It has been 7 years since actress Diane Franklin came to visit Misty Moon, at our Art Gallery in London during the summer of 2013, where she spent a week meeting fans, talking about her films and exploring London and trips out for english cream teas with us in the Kent countryside! Happy days indeed and lovely to reminisce!
On Saturday our ‘visit’ this time from Diane, was online to chat to us and her fans about her tv and film career. Diane being full of exuberance and fun, chatted readily about her experiences in acting, from commercials, which resulted in her regularly being recognised in the street, to tv and film, including Last American Virgin, (what a great soundtrack!) Second Time Lucky, Better Off Dead and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure! Our tech help, Martin Rudman chose some brilliant clips, including a role Diane played in ‘Murder She Wrote’, where she plays an outrageously obnoxious wealthy lady in a strop!
A deeper and darker discussion occurred about Diane’s role in Amityville 2: The Possession and the effect this film had on some of its viewers, including Mr Moon, who watched it as a teenager and was scared witless! I have seen it several times too and have to say the prosthetics in the film really do make it more terrifying than modern day CGI nowadays! The real life murders and continued events at the property where it happened, over the years have fascinated so many and have been recreated again and based on truer events in the form of The Amityville Murders, which Diane stars in and is available on Sky Store right now! Mr Moon and I watched this the other night and really enjoyed it. Definitely worth a watch if you enjoy a good horror! And yes, it did creep us up! We woke up in the middle of the night hearing a scraping sound coming from somewhere in our bedroom! Even our two cats Molly Mog and Suzie Sue leapt off the bed to investigate and started growling (yes, Suzie growls like a little dog!) But don’t panic (she says) it was only the window knocking in the wind (sigh of relief from all four of us, drama over and back to bed) I think I’ll lay off the horror for a few days and watch some of Diane’s comedies!
Diane answered questions directly to her fans and there was a lot of love and warmth for her career. It was great for some of the regular Misty Mooners, such as Ian Crosdale, who met her the first time round, to be able to chat to her again. See the great photograph below of Ian, taken back in 2013, trying on the coat and hat Diane wore, as the character Monique Junet in the film Better Off Dead!
Diane’s autobiography is available signed via her website http://www.dianefranklin.com
I revisited this during the week and find it a really inspiring positive read, no matter what your chosen career path is, especially during these times of uncertainty.
Overall in the words of Bill and Ted, Saturday was an excellent and most triumphant Misty Moon online event! Can’t wait for the next time! 🎬🎭
Next Misty Moon online event Saturday 5th September (British time) Screening of short film ‘Ready For My Close Up’ and interviews with horror actress Lynn Lowry, director Jason Read and producer Stuart Morriss 🎬🎭
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_N4xwNPz0TMqo65n8KGezbw
Check out our Misty Moon Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for the link



Misty Mooner Ian Crosdale and Diane Franklin at The Misty Moon Gallery in 2013. Ian is wearing the coat that Diane wore in Better Off Dead.