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NEW YORK, May 17, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Actress Joan Diener, who originated the role of Dulcinea in the 1965 Broadway musical "Man of La Mancha," has died of cancer in New York at age 76.
The longtime favorite of Broadway audiences who reprised her role in "La Mancha" as recently as 1992, died Saturday, the New York Times reported.
The Columbus, Ohio, native was majoring in psychology at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., and moonlighting in the theater when she was snapped by a photographer in 1950 and featured in Life magazine.
The feature jumpstarted her theater career and she won her first major role in the 1953 musical, "Kismet." She left a London production of the show in 1955 and did not return to Broadway until 12 years later in "Man of La Mancha," directed by her husband, Albert Marre.
Although Sophia Loren played Dulcinea in the film version, Diener starred through the years in "La Mancha" revivals in Los Angeles and New York. She succeeded pop star Sheena Easton in the waning weeks of a 1992 Broadway run.
She is survived by her husband, a daughter, a son and three grandsons.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
