Diane D'Aquila (born October 23, 1952) is an American-

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

actress. She has appeared in both television and film roles, but is best known for her stage appearances at the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a repertory theatre organization that operates from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shak ...

Early life

Born in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

, D'Aquila was raised in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. She spent much of her adult life and career in Canada and holds

dual citizenship Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...

Career

D'Aquila originated the role of

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

Timothy Findley Timothy Irving Frederick Findley, (October 30, 1930 – June 20, 2002) was a Canadian novelist and playwright.

's play, '' Elizabeth Rex''. She won both an

ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards are Canadian accolades presented since 1972 to celebrate excellence in cinema, television and radio industries.Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

in 2005 for her performance in the play's television adaptation. In 2009, she played Mary Mercer in Soulpepper's revival of David French's '' Of the Fields, Lately''. She appeared on television and films including such appearances in ''

Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...

'', '' Street Legal'', ''

Used People ''Used People'' is a 1992 romantic comedy film directed by Beeban Kidron. The film stars Shirley MacLaine, Marcello Mastroianni, Bob Dishy, Kathy Bates, Marcia Gay Harden, Jessica Tandy, Doris Roberts and Joe Pantoliano. The screenplay by Todd Gr ...

'', ''

The Ray Bradbury Theater ''The Ray Bradbury Theatre'' is an anthology series that ran for three seasons on Crave (TV network), First Choice Movie Central, Superchannel in Canada and HBO in the United States from 1985 to 1986, and then on USA Network, running for four ad ...

'', ''

Hangin' In ''Hangin' In'' is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on CBC from 1981 to 1987. It aired briefly on Nickelodeon and in syndication in the United States. Synopsis The show starred Lally Cadeau as Kate Brown, the attractive and charismatic ...

'', '' Jane's House'', '' The Long Island Incident'', '' 72 Hours: True Crime'', ''

Milk and Honey Milk and Honey may refer to: Music * The Milk and Honey Band, an English band * Milk and Honey (album), ''Milk and Honey'' (album), a 1984 album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono * Milk & Honey (Crowder album), ''Milk & Honey'' (Crowder album), 2021 * M ...

'' and ''

Slings and Arrows ''Slings & Arrows'' is a Canadian television series set at the fictional New Burbage Festival, a Shakespearean festival similar to the real-world Stratford Festival. It stars Paul Gross, Stephen Ouimette and Martha Burns. Rachel McAdams appeared ...

''. She has done voice-overs in animation including '' Little Bear'' as Grandmother Bear, '' Franklin'' as Miss Lynx, ''

Bob and Margaret ''Bob and Margaret'' is an adult animated sitcom created by David Fine and Alison Snowden and co-produced by Nelvana Limited and Channel 4 as a collaboration, both financial and artistic. The last two seasons were co-produced without Channel 4 ...

'', '' Bad Dog'', ''

Ultraforce The Ultraforce is a fictional superhero group that appears in American comic books published by Malibu, and later Marvel. The purpose of the group was to protect the public and keep other "Ultras" (superheroes) from becoming unruly. The group co ...

'', '' The Busy World of Richard Scarry'', '' Medabots'', '' Roboroach'', ''

Rescue Heroes Rescue Heroes are a line of Action figure, action figures targeted towards preschool-age children, released by Fisher-Price. The line was first introduced in 1997, depicting various rescue personnel, such as firefighters, police officers, and con ...

'', ''

Rolie Polie Olie ''Rolie Polie Olie'' is an animated television series created by William Joyce, and is produced by Nelvana in co-production with French broadcaster La Cinquième/France 5. It was produced in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporati ...

'', '' Freaky Stories'', ''

Ned's Newt ''Ned's Newt'' is an animated television series created by Andy Knight and Mike Burgess and co-produced by Nelvana and German company TV-Loonland AG, TMO Film GmbH (later renamed as "TMO-Loonland Film GmbH" in seasons 2–3) in conjunction with ...

