Olga Helen Laruska, later known as Dianne Foster, was born on October 31, 1928, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Ukrainian parents. She began her stage career performing in high school plays and local community theater productions, encouraged by her school drama teacher.
Foster then enrolled at the University of Alberta, majoring in drama, before finding work as a model and radio and stage actress in Toronto. She saved up enough money to go to England for further training and to find work, where she won a stage role in the play "The Hollow" and later toured with the production.
Foster's big break came when Orson Welles offered her a part in a West End production of "Othello", starring Welles, Peter Finch, and Laurence Olivier. She then began appearing in British films, including "The Quiet Woman" and "The Big Frame", before being encouraged to come to Hollywood in the early 1950s.
Foster made her US cinematic debut in the film noir "Bad for Each Other", and went on to appear in a string of films, including "Three Hours to Kill", "The Violent Men", and "Night Passage". She also made appearances in westerns, such as "The Brothers Rico" and "The Deep Six".
In the 1960s, Foster transitioned to episodic TV, appearing in a range of dramas and comedies, including "Perry Mason", "Route 66", and "Peter Gunn". She appeared in only two more films before retiring in 1967, and went on to focus on her family and painting.
Foster was married twice and had three children. She lived in the Los Angeles area for the remainder of her life, passing away on July 27, 2019, at the age of 90.
