilight_years_13.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>  She sued the show for withholding her fan mail.<ref>Diana Dors in row over TV-am 'fan mail', Barker, Dennis. ''The Guardian'' 8 December 1983, p. 2</ref>

Her last public appearance was in cabaret at Harpoon Louie's, [[Earl's Court]], West London, on 15 April 1984, where she looked considerably frail, but stood throughout her whole set.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}  Her final (posthumous) film appearance was in ''[[Steaming (film)|Steaming]]'' (1985).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125002020 |title=Dors has cancer |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=58 |issue=17,723 |date=7 April 1984 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=21 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126993408 |title=Actress Diana Dors dies, 52 |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=58 |issue=17,752 |date=6 May 1984 |access-date=12 July 2020 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==Discography==
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2014}}
The earliest recordings of Dors were two sides of a 78-rpm single released on [[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]] in 1953. The tracks were "I Feel So Mmmm" and "A Kiss and a Cuddle (and a Few Kind Words from You)". His Master's Voice also released sheet music featuring sultry photos of Dors on the cover. She also sang "The Hokey Pokey Polka" on the 1954 soundtrack for the film ''As Long as They're Happy''. Dors recorded only one complete album, the [[Swing music|swing]]-themed ''Swingin' Dors'', in 1960. The LP was originally released on red vinyl and with a gatefold sleeve. The accompanying orchestra was conducted by [[Angela Morley|Wally Stott]]. 
She also sang as a special guest for the Italian TV show ''Un, due, tre'' (''One, two, three'', starring [[Ugo Tognazzi]] and [[Raimondo Vianello]]) on 31 May 1959, at the Teatro della Fiera in [[Milan]], with the orchestra conducted by Mario Bertolazzi, and recorded singles on various record labels from the 1960s through the early 1980s, including a single for the Nomis label, "[[Where Did They Go (song)|Where Did They Go]]?" / "It's You Again" (the latter being a duet with her son, Gary Dawson), while she was being treated for cancer. While promoting the single on TV, Dors claimed "Where Did They Go?" had been especially written for her, but in fact, the track had been recorded originally by [[Peggy Lee]] in 1971 and in 1972 by [[Sandie Shaw]].

===Studio albums===
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCC"
! Recorded || Album title  || Label  || Catalogue No. || Format|| Notes
|-
| 1955||''As Long as They're Happy''||[[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]]||DLPC 1 ||10" LP||Soundtrack (Performing "The Hokey Pokey Polka")
|-
| 1960|| ''Swinging Dors'' ||[[Pye Records]]|| NPL 18044|| rowspan="3" |LP||Solo LP
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1968||''Thoroughly Modern Millie''|| [[World Record Club]]||T-849||Soundtrack (Performing "[[Do It Again (George Gershwin and Buddy DeSylva song)|Do It Again]]" and "Jazz Baby")
|-
|''Doctor Doolittle''|| World Record Club||T-850||Soundtrack (Performing "At The Crossroads", "Beautiful Things", "Fabulous Places" and "I Think I Like You")
|}

===Singles===
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCC"
! Recorded || Album title  || Label  || Catalogue No. || Release
|-
| 1953|| "I Feel So Mmm......" / "A Kiss and a Cuddle (And a Few Kind Words from You)" ||[[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]]|| B-10613||78 rpm
|-
| 1960|| "April Heart" / "Point of No Return"||[[Pye Records]]||7N.15242||45 rpm from the album ''Swinging Dors''
|-
| 1964|| "So Little Time" / "It's Too Late"||[[Fontana Records]]||TF 506||
|-
| 1966|| "Security" / "Garry"||[[Polydor Records]]||56111||
|-
| 1977|| "Passing By" / "[[It's a Small World]]"||[[EMI Records]]||EMI 2705||
|-
| 1981|| "[[Where Did They Go (song)|Where Did They Go]]" / "It's You Again" (with Gary Dors)||Nomis Records||NOM 1||
|}

