Australian Biography Diane Study Guide rie natalenko and jacqui stone cilento Series 8

(1932 - 2011 ) actor

INTRODUCTION

his program is an episode of Australian Biography (Series 8) produced by the Na- ...she went to New tional Interest Program of Film Australia. This well-established series profiles some Tof the most extraordinary Australians of our time. Many have had a major impact York with her father, on the nation’s cultural, political and social life. All are remarkable and inspiring people who have reached a stage in their lives where they can look back and reflect. Through

where she secretly ISSUE 29 AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION revealing in-depth interviews, they share their stories - of beginnings and challenges, landmarks and turning points. In so doing, they provide us with an invaluable archival spent her days at record and a unique perspective on the roads we, as a country, have travelled. the museum and SYNOPSIS an Academy Award nomination for Tom the movies instead Jones in 1963. That was also the year achieved international ac- her celebrity reached its height, with her claim as a stage and screen actor in the husband as of in the classroom, 1950s and 60s. A graduate of the Royal attracting feverish attention the world Academy of Dramatic Art in , she over. and where she dis- won a Critics Choice Award for her thea- tre role in Tiger at the Gates in 1956 and It was far removed from her days growing covered acting. 

Above: diane cilento in 2001 8 Australian Biography diane cilento

CURRICULUM LINKS son, Jason, who is now a famous actor in his own right. Diane left Sean Connery in Australian Biography: Diane Cilento will 1970 and divorced him the following year. have interest and relevance for students In 1985, Diane married English playwright at upper secondary and tertiary levels. (1926 – 2001). Curriculum links include English, Drama, Media Studies, Society and Culture, • The first image we see of Diane’s first Personal Development, Philosophy and husband is a painting. How would you Studies of Religion. describe it? What effect is produced by using this image? Why was this BEFORE WATCHING image selected, do you think? • What were some of the issues that Construct a timeline showing the major Diane faced in her marriage to Andrea historical events in Australia in the 20th Volpe? What does she mean by the century. reference to Romeo and Juliet? • What was the effect of Sean Con- Research news making the headlines in nery’s success on Diane Cilento’s Australia in the 1930s and on the date Di- life and on their marriage? ane Cilento was born: 5 October 1932. • What were some of the challenges that Diane experienced in trying to Find some statistics about her birthplace, raise children in a ‘normal’ family , from that year, eg. population, environment? main industries, etc. • If you were the child of two famous people, what privileges and what Discuss some reasons a person may problems might you experience? up in as one of six children have for wanting to become an actor and to Lady Phyllis and Sir , the skills that are required. ROLE: ACTOR both eminent doctors. But not necessar- ily surprising. Diane had been a rebel- AFTER WATCHING Learning to Act lious child. Expelled from her school in Australia, she went to New York with her FORMATIVE YEARS The best part of learning any profession father, where she secretly spent her days is when you’re really going through those at the museum and the movies instead of Diane Cilento doesn’t believe that her huge stretching escalated times of learn- in the classroom, and where she discov- childhood years were ‘normal’, in that ing and energy, when you want to do it ered acting. her home was always full of visitors and so much. she was given a lot of freedom by her Young Diane was impetuous, passion- parents. • Do you agree with Diane Cilento’s ate, dramatic. Her early life was marked statement? To what extent can the by intense peaks of emotion: her elope- She says that she became rebellious during power of a burning ambition help ment with a romantic Italian at the age her time at boarding school, where she was someone to achieve their goals? Do of 23, a nervous breakdown and suicide sent after her father was posted overseas. you think there is also a downside? attempt, and twice fleeing marriages When she joined her father in New York she without warning. says her behaviour did not improve and she Instead of going to school while in New became a chronic truant. York, Diane fuelled her passion for per- These days, Diane talks about balance. formance and the arts. Cilento’s acting She has a happy marriage, spiritual con- • Do you think that there is such a thing career began when she stumbled into an tentment and a magnificent Queensland as ‘too much freedom’ for a child? audition session at Carnegie Hall where property where she runs a theatre amidst • What attitudes are revealed by the she took dance lessons and instantly the rainforest. It’s a place she has reached statement Diane uses, ‘You’re not won a part. She then studied at the Royal after turning her back on stardom in the the boss of me’? Academy of Dramatic Art in London and 1970s and beginning a journey of self- in New York. discovery. ROLE: WIFE AND MOTHER Diane’s stage and screen careers seemed In a very candid interview, Diane talks Diane Cilento married three times. When to fall into place when director Alexander about what she has learnt from her roles: she was 23 she eloped to marry Andrea Korda saw her work and signed her on a as an actor, as wife and mother, and as Volpe, an Italian, with whom she had her long-term contract. In 1963, she played

