Diane Lane was born on 22 January 1965 in New York. Her parents are acting coach Burt Lane and nightclub singer/centerfold Colleen Farrington. Diane was acting from a very young age and had debuted on stage by the time she was only 6 years old. Acclaimed theater productions like "The Cherry Orchard" and "Medea" led to her being discovered by Hollywood. She was 13 when she was cast by director George Roy Hill in his wonderful 1979 film "Little Romance, A (1979)", opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. The film only did so-so commercially, but Olivier praised his young co-star calling her the new Grace Kelly . After her acclaimed debut, Diane found herself on magazine covers all over the world including 'Time' magazine which declared her as the 'new young acting sensation'. However, things were to go a little quiet as her next films "Touched by Love (1980)", "Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1981)", "National Lampoon Goes to the Movies (1983)", "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1981)", and "Six Pack (1982)" all failed to make an impression.
Diane also made several TV movies during this period, but it was in 1983 that she finally began to make inroads again into being a top star. Acclaimed director Francis Ford Coppola noticed Diane's appeal and cast her in two "youth" oriented films based on S.E. Hinton novels. Indeed "The Rumble Fish (1983)" and "Outsiders (1983)" have both become cult classics and gave her a loyal fan base. The industry was now taking notice and Diane Lane had secured lead roles in three big budget studio epics. She turned down the first, "The Splash (1984)", (which was a surprise hit for Daryl Hannah). And then sadly, the other two were both poorly received bombs. Walter Hill 's glossy 'rock 'n' roll fable' "Streets of Fire (1984)" was not the huge summer success that many had thought it would be and the hugely troubled Coppola epic "Cotton Club (1984)" co-starring Richard Gere was also a high-profile flop. In many ways the dual failure of these films could have ended her career there and then - but thankfully it didn't. Diane (maybe or maybe not burned by the poor reception these films received) "retired" for over 3 years and, at only 19 years old, claimed that she had forgotten what she had started acting for. Diane's performances in both films certainly wasn't to blame and, ironically, both have grown in popularity over the years, seeming to have found an audience.
The process of rebuilding her career was a slow and gradual one. First came the obscure and very sexy straight-to-video thriller "The Lady Beware (1987)" followed by the acclaimed but little seen "Big Town (1987)" with Matt Dillon and Tommy Lee Jones. In the former, Diane plays a very mysterious and sexy stripper and her memorable strip sequence is a highlight of the film. Despite her sexy on screen image, it wasn't until 1989's smash hit TV mini-series "Lonesome Dove" (1989) (mini)" that Diane Lane made another big impression on a sizable audience. Her performance in the hugely acclaimed western epic as a vulnerable "whore with a heart" won her an Emmy nomination and much praise. Film producers were now interested in her again. Another acclaimed TV production "Descending Angel (1990) (TV)" was followed by smaller roles in major films like Richard Attenborough's "Chaplin (1992)", and Mike Binder's "Indian Summer (1993)" and larger parts in small independent films like "My New Gun (1992)", "Vital Signs (1990)" and "Knight Moves (1992)". Indeed, the latter two films co-starred her then-husband, Christopher Lambert, with whom she had a daughter named Eleanor.
Diane was now re-established in Hollywood and started to appear in higher profile co-starring roles in some big budget, major movies like Walter Hill 's "Wild Bill (1995)", the Sylvester Stallone actioner "Judge Dredd (1995)", the Robin Williams 's comedy, "Jack (1996)" and "Murder at 1600 (1997)" co-starring Wesley Snipes. However, all of these still did not quite make Diane a "big name star" and, by 1997, she found herself (maybe by choice) back in smaller, personal projects.
Her next role as a frustrated 60s housewife in the highly acclaimed independent hit "The Walk on the Moon, A (1999)" deservedly won huge praise and, at last, gave her profile a huge lift. The cute but tear-jerking comedy "My Dog Skip (2000)" also proved to be a small-scale success. But it was the £330 million worldwide grossing blockbuster hit "Perfect Storm (2000)" that finally made Diane Lane the household name star that she always should have been.
After the worldwide success of "The Perfect Storm (2000)", Diane Lane was more in demand than ever. She played Leelee Sobieski's sinister junkie guardian in the slick thriller "Glass House, The (2001/I)", and co-starred with Keanu Reeves in the number one smash hit "Hard Ball (2001)". However, Diane's greatest career moment was still to come with her lead role in the enormous critical and commercial smash-hit "Unfaithful (2002)", in which she superbly portrayed Richard Gere's cheating wife. Her performance won the hearts of critics and audiences alike, and there is much speculation about Academy Awards recognition. Media and critical attention quickly followed the films successful opening, and the Hollywood A-list beckons.
She is very well regarded within the industry, unanimously adored by film fans, and has a credibility and quality that is all too rare today. Her immense talent at playing human and real characters, her incredible "drop dead gorgeous" beauty, and down-to-earth grittiness will almost surely guarantee that she soon becomes a major star the world over, and she has already shown the kind of resilience that will keep her working for a long, long time.
hide 