===Other recordings===
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCC"
! Recorded || Song title ||Notes
|-
| 1963|| "[[Just One of Those Things (song)|Just One of Those Things]]" / "[[How Long Has This Been Going On]]" ||Performed on ''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]'' as character Nickie Carole
|}

==Personal life==
Dors was married three times:
*Dennis Hamilton Gittins (3 July 1951 – 3 January 1959, his death): married five weeks after meeting, at [[Caxton Hall]]; no children; lived in London, Berkshire, and Hollywood
*[[Richard Dawson]] (12 April 1959 – 1966, divorced): married in New York; two sons, [[Mark Dawson]] and Gary Dawson; lived in London, New York, and Hollywood
*[[Alan Lake]] (23 November 1968 – 4 May 1984, her death): married at Caxton Hall; one son, Jason Lake; lived at Orchard Manor, [[Sunningdale]], Berkshire

In 1949, while filming ''Diamond City'', she had a relationship with businessman [[Michael Caborn-Waterfield]], who later founded the [[Ann Summers]] chain, which he named after a former girlfriend.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/05/06/michael-dandy-kim-caborn-waterfield--obituary|title = Michael 'Dandy Kim' Caborn-Waterfield – obituary|newspaper = The Telegraph|date = 6 May 2016}}</ref> During the short relationship, Dors became pregnant, but Caborn-Waterfield paid for a back-street abortion, which took place on a kitchen table in [[Battersea]]. The relationship continued for a time, before Dors met Dennis Hamilton Gittins on the set of ''Lady Godiva Rides Again'', and while with him she had a second abortion in 1951.<ref name=DDStar2>{{cite web|url=http://www.dianadors.co.uk/1_the_star_2_33.html|title=The Diana Dors Story – The Star 2|work=dianadors.co.uk|access-date=24 October 2011|archive-date=23 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923095734/http://www.dianadors.co.uk/1_the_star_2_33.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Dors is said to have become a close friend of [[Ruth Ellis]], the last woman to be hanged in Britain, after Ellis had a bit part in ''Lady Godiva Rides Again''. However, Dors never mentioned having known Ellis, either in interviews or in her memoirs. Through her husband Hamilton, Dors was close friends with the notorious [[Kray twins]] and their mother, Violet.<ref name=Bret/>

===Parties===
During her relationship with Hamilton and until a few months before her death, Dors regularly held adult parties at her home. There, a number of celebrities, amply supplied with alcohol and drugs, mixed with young starlets against a background of both softcore and hardcore porn films.<ref name=Bret>{{cite book|title=Diana Dors: Hurricane In Mink|author=David Bret|date=October 2010|publisher=JR Books, London|isbn=978-1-907532-10-8 }}</ref><!--There seems to be some disagreement about the date of publication--> Dors gave all her guests full access to the entire house; her son Jason Lake later alleged in various media interviews and publications that she had equipped it with [[8 mm film|8 mm movie cameras]]. The young starlets were made aware of the arrangements and were allowed to attend for free in return for making sure that their celebrity partners performed in bed at the right camera angles.<ref name=Bret/> Dors later enjoyed watching the films, keeping an archive of the best performances.

Dors became an early subject of the "celebrity exposé" [[tabloid journalism|tabloids]], appearing regularly in the ''[[News of the World]]''. In large part, she brought this notoriety upon herself. In desperate need of cash after her separation from Hamilton in 1958, she gave an interview in which she described their lives and the adult group parties in full, frank detail. The interview was serialised in the tabloid for 12 weeks,<ref name=DDStar6/> followed by an extended six-week series of sensational stories, creating negative publicity. Subsequently, the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] [[Geoffrey Fisher]] denounced Dors as a "wayward hussy".<ref name=DDStar6>{{cite web|url=http://www.dianadors.co.uk/the_star_6_28.html|title=The Diana Dors Story -The Star 6|website=Dianadors.co.uk|access-date=24 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109020302/http://www.dianadors.co.uk/the_star_6_28.html|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

