Diane Baker

Diane Baker Headshot

Actress • Producer

Birth Date: February 25, 1938

Age: 86 years old

Birth Place: Hollywood, California

This tall, lean, delicate leading and secondary player made her screen debut as Margot, the older sister, in "The Diary of Anne Frank" (1959) and has gone on to play numerous wives and, in maturity, strong female characters. Diane Baker began her career soon after turning 20 in "Diary."

Also in 1959, she was seen in "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "The Best of Everything." Baker was cast by Alfred Hitchcock in "Marnie" (1964), as Lil, the sister-in-law of Sean Connery who would like to be his next wife. But by the late 60s, film roles became occasional for Baker, and she was often seen in small, albeit key, roles.

In "Silence of the Lambs" (1991), she was Senator Ruth Martin seen pleading for the life of her abducted daughter in a noisy, flashy airport hanger. She was mother to Sandra Bullock in "The Net" (1995) and Matthew Broderick in Ben Stiller's "The Cable Guy" (1996).

TV has often offered steadier employment. Baker has appeared in numerous anthology series since the early 60s and appeared in one of the first movies made for TV, the 1966 ABC Western, "The Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones." She made guest appearances in numerous episodics and appeared in additional TV-movies. Baker was Edward G. Robinson's doubting daughter-in-law in "The Man Who Cried Wolf" (ABC, 1970) and was Katie Nolan, stalwart Irish-American mother, in the remake of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (NBC, 1974).

In "The Dream Makers" (NBC, 1975), she was the wife of college professor James Franciscus, watching as her husband becomes corrupted by the music industry. Her only regular series was the short-lived "Here We Go Again" (ABC, 1973) which featured two couples, in which each was formerly married to the gender opposite in the other couple. (Larry Hagman played Baker's current spouse.)

Baker branched out of acting in 1971, producing the Indian-made documentary "Ashiana/The Nest," which won the Special Jury Award at the 1971 Atlanta Film Festival. In 1976, she formed Artemis Productions and wrote the 1978 ABC Afterschool Special "One of a Kind," in which she also starred. In 1986, she starred in the CBS Schoolbreak Special "Little Miss Perfect," in which she played the overbearing mother of a bulimic teen.

The jewel in Baker's production efforts came in 1985 when she produced the syndicated miniseries "A Woman of Substance," based on the Barbara Taylor Bradford novel of society romance. Baker personally lured Deborah Kerr out of her Swiss retirement to star in the project.

Credits

The Surrogate

Actor
Louise
Movie
2013

Hemingway & GellhornStream

Actor
Mrs. Gellhorn
Movie
2012
49%

Lie to MeStream

Guest Star
Judge Quinn
Series
2009

Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story

Self
Movie
2007

Ballerina

Narrator
Movie
2006

The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam

Actor
Miss Taylor
Movie
2005

HouseStream

Guest Star
Blythe House
Series
2004
90%

Dragnet

Guest Star
Show
2003

First Monday

Guest Star
Show
2002

Kwiaty Harrisona

Actor
Mary Francis
Movie
2000

Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis

Actor
Rose Kennedy
Movie
2000

Harrison's Flowers

Actor
Mary Francis
Movie
2000

Law & Order: Special Victims UnitStream

Guest Star
Mago Nelson
Series
1999
78%

About Sarah

Actor
Lila Hollingsworth
Movie
1998

Murder at 1600Stream

Actor
Kitty Neil
Movie
1997
32%

The Cable GuyStream

Actor
Steven's Mother
Movie
1996
55%

The NetStream

Actor
Mrs. Bennett
Movie
1995
44%

ERStream

Guest Star
Louise Duffy
Series
1994

Chicago Hope

Guest Star
Series
1994

Imaginary Crimes

Actor
Abigail Tate
Movie
1994

The NannyStream

Guest Star
Series
1993

Twenty Bucks

Actor
Ruth Adams
Movie
1993

Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride

Actor
Laura Parrish
Movie
1992

Civil Wars

Guest Star
Maureen Frances
Show
1991

La Gargola de la Muerte

Actor
Movie
1991

Cada Vez Más Cerca

Actor
Movie
1991

The Silence of the LambsStream

Actor
Senator Ruth Martin
Movie
1991
95%

The Closer

Actor
Beatrice Grant
Movie
1991

The Haunted

Actor
Lorraine Warren
Movie
1991

A Woman of SubstanceStream

Actor
Miniseries
1985

Murder, She WroteStream

Guest Star
Anna Louise Barlow
Series
1984

The Pilot

Actor
Pat Simpson
Movie
1980

Fugitive Family

Actor
Ellen "Ellie" Roberts
Movie
1980

Trapper John, M.D.

