Diane Fawcett Walls was born on the 27th of October 1938 and died of lung cancer on lung cancer on the 16th of October 2001, eleven days before her 63rd birthday. Though she had a television career, she was mostly known as the older sister of Farrah Fawcett. Diane was married twice, first to Jefry Curtis Riggs and then to Earl Eugene Walls: she had a son, her only child with Riggs.
Although it has been over two decades since Diane passed, some people are still curious about the kind of life she lived and the circumstances surrounding her death. From her early life to her death and everything in between, the following are the facts to known about late Diane.
Profile Summary of Diane Fawcett Walls
- Full Name: Diane Elaine Fawcett Walls
- Gender: Female
- Place of Birth: Montgomery, Texas, United States of America
- Date of Birth: October 27, 1938
- Died On: October 16, 2001
- Ethnicity: White American
- Nationality: American
- Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
- Parents: James Fawcett and Pauline Fawcett
- Siblings: Farrah Fawcett
- Diane Fawcett Wall’s Husbands:
- J. C. