A FILM buff researching the town’s most famous daughter has appealed for people’s memories of the Siren of Swindon – Diana Dors.

Ian Payne is putting together a scrapbook on the blonde bombshell, born Diana Mary Fluck in Swindon in 1931, and would like help researching her life.

He has compiled several similar projects, including on Diana’s contemporary Joan Collins and former prime minister Sir Anthony Eden, and plans to donate what he calls ‘a labour of love’ to libraries in Swindon when it is finished.

Diana, dubbed the English Marilyn Monroe, was the only daughter of railway worker Peter Fluck and his wife Mary. She married three times and had four children before she died following a battle with stomach cancer in 1984.

Ian, who lives in Walsall, said: “I first became interested in Diana Dors, when writing about the late great comedy actor Richard Wattis in 2003- 2005.

“Both Diana and Joan starred in uncredited roles with Richard Wattis in Lady Godiva Rides Again in 1951.

“When I found out that Swindon Library only has a small amount of information on her, I felt my chance had come to put together a professional scrapbook of pictures and articles from all my many film magazines and books about Diana Dors.

“The project I am preparing will eventually be donated to the Swindon Library and it will be a non-commercial enterprise and a labour of love only, in the same style as other projects I’ve done in the past.

“A memories and tributes section will form the second half of my book and I wondered if any Adver readers ever met or knew Diana when she lived in Swindon and would like to contribute to my project.

“Diana was a diverse entertainer and the precursor of the modern day celebrity.

“She could put her mind to serious and comedic studies on TV, in film and on stage. I prefer the serious roles myself and my favourite are her roles in David Lean’s Oliver Twist (1948) and her role as the condemned woman in Yield To The Night (1956).

“I have just had a contribution to my book sent me by her co-star in that film, Michael Craig.”

If you have any memories, photos or contributions, contact Ian at 8 Thornbury Road. Walsall, West Midlands, WS2 8JL, on home telephone 01922 627522 or mobile 07511 759209.