ISSUE 29 AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION someone seeking spiritual fulfilment. first child, Giovanna. She married fellow Tom’s promiscuous, mud-stained lady actor Sean Connery in 1962. They had a friend Molly Seagrim in Tom Jones, and 

Diane Cilento at 17 years of age was nominated for an Oscar for the role. ance fees actors who have ‘made A New Direction – the Sufi As well as acting, Diane has directed and it’ receive are justifiable? Why/why Experience worked as a crew member on a number not? of films. Diane began going to philosophical and ROLE: SEEKING SPIRITUAL meditation classes with a group of people • What does Diane say she learned at FULFILMENT whom she described as ‘bizarre’. While the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art? open to new ideas, she initially didn’t think • Where does she say she really learned Life Crises in Review that she’d continue attending, but after a to act? Why were movement studies short while felt that she was interested in and observation so important to her What I realise is that I probably am a pursuing the pathway. development as an actor? person who skips off when things get a bit difficult and I can’t hope to get them For a year she studied under John Godol- Celebrity in order. phin (J.G.) Bennett, an English Mystic and teacher (1897-1974). Bennett utilized For some actors, fame and fortune seem In the program Diane reveals several ideas from Sufism in his teachings. to go hand in hand. By the time she was occasions when she literally ran away about 18, Diane says she was earning from the challenges that she was facing Mysticism is described as the search more than her parents, which was a great in life. During her first marriage she also for direct personal experience of the surprise to them. attempted suicide. divine. A mystic may use prayer, medita- tion, invocation, chanting, recitation or • What is celebrity? What lifestyle In the wake of her break-up with Sean various ascetic practices as part of the changes do you think it might bring Connery, Diane Cilento asked herself discipline. Sufism is generally understood to someone who becomes famous at ‘Who am I?’ and ‘What am I doing by scholars and Sufis to be the inner, a young age? here?’ mystical dimension of Islam. Tradition- • How did Diane Cilento help Sean ally, it is regarded as the esoteric aspect Connery break into acting? • Why did she ask these questions? What of Islam, rather than a separate religion. • How did Diane Cilento cope with the was it that she wanted from life? Today, however, many Muslims and non- pressure of her celebrity status? Muslims regard Sufism as being outside the sphere of Islam. The Role of the Media

When talking about the media attention she received, Diane emphasizes the word ‘huge’.

• The image of Diane Cilento on the cover of the magazine Picture Post was not glamorous. Was this an ap- propriate image for the accompanying story? • View the piece of news footage about Diane’s return to Australia. The cov- erage mentions her hair but not her pregnancy. Why is this? How might this be reported differently today? • Why does she say that living with the press attention was ‘worse than living ISSUE 29 AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION in a fishbowl’?

Career

• Why was Sean Connery not accept- able to the film and theatre world of the time? • Is a career something that you have for your whole life? • What transferable skills do you think actors in general would have? • Do you think that the large perform- 

Diane Cilento in a still from Hitler: The Last Ten Days 8 Australian Biography diane cilento