Guest Star
Series
1979

Fantasy IslandStream

Guest Star
Series
1978

Stigma

Actor
DeeDee Mandell
Movie
1977

Baker's Hawk

Actor
Jenny Baker
Movie
1976

La Montre témoin

Actor
Movie
1976

The Last Survivors

Actor
Marilyn West
Movie
1975

The Dream Makers

Actor
Mary Stone
Movie
1975

Police Woman

Guest Star
Cynthia Lambert
Series
1974

Can I Save My Children?

Actor
Diana
Movie
1974

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Actor
Katie Nolan
Movie
1974

KojakStream

Guest Star
Irene Van Patten
Series
1973

Love Story

Actor
Angie Burnett
Show
1973

Police Story

Actor
Jenny Dale
Series
1973

Barnaby JonesStream

Guest Star
Series
1973

Here We Go Again

Actor
Susan Evans
Show
1973

The Police Story

Actor
Jenny Dale
Movie
1973

The Streets of San FranciscoStream

Guest Star
Inspector Irene Martin
Series
1972

Wheeler and Murdoch

Actor
Karen
Movie
1972

ColumboStream

Guest Star
Joanna Clay
Series
1971
84%

Police Surgeon

Guest Star
Rosalind Almont
Show
1971

The Badge or the Cross

Actor
Carol Swanson
Movie
1971

A Little Game

Actor
Elaine Hamilton
Movie
1971

Congratulations, It's a Boy!

Actor
Eydie
Movie
1971

Killer by Night

Actor
Tracey Morrow
Movie
1971

Night GalleryStream

Actor
Series
1970

Night GalleryStream

Guest Star
Series
1970

The Interns

Guest Star
Show
1970

Sarge

Actor
Movie
1970

The Old Man Who Cried Wolf

Actor
Peggy Pulska
Movie
1970

Do You Take This Stranger?

Actor
Rachel Jarvis
Movie
1970

Love, American Style

Actor
Wendy
Series
1969

Marcus Welby, M.D.Stream

Guest Star
Ann Brecht
Series
1969

Trial Run

Actor
Carole Trenet
Movie
1969

The D.A.: Murder One

Actor
Mary Brokaw
Movie
1969

Krakatoa, East of Java

Actor
Laura Travers
Movie
1969

The Name of the Game

Guest Star
Series
1968

The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit

Actor
Suzie `S.J.' Clemens
Movie
1968

Hawk

Guest Star
Show
1966

Sands of Beersheba

Actor
Susan
Movie
1966

The Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones

Actor
Amilia Rathmore
Movie
1966

The Big Valley

Guest Star
Series
1965

The Young Set

Self
Show
1965

Mirage

Actor
Shela
Movie
1965
100%

Perilous Times

Actor
Helen
Movie
1965

The Ghost of Sierra de CobreStream

Actor
Vivia Mandore
Movie
1964

Strait-Jacket

Actor
Carol Harbin
Movie
1964

MarnieStream

Actor
Lil Mainwaring
Movie
1964
83%

Mr. Novak

Guest Star
Show
1963

The FugitiveStream

Guest Star
Jean Carlisle
Series
1963

Devet sati do Rame

Actor
Movie
1963

Stolen Hours

Actor
Ellen
Movie
1963

The PrizeStream

Actor
Emily Stratman
Movie
1963
50%

Nine Hours to Rama

Actor
Sheila
Movie
1963

The Lloyd Bridges Show

Guest Star
Birdie
Show
1962

The 300 Spartans

Actor
Ellas
Movie
1962

Hemingway's Adventures of a Young ManStream

Actor
Carolyn
Movie
1962
0%

Bus Stop

Guest Star
Show
1961

Dr. Kildare

Guest Star
Series
1961

Route 66Stream

Guest Star
Elissa
Series
1960

Tess of the Storm Country

Actor
Tess MacLean
Movie
1960

The Wizard of Baghdad

Actor
Princess Yasmin
Movie
1960

Buick-Electra Playhouse

Actor
Show
1959

BonanzaStream

Guest Star
Series
1959

Journey to the Center of the EarthStream

Actor
Jenny Lindenbrook
Movie
1959
84%

The Diary of Anne FrankStream

Actor
Margot Frank
Movie
1959

The Best of EverythingStream

Actor
April Morrison
Movie
1959
57%

Wagon TrainStream

Guest Star
Series
1957