However, other mainstream news media, on television and film, were unwilling to repeat the stories until well after Dors' death. This was in part because of her popularity, and also partly because of who was attending the parties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200209300041|title="Girls, booze, drugs and parties" (30 September 2002) ''New Statesman''}}</ref> Her former lover and party guest [[Bob Monkhouse]]<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2000/aug/20/features.magazine27 | location=London | work=The Observer | first=Lynn | last=Barber | title=Interview: Bob Monkhouse | date=20 August 2000}}</ref> later commented in an interview after Dors' death, "The awkward part about an [[orgy]], is that afterwards you're not too sure who to thank."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2002/sep/29/features.review137 | location=London | newspaper=[[The Guardian]] | first=Andrew | last=Anthony | title=Television: Under the weather | date=29 September 2002}}</ref>

==Death==
Towards the end of her life Dors had [[meningitis]] and twice underwent surgery to remove cancerous tumours. She collapsed at her home in Sunningdale with acute stomach pains and returned to the BMI Princess Margaret Hospital in Windsor, where she died a few days later on 4 May 1984, aged 52, from a recurrence of [[ovarian cancer]], first diagnosed two years before.<ref name=Bret/><ref>{{cite news|title=Diana Dors, 52, British Actress|agency=[[Associated Press]]|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|date=5 May 1984|page=1}}</ref>

She had converted to [[Catholicism]] in early 1973; hence her funeral service on 11 May was held at the Sacred Heart Church in Sunningdale, conducted by Father Theodore Fontanari.<ref name="shutterstock/diana-dors-funeral">{{cite web |title=Diana Dors Funeral Alan Lake |url=https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/search/alan-lake-funeral-diana-dors |website=[[Shutterstock]] |access-date=26 October 2025}}</ref><!-- https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/search/alan-lake-funeral-diana-dors   https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/alan-lake-funeral-his-wife-actress-diana-5849719a  https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/alan-lake-funeral-his-wife-actress-diana-5887804a  https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/21249092/diana-dors-who-children/ --> She was buried in Sunningdale Catholic Cemetery, Kiln Lane, Sunningdale.<!-- https://www.google.com/maps/place/Graves+of+Diana+Dors+and+Alan+Lake/@51.4021058,-0.6346053,405m/   https://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/gravedetails.php?grave=42566  https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-graves-of-actress-diana-dors-and-her-husband-alan-lake-news-photo/175045076  https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-diana-dors-grave-in-sunningdale-catholic-cemetery-25497507.html  --> [[Alan Lake]], her last husband, is buried by her side.<!--  [https://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/location.php?location=360 Cemeteries within Sunningdale]  -->
==Alan Lake's suicide==
After her death Alan Lake burned all Dors' remaining clothes and fell into a depression. On 10 October 1984 Lake did a telephone interview with ''[[Daily Express]]'' journalist [[Jean Rook]] and then walked into their son's bedroom and took his own life by firing a shotgun into his mouth.<ref name=Express208200>{{cite web|url=http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/208200|title=Men who destroyed Diana Dors|author=Neil Norman|work=Express.co.uk|date=29 October 2010 |access-date=18 January 2015}}</ref> He was 43. This was five months after her death from cancer and 16 years to the day since they had first met. Alan had no alcohol or illegal drugs in his system at the time of his death.<ref>Donnelley, Paul (2003) ''Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries'', Omnibus Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7119-9512-3}}, pp. 221–2.</ref>

Her home for the previous 20 years, Orchard Manor, was sold by the solicitors. The house's contents were bulk-sold by [[Sotheby's]], which sold her jewellery collection in an auction. After solicitors' bills, outstanding tax payments, death duties and other distributions, the combined estates of Dors and Lake left little for the upkeep of their son Jason (aged 14), who was subsequently made a [[ward of court]] to his half-brother Gary Dawson in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dianadors.co.uk/orchard_manor_41.html|title=Orchard Manor, Diana's last home.|work=dianadors.co.uk|access-date=24 October 2011|archive-date=6 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806024931/http://www.dianadors.co.uk/orchard_manor_41.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Jason Dors-Lake's death ==
On 14 September 2019 Jason Dors-Lake, the son of Diana Dors and Alan Lake, was reported to have died three days after his 50th birthday at his flat in [[Notting Hill Gate]], London, from the combined effects of alcohol and [[tramadol]] intoxication.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://metro.co.uk/2019/09/15/diana-dors-youngest-son-jason-dies-just-days-50th-birthday-10745943/|title=Diana Dors' youngest son Jason Dors Lake dies aged 50|first=Alicia|last=Adejobi|work=Metro News|date=15 September 2019|access-date=16 September 2019}}</ref>

