She is a singer, actress and teacher born Diana Rivero in West Palm Beach, Florida who grew up in Hollywood with her father being the Cuban musician Filberto Rivero and her mother the singer and comedy actress Judy Canova.
Moving into acting when she was 16 years old and taking her mother’s maiden name, she took on roles in Happy Days, Chico and the Man and Fantasy Island among others and is possible best known as the character Corinne Tate in the TV sitcom Soap in 1977. She stayed with the show for two years before getting her own show with Danny Thomas and Martin Short, I’m a Big Girl Now, but it was only aired for one season.
She had a few quiet years in between her next role in the sitcom Throb! and following that she took a change of route into musical theatre where she starred in the Broadway musical revival Company as well as They’re Playing Our Song, A Little Night Music, I Do, I Do! and Melissa Manchester’s I Sent a Letter to My Love.
She went back to films in 1998 where she appeared in One True Thing but she has since retired from screen acting and concentrates on musical theatre and in a duo with the pianist David Morgan to perform cabaret and jazz.
Her husband is the Grammy Award winning producer Elliot Scheiner who she worked with on the Jimmy Buffett album Off to See the Lizard when she was singing backing vocals and he was producing.
Venturing into the world of teaching she is a voice tutor in Redding, Connecticut and runs a children’s theatre program.
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