After some TV work and minor features, this sexy, zany and spirited blonde sparkled as a deft comedienne in several trendy films of the 1970s and 80s. In 1976, Dyan Cannon directed, wrote, produced, edited and scored the AFI-sponsored, Oscar-nominated live-action short, "Number One", about children's natural curiosity about their bodies and the adult values that stifle them. She made her feature directing and writing debut with the semi-autobiographical, "The End of Innocence" (1990).

Cannon was raised in Seattle, the daughter of a Baptist insurance broker and a Jewish homemaker. She began