== Commemoration in Swindon ==
[[File:Diana Dors statue, Shaw Ridge Leisure Park, Swindon (geograph 893160).jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of Dors in [[West Swindon]]]]
Dors is commemorated in her home town of Swindon.

=== Statue ===
A larger-than-life [[bronze]] statue of Dors by John Clinch was erected outside the cinema at Shaw Ridge in West Swindon in 1991. It depicts an exaggerated version of her wearing an evening gown.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DIANA DORS |url=https://statuesforequality.com/pages/diana-dors |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=Statues For Equality |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-09-07 |title=Germaine Greer on Britain's lack of proper statues of women |url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/sep/08/art.gender |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Diana Dors |url=https://pssauk.org/woman/diana-dors/ |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=Public Statues and Sculpture Association |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:Diana Dors Blue Plaque.jpg|thumb|Blue plaque in Kent Road, Swindon]]

=== Blue plaque ===
Swindon Heritage unveiled a [[blue plaque]] to Dors in 2017 on the boundary of numbers 61 and 62 Kent Road in the Old Town area of Swindon. At the time, the two properties were the Haven Nursing Home where she was born.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Diana Dors |url=https://www.swindonheritageblueplaques.com/diana-dors.html |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=SWINDON HERITAGE BLUE PLAQUES |language=en}}</ref> The plaque was unveiled by her son Jason Dors-Lake and her granddaughter Ruby Lake. Dors' 1959 pink [[Cadillac]], which was a gift to her from [[Shepperton Studios]], was parked outside during the unveiling.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-01-14 |title=Diana Dors' birthplace blue plaque unveiled |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-38622372 |access-date=2022-03-04}}</ref>

=== Bust ===
The collection of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery includes a bronze bust of Dors by Enid Mitchell.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Diana Dors (1931–1984) – Art UK |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/diana-dors-19311984-250969 |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=artuk.org |language=en}}</ref> It was originally unveiled at the [[Wyvern Theatre]] in the town in 1988, where it was displayed in the foyer until 2013, when it was moved to Swindon Central Library. It remained on display there until it was rehoused in the Museum and Art Gallery in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 December 2015 |title=Diana Dors takes up residence at museum to delight of town sculptor |url=https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/14164617.diana-dors-takes-up-residence-at-museum-to-delight-of-town-sculptor/ |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Swindon Advertiser}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
Dors was portrayed by [[Keeley Hawes]] (younger) and [[Amanda Redman]] (older) in the TV biographical film ''[[The Blonde Bombshell]]'' (1999).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2011/11/the-british-marilyn-blonde-bombshell-diana-dors|title=The British Marilyn: Blonde Bombshell Diana Dors |work=BBC America}}</ref>

On the cover of the 1967 album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (album)|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' by [[the Beatles]], Dors' wax figure appears in the collage of celebrities, on the right below the tree.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/page/sgt-pepper-and-friends|title=Sgt Pepper and friends|work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography}}</ref>

[[The Kinks]] paid homage to her when they included the [[Ray Davies]]-penned tribute tune "[[Good Day (The Kinks song)|Good Day]]" on their album ''[[Word of Mouth (The Kinks album)|Word of Mouth]]''.

After appearing as [[Adam Ant]]'s fairy godmother in his music video "[[Prince Charming (Adam and the Ants song)|Prince Charming]]", Dors was also included in the [[Adam and the Ants]] song "Scorpios" with lyrics "Black's the colour watch the claws, With nails as sharp as Diana Dors".

Dors was the cover star of [[the Smiths]]' album ''[[Singles (The Smiths album)|Singles]]''.

