Dyanne Thorne (October 14, 1936 – January 28, 2020) was an American actress, stage performer, and vocalist. She was known for her stage work in Las Vegas and as the lead actress in the ''Ilsa'' film franchise which began with ''

Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS ''Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS'' is a 1975 Canadian nazisploitation film about a sadistic and sexually voracious Nazism, Nazi prison camp commandant. The film is directed by American filmmaker Don Edmonds and produced by David F. Friedman for Lionsga ...

'' (1975).

Early life and education

Born in

Park Ridge, New Jersey Park Ridge is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 8,883, its highest decennial census count ever and an increase of 238 (+2.8%) from the 2010 census co ...

, as Dorothy Ann Seib, and raised there primarily by her mother, she attended

Park Ridge High School Park Ridge High School is a six-year comprehensive community public high school with an integrated two-year middle school located in the borough of Park Ridge in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in seventh thro ...

, where she was one of the feature writers on the school newspaper. After graduating, she attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and took acting courses with

Uta Hagen Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a ...

Career

Dyanne Thorne began her career in show business as a band vocalist and New York stage actress. She also worked as a comedic sketch artist/talking foil. Comedy albums, with Allen & Rossi, Vaughn Meader and Lohman & Barkley, earned her appearances on many TV variety shows such as ''The Tonight Show'', ''Red Skelton'', ''Steve Allen'', ''Merv Griffin'', and with Tim Conway at

Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesar ...

hotel in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. Filmed in New York City, Thorne's first major film role was in Norman Chaitin's short ''Encounter'' (1965), which was also an early screen credit for

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...

. Moving to Hollywood to appear in ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'', and star as another villainess in Crown International's thriller '' Point of Terror'' (1971), led to further film roles. In 1975, Thorne married composer, conductor, musician and actor Howard Maurer. The couple subsequently starred in five films together, co-produced and starred in several Las Vegas Strip showroom productions and their careers took them around the world. As an actress, Thorne was known for her characterisation of the heinous international dominatrix and soldier of fortune "Ilsa". After her debut as Ilsa in ''

'' (1975), she reprised the role in the sequels '' Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks'' (1976), '' Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia'' and an unofficial entry '' Greta, the Mad Butcher'' (both 1977), the last directed by

Jess Franco Jess is a unisex given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Jessica, Jesse, Jessie, Jessy, Jesswin and a surname. It may refer to: Given name * Jess Atkinson (born 1961), American football player * Jess Cain (1926–2008), American radi ...

Later years

Thorne started but did not complete studies for a degree in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

. She claimed to have earned a degree in

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including human migration, migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study ...

over the course of ten years of study. As church ordained, non-denominational ministers by

Science of Mind The Religious Science movement, or Science of Mind, was established in 1926 by Ernest Holmes and is a spiritual, philosophical and metaphysical spiritual movement within the New Thought movement. In general, the term "Science of Mind" applie ...

, Thorne and husband Howard founded "A Scenic Outdoor Wedding" as an alternative to commercial chapel weddings.

Death

Thorne died in

on January 28, 2020, from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

at the age of 83.

Filmography

Television

Films

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, Dyanne 1936 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Connecticut Actresses from New Jersey American female adult models American film actresses Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Nevada New York University alumni Park Ridge High School alumni Actresses from Greenwich, Connecticut People from Park Ridge, New Jersey Religious Science clergy Method actors Actors from Bergen County, New Jersey