page_title: Diana Dors
section_title: RKO
hierarchical_section_title: Diana Dors / Hollywood / RKO
caption_attribution_description: Cropped screenshot of Diana Dors from the trailer for the film The Unholy Wife. Cropped further from Image:Diana Dors in The Unholy Wife trailer.jpg
context_page_description: Diana Dors was an English film and television actress and singer. She first came to public notice as a blonde bombshell in the style of American Marilyn Monroe, as promoted by her first husband, Dennis Hamilton, mostly via sex film-comedies and risqué modelling. After it turned out that Hamilton had been defrauding her, she continued to play up to her established image, and she made tabloid headlines with the parties reportedly held at her house. Later, she showed a genuine talent as a performer on TV, in recordings, and in cabaret, and gained new popularity as a regular chat-show guest. She also gave some well-regarded performances in worthwhile films at different points in her career.
  According to David Thomson, "Dors represented that period between the end of the war and the coming of Lady Chatterley in paperback, a time when sexuality was naughty, repressed and fit to burst."
context_section_description: Dors' performance attracted interest in Hollywood. In February 1956 she guest starred on a TV special Bob Hope made in England.
  In May 1956 Dors signed a contract with RKO to support George Gobel in I Married a Woman. She left Southampton on board the Queen Elizabeth for New York City and then to Hollywood.
  She said "I'm hoping to enjoy myself, keep my sense of fun and do a good job. It took me 10 years hard work in poor 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."
  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 Steiger, which started filming in September. Her fee was a reported $75,000, with the other films to go up $25,000. Dors reportedly had an affair with Rod Steiger during the filming of The Unholy Wife. In October 1956, Hamilton started an affair with Raymond's estranged wife in London.  In November, Dors announced she and Hamilton were separating. Dors later said "They   tried   getting   me   in  the   gas   chamber   again   in   Hollywood.. but [the film] wasn’t   good.   They  edited   it   badly.” 
  William Dozier of RKO announced Dors would star in Blondes Prefer Gentlemen with Eddie Fisher, but the film was never made. In August 1956 she announced she had signed a one-picture deal to appear in a Bob Hope movie. This never happened – nether did a project Robert Aldrich announced he wanted to make with Dors and Paul Douglas at UA, Potluck for Pomeroy.
  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.
  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.
  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." 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 English films were now $40,000 up from $20,000. In November, Dors returning to London announcing she and Hamilton had separated with the latter blaming Steiger.
caption: Diana Dors in The Unholy Wife
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