==Alleged fortune==
Dors claimed to have hidden away more than £2 million in banks across Europe. In 1982, she gave her son Mark Dawson a sheet of paper on which, she told him, was a code that would reveal the whereabouts of the money.<ref name=Bret/> His stepfather Alan Lake supposedly knew the key that would crack the code, but he died by suicide soon after her death and Dawson was left with an apparently unsolvable puzzle.<ref name=Bret/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/5104063.Secret_code_of_Diana_Dors__millions|title=Secret code of Diana Dors' millions|website=The Argus|date=18 September 2003 |language=en|access-date=10 November 2018}}</ref>

He sought out computer [[forensic]] specialists Inforenz, who recognised the encryption as the one attributed to [[Blaise de Vigenère]] ([[Vigenère cipher]]), but actually invented by [[Giovan Battista Bellaso]]. Inforenz then used their own cryptanalysis software to suggest a 10-letter [[decryption]] key, DMARYFLUCK (short for Diana Mary Fluck, Dors's real name).<ref name=Bret/> With the aid of a bank statement found among Alan Lake's papers, Inforenz was then able to decode the existing material to reveal a list of surnames and towns only – suggesting that there must be a second page that would reveal first names and bank details, to complete the message. As this has never come to light, no money has ever been traced. In 2003, [[Channel 4]] made a television programme about the mystery.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b89e6eeef|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111043731/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b89e6eeef|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 November 2018|title=Who Got Diana Dors' Millions? (2003)|publisher=BFI|access-date=10 November 2018|language=en}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| rowspan="3" |1947 || ''[[The Shop at Sly Corner]]'' || Mildred || Uncredited
|-
| ''[[Dancing with Crime]]'' || Annette || Uncredited. {{A.k.a.}} ''Code of Scotland Yard''.
|-
| ''[[Holiday Camp (film)|Holiday Camp]]'' || Dancer || Uncredited
|-
| rowspan="6" |1948 || ''[[The Calendar (1948 film)|The Calendar]]'' || Hawkins ||
|-
| ''[[Good-Time Girl]]'' || Lyla Lawrence ||
|-
| ''[[Penny and the Pownall Case]]'' || Molly James || 
|-
| ''[[Oliver Twist (1948 film)|Oliver Twist]]'' || Charlotte ||
|-
| ''[[My Sister and I (1948 film)|My Sister and I]]'' || Dreary Girl ||
|-
| ''[[Here Come the Huggetts]]'' || Diana Hopkins ||
|-
| rowspan="4" |1949 || ''[[Vote for Huggett]]'' || Diana Gowan ||
|-
| ''[[It's Not Cricket (1949 film)|It's Not Cricket]]'' || Blonde ||
|-
| ''[[A Boy, a Girl and a Bike]]'' || Ada Foster ||
|-
| ''[[Diamond City (film)|Diamond City]]'' || Dora Bracken ||
|-
|1950 || ''[[Dance Hall (1950 film)|Dance Hall]]'' || Carole ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |1951 || ''[[Worm's Eye View]]'' || Thelma ||
|-
| ''[[Lady Godiva Rides Again]]'' ||| Dolores August ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |1952 || ''[[The Last Page]]'' || Ruby Bruce ||
|-
| ''[[My Wife's Lodger]]'' || Eunice Higginbotham ||
|-
| rowspan="4" |1953 || ''[[The Great Game (1953 film)|The Great Game]]'' || Lulu Smith ||
|-
| ''[[Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?]]'' || Candy Markham ||
|-
| ''[[The Saint's Return]]'' || The Blonde in Lennar's Apartment ||