'', ''

Angela Anaconda ''Angela Anaconda'' is a comedy animated children's TV series created by Joanna Ferrone and Sue Rose that originally aired from Fall 1999 until December 10, 2001. 65 episodes were produced. Premise The show focuses on the adventures of an e ...

'', '' Monster Force'', ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' ...

'', ''

George Shrinks ''George Shrinks'' is a Canadian children's animated television series. It is based on the children's book by the well-known author William Joyce, co-produced by Nelvana Limited and Jade Animation, produced in association with PBS. The show p ...

'', ''

Timothy Goes to School ''Timothy Goes to School'' is a preschool children's animated television series based on books by Rosemary Wells, but is titled after the book of the same name. The series is a co-production with Nelvana Limited and Animation Services (Hong Kon ...

'', ''

Blaster's Universe ''Blaster's Universe'' is an animated children's television series, made by Nelvana and Hong Guang Animation, that ran for one season from September 1999 on CBS and in 2000 on Teletoon. It is based on Knowledge Adventure's '' Blaster Learning ...

'', ''

Flying Rhino Junior High ''Flying Rhino Junior High'' is a fantasy Animated series, animated television series produced by Neurones Animation, Nelvana Limited, and STV Studios, Scottish Television Enterprises. The show was originally aired from 3 October 1998 until 22 ...

'', '' The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police'', ''

Pippi Longstocking Pippi Longstocking () is the fictional main character in a series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story when she was off school. Pippi is ...

'', ''

Dumb Bunnies ''Dumb Bunnies'' is a series of books created by Dav Pilkey, the author of ''Captain Underpants, Dog Man, and Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot'' under the pseudonym "Sue Denim". They involve the adventures of a dumb family of bunnies. The Dumb Bunnie ...

'', '' Highlander: The Animated Series'', '' World of Quest'', '' The Seventh Portal'', ''

Chilly Beach ''Chilly Beach'' is a Canadian animated sitcom that aired on CBC from 2003 to 2006. The series is a comedic depiction of life in the fictional Canadian town of Chilly Beach, described by the producers as "a bunch of Canadians doing the stuff that ...

'', '' Wilbur'', ''

The Berenstain Bears ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'', ''

Tales from the Cryptkeeper ''Tales from the Cryptkeeper'' is an animated children's horror television series made by Canada-based studio Nelvana. The series was broadcast on ABC in the United States, and on ITV in the United Kingdom. It is based on the 1950s EC Comics ...

'', ''

The Neverending Story ''The Neverending Story'' () is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. It was later adapted into a film series and a television series. Plot T ...

'', ''

Corduroy Corduroy is a textile with a distinctively raised "cord" or wale texture. Modern corduroy is most commonly composed of tufted cords, sometimes exhibiting a channel (bare to the base fabric) between them. Both velvet and corduroy derive from fu ...

'', '' Pandalian'', '' Busytown Mysteries'', '' Kaput and Zosky'', '' Jane and the Dragon'', '' The Avengers: United They Stand'', ''

Silver Surfer The Silver Surfer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character also appears in a number of movies, television, and video game adaptations. The character was created by Jack Kirby and first a ...

'' and ''

Cyberchase ''Cyberchase'' is an animated series, animated science fantasy children's television series that airs on PBS Kids. The series centers around three children from Earth: Jackie, Matt and Inez, who are brought into Cyberspace, a digital universe, i ...

''. In 2017, D'Aquila portrayed the title role in ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' at Toronto's Shakespeare in

High Park High Park is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. High Park is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One-third of the park remains ...

, one of relatively few women ever to have performed the traditionally male role."Actress Diane D’Aquila on playing the role of King Lear as a woman"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', July 5, 2017.

Personal life

D'Aquila was married to Canadian actor C. David Johnson from 1987 to 1992.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:D'Aquila, Diane 1953 births Canadian television actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian voice actresses Canadian stage actresses American television actresses American film actresses American voice actresses American stage actresses American expatriate actresses in Canada Canadian Screen Award winning actors Actresses from Iowa Actors from Cedar Rapids, Iowa Living people Date of birth missing (living people) American emigrants to Canada Canadian Shakespearean actresses