Diana Quick

Diana Marilyn Quick (born 23 November 1946) is an English actress. Early life and family background Quick was born on 23 November 1946 in London, England. She grew up in Dartford, Kent, the third of four children. Her father was Leonard Quick, a dentist. She was educated at Dartford Grammar School for Girls, Kent. She was greatly aided by her English teacher, who encouraged her to pursue acting. She became a member of an amateur dramatic society in Crayford, Kent, while at school as well as appearing in many school productions. On leaving school, she went on in 1964 to pursue further studies at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Quick was the first female president of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. Quick spent seven years researching a book about her paternal family's life in India, which was published in 2009 by Virago with the title A Tug on the Thread: From the British Raj to the British Stage. In her book, Quick reveals that she is of mixed race (Anglo-Indian) descent. Her great-grandfather served 23 years in the army in India before becoming a policeman, and her great-grandmother had to flee from the Indian Rebellion of 1857 after her father was killed. Career Quick is perhaps best known for the role of Lady Julia Flyte in the television production of Brideshead Revisited. She received an Emmy and British Academy Television Awards nomination for her work. Quick has also appeared in many theatre, film and television productions. She made her stage debut in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park, London, in 1959. She has appeared in many stage productions in the United Kingdom and the United States, including The Rivals (1965), Hedda Gabler (1968), Measure for Measure (1970), The School for Scandal (1972), Hay Fever (1973), The Duchess of Malfi (1975), Saint Joan (1977), The Skin of Our Teeth (1981), and The Good Person of Szechwan (1984). Other stage work has included roles in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida and Brecht's The Threepenny Opera.