|-
| ''[[It's a Grand Life]]'' || Corporal Paula Clements ||
|-
|1954 || ''[[The Weak and the Wicked]]'' || Betty Brown || a.k.a. ''Young and Willing'' (U.S.)
|-
| rowspan="5" |1955 || ''[[As Long as They're Happy]]'' || Pearl Delaney ||
|-
| ''[[A Kid for Two Farthings (film)|A Kid for Two Farthings]]'' || Sonia ||
|-
| ''[[Miss Tulip Stays the Night]]'' || Kate Dax ||
|-
| ''[[Value for Money]]'' || Ruthine West ||
|-
| ''[[An Alligator Named Daisy]]'' || Vanessa Colebrook ||
|-
|1956 || ''[[Yield to the Night]]'' || Mary Hilton ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |1957 || ''[[The Long Haul (1957 film)|The Long Haul]]'' || Lynn ||  Spanish title: ''El Precio de un Hombre'' (''The Price of a Man'')
|-
| ''[[The Unholy Wife]]'' || Phyllis Hochen ||
|-
| rowspan="4" |1958 || ''[[The Love Specialist]]'' || Diana Dixon ||
|-
| ''[[I Married a Woman]]'' || Janice Blake Briggs || Original title: ''So There You Are''
|-
| ''[[Tread Softly Stranger]]'' || Calico ||
|-
| ''[[Passport to Shame]]'' || Vicki ||
|-
|1960 || ''[[Scent of Mystery]]'' || Winifred Jordan || First film in [[Smell-o-Vision]]. Re-released in [[Cinerama]] as ''Holiday in Spain''.
|-
| rowspan="2" |1961 || ''[[On the Double (film)|On the Double]]'' || Sergeant Bridget Stanhope ||
|-
| ''[[King of the Roaring '20s: The Story of Arnold Rothstein]]'' || Madge || a.k.a. ''The Big Bankroll''
|-
|1962 || ''[[Mrs. Gibbons' Boys (film)|Mrs. Gibbons' Boys]]'' || Myra ||
|-
|1963 || ''[[West 11]]'' || Georgia ||
|-
|1964 || ''[[The Counterfeit Constable]]'' || Diana Dors ||
|-
|1966 || ''[[The Sandwich Man (1966 film)|The Sandwich Man]]'' || First Billingsgate Lady ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |1967 || ''[[Danger Route]]'' || Rhoda Gooderich ||
|-
| ''[[Berserk!]]'' || Matilda ||
|-
|1968 || ''[[Hammerhead (film)|Hammerhead]]'' || Kit ||
|-
|1969 || ''[[Baby Love (1968 film)|Baby Love]]'' || Liz ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |1970 || ''[[Deep End (film)|Deep End]]'' || Mike's First Lady Client ||
|-
| ''[[There's a Girl in My Soup]]'' || His Wife ||
|-
|1971 || ''[[Hannie Caulder]]'' || Madame ||
|-
| rowspan="3" |1972 || ''[[The Pied Piper (1972 film)|The Pied Piper]]'' || Frau Poppendick ||
|-
| ''[[The Amazing Mr. Blunden]]'' || Mrs. Wickens ||
|-
| ''Swedish Wildcats'' || Margareta ||a.k.a. ''Every Afternoon''
|-
| rowspan="3" |1973 || ''[[Nothing but the Night]]'' || Anna Harb ||
|-
| ''[[Theatre of Blood]]'' || Maisie Psaltery ||
|-
| ''[[Steptoe and Son Ride Again]]'' || Woman In Flat ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |1974 || ''[[From Beyond the Grave]]'' || Mabel Lowe ||
|-
| ''[[Craze (film)|Craze]]'' || Dolly Newman ||
|-
| rowspan="4" |1975 || ''[[The Amorous Milkman]]'' || Rita ||
|-
| ''[[What the Swedish Butler Saw]]'' || Madame Helena ||
|-
| ''[[Bedtime with Rosie]]'' || Aunt Annie ||
|-
| ''[[Three for All]]'' || Mrs. Ball ||
|-
| rowspan="2" |1976 || ''[[Adventures of a Taxi Driver]]'' || Mrs. North ||
|-
| ''[[Keep It Up Downstairs]]'' || Daisy Dureneck || a.k.a. ''Can You Keep it Up Downstairs?'', ''My Favorite Butler''
|-
|1977 || ''[[Adventures of a Private Eye]]'' || Mrs. Horne ||
|-
|1979 || ''[[Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair]]'' || Jenny Stride ||
|-
|1985 || ''[[Steaming (film)|Steaming]]'' || Violet || Released posthumously
|}

