Diana Sands

Who was Diana Sands?

Diana Sands was briefly married to Swiss painter Lucien Happersberger and was an American dramatic actress, perhaps most famous for her portrayal of Beneatha Younger, the sister of Sidney Poitier's character in the original stage and film versions of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. She also appeared in a number of dramatic television series in the sixties and seventies such as I Spy, as Davala Unawa in the 1967 The Fugitive episode "Dossier on a Diplomat", Dr. Harrison in the Outer Limits episode "The Mice", and Julia.

A member of the Actors Studio, Sands' performance in the Studio's 1964 production of James Baldwin's Blues for Mr. Charlie was a highlight of that show, and one which would be sorely missed during its subsequent London engagement when Sands had already committed to co-starring with Alan Alda in the original Broadway production of The Owl and the Pussycat for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Sands was culled eight years later to provide a track for the Original New York Cast album of Free to Be... You and Me. Unfortunately, she had died by the time the ABC Afterschool Special had begun production and her previously recorded vocal track was not selected for inclusion.