In Sufism, ascetic practices commonly visual form? 6 sufism include standing, sitting or night vigils. • When she is speaking about the 7 the life and career of John Godolphin The turning of the whirling dervishes, process of learning to act, what is Bennett about which Diane Cilento made an the effect of the zoom into the ex- 8 Whirling Dervishes award-winning film, is practised by only treme close up on the picture of the • Write Diane Cilento’s school report some Sufi Orders.1 young Diane Cilento? How does this from Toowoomba Boarding School. image reflect the ideas expressed in • Write a letter from Lady Cilento to Poetry and odes are also a feature in Suf- the voice-over? Diane while she was living in New ism. An insight into Sufi philosophy can • If you had the final edit decisions on York with her father. be gleaned from the writing of Shaykh this program, would you make any • Write a letter from Diane to her mother Necmeddin of the Naqshbandi Order: changes? If so, what would they be after she had been accepted by the and why? American Academy of Dramatic Art. When you are everywhere, you are no- • View the footage of Diane Cilento rid- • Write several diary entries for Diane where. ing a mower. What effect does this Cilento. Select times which you think When you are somewhere, you are eve- image have on her overall image in would have been the most significant rywhere.2 the program? for her. • What catchy titles can you think of • Write a letter to Diane Cilento in which • Discuss what is meant by the above that would be appropriate for this you discuss the program and tell her statement. program? your views on what you discovered. • Spiritual belief is a very personal is- Include your opinions on her philoso- sue. From what you have learnt from ACTIVITIES phy of life. the program and about the philoso- phies of Mysticism and Sufism, what • Summarize Diane Cilento’s achieve- Extension Activities do you think may have resonated with ments. Diane? • Stick a picture of Diane Cilento in the • Write your own autobiography. centre of a page and write a series • Write the biography of someone you A Voyage of Discovery of statements about her to surround know well – a friend or a member of the picture. Choose the events in your family. • What three stages does Diane Cilento her life that you consider to be most • Write questions for a member of your believe our lives are divided into? Do significant. Construct a similar page family and interview them about their you agree with this? Give reasons for using the events that you consider to life. You can tape this and edit it if you your answer. be trivial. have the necessary equipment. • Robin Hughes, the interviewer, says • Choose one section of Cilento’s life that Diane is ‘still a risk taker.’ What and rewrite it as a play. DIANE CILENTO: ROLL CREDITS is the evidence presented to sup- • Write a newspaper report of a signifi- port this assertion? What is Diane’s cant event in Diane Cilento’s life. Film & Television Features response? • Draw a storyboard of the events that - Actor • Why does Diane Cilento say that she led her to be auditioned at the Ameri- felt she had to prove herself? Is it can Academy of Dramatic Art. 1 Boy Who Had Everything, The important to prove oneself? • What questions would you ask Diane (1984)… Mother • Why do you think Diane says that she Cilento if you had the chance? aka Winner Takes All (1984) thinks she is a bit of a freak? • What were the main turning points in 2 Duet for Four (1982).... Margot Ma- • How is the phrase ‘living your own Diane Cilento’s life? Give reasons for son vision’ reflected in the laser show? your answer. 3 For the Term of His Natural Life • Diane uses the following words to • Write your own short biography of (1982) (TV) describe her life: ‘bizarre’, ‘flowed’, Diane Cilento. 4 Tycoon (1978) TV Series ... Diana ‘right’ and ‘cohesive’. What does • Imagine you are Diane Cilento. Write Clark this say about the way Cilento sees a letter to someone you are close to, 5 Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973) ... her own journey? explaining your decision to give up • What lessons can be learned from the acting as a career. aka Ultimi 10 giorni di Hitler, Gli (Italy) life of Diane Cilento? • Design a cover for the video of this 6 Wicker Man, The (1973) ... Miss program. Rose MEDIA STUDIES • Research one of the following topics aka Anthony Shaffer’s and present your findings in the form 7 Spell of Evil (1973) (TV) ... Clara • The program is an interview inter- of a speech: aka Thriller: Spell of Evil (UK: series title) spersed with still photographs and 1 the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 8 Z.P.G. (1972) ... Edna Borden