==Television roles==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1951 || ''[[Face to Face (1951 film)|Face to Face]]''|| Angel || TV film
|-
| ''[[How Do You View?]]''|| Cuddles || 6 episodes
|-
| 1954 || ''[[Rheingold Theatre]]'' || Angie || Episode: "The Lovely Place"
|-
| 1957–1982 || ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This is Your Life]]''|| rowspan="3" | Self || 5 episodes
|-
|1959
|[[The Phil Silvers Show|''The Phil Silvers Show'']]
|Episode: "Keep in Step"
|-
|1959–1961
|[[The Diana Dors Show|''The Diana Dors Show'']]
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1960 || ''[[Armchair Theatre]]''|| Jane Francis || Episode: "[[The Innocent (TV play)|The Innocent]]"
|-
| ''[[The Red Skelton Hour]]''|| Joan Williams || Episode: "George Appleby's Neighbor"
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1961 || ''[[The Jack Benny Program]]''|| Lady Milbeck || Episode: "English Sketch"
|-
| ''[[Straightaway (TV series)|Straightaway]]''|| Photographer || Episode: "The Sportscar Breed"
|-
| 1962 || ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]''|| Irene Sadini || Episode: "[[The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Alfred Hitchcock Presents)|The Sorcerer's Apprentice]]"
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1963 || ''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]''|| Nickie Carole || Episode: "Run for Doom"
|-
| ''[[Burke's Law (1963 TV series)|Burke's Law]]''|| Maxine Borman || Episode: "Who Killed Alex Debbs?"
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1964 || ''[[The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)|The Eleventh Hour]]''|| Carol Devon || Episode: "87 Different Kinds of Love" 
|-
| ''[[Armchair Theatre]]''|| Grace Maxwell || Episode: "A Nice Little Business"
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1968 || ''The Inquisitors'' || Sweet P. Lawrence || Episode: "The Peeling of Sweet P. Lawrence"
|-
| ''Boy Meets Girl'' || Megan Norton-Grey || Episode: "Where Have All the Ghosts Gone?"
|-
| 1970–1972 || ''[[Queenie's Castle]]'' || Queenie Shepherd || All 18 episodes
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1971 || ''[[The Misfit (TV series)|The Misfit]]'' || Maggie || Episode: "On Superior Persons"
|-
| ''[[A Taste of Honey]]'' || Helen || All 3 episodes
|-
| ''[[Z Cars]]'' || Madge Owen || 2 episodes
|-
| 1972 ||''[[Dixon of Dock Green]]'' || Maisie Dewar || Episode: "The Informant"
|-
| 1973 || ''[[All Our Saturdays]]'' || Di Dorkins || All 6 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |1975
|[[Whodunnit? (British game show)|''Whodunnit?'']] 
|Self-Panelist
|Episode: "Death at the Top"
|-
| ''[[Thriller (British TV series)|Thriller]]'' || Bessy Morne || Episode: "Nurse Will Make It Better"
|-
| 1977–1978 || ''[[Just William (1977 TV series)|Just William]]'' || Mrs. Bott || 7 episodes
|-
| 1978 || ''[[The Sweeney]]'' || Mrs. Rix  || Episode: "Messenger of the Gods"
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1979 || ''Of [[Mycenae]] and Men'' || [[Helen of Troy]] || rowspan="2" | TV film
|-
| ''[[The Plank (1979 film)|The Plank]]'' || Woman with Rose 
|-
| rowspan="4" | 1980 || ''[[Hammer House of Horror]]'' || Mrs. Ardoy || Episode: "Children of the Full Moon"
|-
| ''[[Shoestring (TV series)|Shoestring]]'' || Maggie || Episode: "Looking for Mr Wright"
|-
| ''[[Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]'' || Kate Winterton || TV film
|-
| ''[[The Two Ronnies]]'' || The Commander || 4 episodes 
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1981 || ''[[BBC Television Shakespeare]]'' || Timandra || Episode: "[[Timon of Athens]]"
|-
| ''[[Dick Turpin (TV series)|Dick Turpin]]'' || Mrs. Buskin || Episode: "Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure: Part 4"
|-
| ''[[Top of the Pops]]'' || Fairy Godmother ||3 episodes
|-
|1982–1983
|''[[Punchlines]]''
|Self-Panelist
|2 Christmas Specials
|-
|1982
|[[The Morecambe & Wise Show (1978 TV series)|''The Morecambe & Wise Show'']] 
|Self
|Christmas Special
|-
| 1984 || ''[[The Cannon and Ball Show|Cannon and Ball]]'' || Miss Scarlett || Episode: #5.5
|}

