Diana Douglas, mother of Michael Douglas, dies at 92

Webster said she was admitted to the hospital about a month before her death.

Her father, Col. Thomas Melville Dill, was a prominent Bermudan lawyer, politician and soldier who served as the British territory’s attorney general.

As stated by her obituary, “Kirk Douglas, by then serving in the Navy during World War II, saw her on the cover and told his shipmates he would marry her”.

An actress in her own right, Diana made her screen debut alongside Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in Keeper of the Flame in 1942. She was also one of the models of the Powers Agency. The couple married in 1943 and had two children actor Michael Douglas and Joel Douglas. All four actors are cast members in the film, which was produced by Michael Douglas.

She also had starring or supporting roles in numerous plays including My Fair Lady, Best of Friends, Cactus Flower, Major Barbara, Modern Primitive, A Winter’s Tale, Hedda Gabler, Light Up the Sky and The Highest Tree.

Diana went on to feature on television shows including Dynasty and The West Wing. She had a recurring role in Days of Our Lives where she played Martha Evans from 1977 to 1982. Joel Douglas served as a producer on the film, as did Michael.

Diana Douglas and husband, Donald Webster, attend the special screening of MGM’s, “It Runs in the Family” at Mann Bruin Theatre April 7, 2003 in Westwood, California.

Douglas blamed Kirk’s reported womanizing and drug use for their breakup.

Asked by Michael to put her memories on paper for her grandson Cameron, she wrote 1999’s In the Wings: A Memoir, which included the revelation that she once dated the swashbuckling star Errol Flynn.

The cause was cancer, said her husband, Donald Webster.

Reflecting on her marriage to the mercurial Douglas proved “useful” during the making of It Runs in the Family, she noted, “particularly the scene where we were dancing together”.