ISSUE 29 AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION some film footage. Assess the ef- 2 the life and career of Sean Connery aka Edict fectiveness of this form of program. 3 the life and career of aka First of January, The What could be another way to present 4 the life and career of Anthony Shaffer aka Zero Population Growth (UK)  biographical information in an audio- 5 the Oscars 9 Negatives (1968).... Reingard 10 Another Moon Called Earth (1967) (USA: complete title) Mysticism and Sufism (TV).... Penelope Source: Internet Movie Database - http:// Laleh Bakhtiar, Sufi: Expressions of the aka Thirty-Minute Theatre: Another Moon Called us.imdb.com Mystic Quest, Thames and Hudson, UK, Earth (UK: series title) 1976. 11 Hombre (1967).... Jessie Theatre - Actor Ira Friedlander, The Whirling Dervishes, 12 Once Upon a Tractor (1965) Wildwood House, London, 1975. 13 Agony and the Ecstasy, The (1965).... Diane Cilento performed in many theatre Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri, The Elements Contessina de Medici productions over the span of her career. of Sufism, Element Books, UK, 1990. aka Irving Stone’s The Agony and the Ecstasy Most notable was her role as Helen of Sufism’s Many Paths – article by Dr. (1965) Troy in Tiger at the Gates, for which she Alan Godlas, University of Georgia 14 Rattle of a Simple Man (1964).... received the Critics’ Choice Award for http://islam.uga.edu/profbio.html Cyrenne Best Actress in New York. Other plays in John Godolphin Bennett has many web 15 Third Secret, The (1964).... Anne which she has had major roles include sites which detail his life and his Tanner Heartbreak House, Tennesse Williams’ philosophy, including: 16 Tom Jones (1963).... Molly Orpheus Descending, Romeo and Juliet, http://www.gurdjiefflegacy.org/archives/ 17 I Thank a Fool (1962).... Liane Dane My Place, A Castle in Sweden, To Clothe johnbennett.htm www.themystica.com/ 18 Naked Edge, The (1961).... Mrs the Naked, Altona, The Idiot and The mystica/articles/b/bennett_j_g.html Heath Taming of the Shrew. www.disinfo.com/pages/dossier/id142/ 19 Full Treatment, The (1961).... Denise pg1/ Colby Film – Director aka Stop Me Before I Kill! (1961) (USA) Endnotes aka Treatment, The Turning, BBC, London, c. 1980. 1 Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri, The Ele- 20 Jet Storm (1959).... Angelica Como ments of Sufism, Element Books, UK, aka Killing Urge Memoir 1990. 21 Truth About Women, The (1958).... 2 Ira Friedlander, The Whirling Der- Ambrosine Viney • My Nine Lives, Viking Penguin, vishes, Wildwood House, London, 22 Anna Christie (1957) (TV) Camberwell, 2006 1975, p. 19. 23 Passionate Stranger, A (1957) (un- credited) Novels - Author Australian Biography: Diane Cilento aka Novel Affair, A (USA) A Film Australia National Interest Program 24 Admirable Crichton, The (1957).... • The Manipulator, Hodder Paperbacks, Director/Producer: Robin Hughes Tweeny London, 1967. Executive Producer: Mark Hamlyn aka Paradise Lagoon (USA) • Hybrid, Hodder & Stoughton, London, Duration: 26 minutes 25 Passage Home (1955).... Ruth Elton 1970. Year: 2001 26 Woman for Joe, The (1955).... Mary Study guide © ATOM and Film Australia 27 Passing Stranger (1954).... Jill RESOURCES This study guide was produced by ATOM. 28 Angel Who Pawned Her Harp, The For more information about ATOM study (1954).… The Angel dIAnE cILEnTO guides or The Speakers’ Bureau visit our 29 Meet Mr. Lucifer (1953) The following links give brief web site: 30 All Hallowe’en (1952).... Harriet biographical details and filmographies. http:www.metromagazine.com.au/ 31 Moulin Rouge (1952) (uncredited) Hollywood.com - www.hollywood.com/ studyguides/study.asp 32 Wings of Danger (1952).... Jean- celebs/detail/celeb/198750 nette Internet Movie Database - http:// us.imdb.com/ TV Drama - Notable Guest Appearances Sean Connery The Official Web Site of Sir Sean Con- ISSUE 29 AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION 1 Persuaders!, The (1971) playing nery - www.seanconnery.com ‘Kate’ in episode: ‘Death in the Family, There are many informative Sean Connery For information about Film Australia’s A’ (episode # 21) 2/4/1972 fan sites. This is a selection: programs, contact: 2 Espionage (1963) in episode: ‘Fes- http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/ National Film and Sound Archive of tival Of Pawns’ (episode # 1.10) Guild/7634/connery.html Australia 12/11/1963 http://www.ianfleming.org/mkkbb/ Sales and Distribution | PO Box 397 3 Alcoa Hour, The (1955) in episode: guide/seanconnery/ Pyrmont NSW 2009 T +61 2 8202 0144 | F +61 2 8202 0101 ‘Small Servant, The’ (episode # 1.2) JASOn cOnnERY 10/30/1955 E: [email protected] | www.nfsa.gov.au https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Jason_Connery http://www.imdb.com/ Miscellaneous name/nm0001064/bio

• You Only Live Twice (1967) (body AnThOnY ShAFFER  double: ‘Kissy’) (uncredited) www.hollywood.com/celebs/bio/ aka ’s You Only Live Twice celeb/344027