==Select stage appearances==
*''[[The Cat and the Canary (play)|The Cat and the Canary]]'' (1949) at the Connaught Theatre, [[Worthing]]
*''The Good Young Man'' (1949)
*''Lysette'' (1949)

==References==
*Marriage No.1: GRO Index for Westminster, London. September quarter 1951, Volume No: 5C Page No:  874
*{{cite book|title=For Adults Only|author=Diana Dors|publisher=Star|date=14 February 1978|isbn=0-352-30158-9}}
*{{cite book|first=Diana|last=Dors|title=Swingin' Dors|year=1960|publisher=[[World Distributors]]}}
*{{cite book|title=Behind Closed Dors|author=Diana Dors|publisher=Star|date=February 1979|isbn=0-352-30335-2}}
*{{cite book|title=Dors by Diana|author=Diana Dors|publisher=Futura Publications|date=15 October 1981|isbn=0-7088-2025-5}}
*{{cite book|title=A. to Z. of Men|author=Diana Dors|publisher=Futura Publications|year=1984|isbn=0-7088-2345-9}}
*{{cite book|title=X-Cel diet|author=Diana Dors & Michael Waterfield|publisher=Julian P.|date=May 1983|isbn=0-901943-20-7}}
*{{cite book|author=Jason Lake|title=Diana Dors, My Mother}}
*{{cite book|title=Diana Dors: Hurricane In Mink|author=David Bret|publisher=JR Books Ltd|date=29 October 2010|isbn=978-1-907532-10-8}}
*{{cite book|title=Come by Sunday: The Fabulous, Ruined Life of Diana Dors|author=Damon Wise|publisher=Pan Books|date=7 May 1999|isbn=0-330-36765-X}}
*{{cite book|author=Joan Flory & Damien Walne|title=Diana Dors: Only A Whisper Away|publisher=Lennard Books|year=1987|isbn=0-7137-2046-8}}
*{{cite book|author=Tony Bilbow|title=Diana Dors|publisher=Channel 4|year=1990}}
*''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'' by Simon Sheridan (Titan Books) (fourth edition) 2011
*''Fallen Stars'' by Julian Upton (Critical Vision) 2004

===Notes===
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{Discogs artist}}
* {{IMDb name|2047|Diana Dors}}
* {{Find a grave|7023|Diana Dors}}
* {{British Comedy Guide|people|diana_dors}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928033412/http://dianadors.com Diana Dors] – memorial site
* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/487051 Diana Dors] at [[Screen Online]]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/image_galleries/diana_dors_gallery.shtml Diana Dors] ''A Life in Pictures'' – photo gallery at [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire BBC Wiltshire]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2005/11/15/pwaod_dors_feature.shtml Diana Dors] (1978) – archive local news footage] at [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire BBC Wiltshire]
*[http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/dors_diana.html Diana Dors] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809060033/http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/dors_diana.html |date=9 August 2011 }} interviewed by [[Mike Wallace]] on ''The Mike Wallace Interview'', 9 November 1957

{{Burlesque Hall of Fame}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dors, Diana}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
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[[Category:20th-century English actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century English women singers]]
[[Category:20th-century English singers]]
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[[Category:English television actresses]]
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[[Category:English autobiographers]]
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[[Category:Actresses from Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Actors from Swindon]]
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[[Category:English women autobiographers]]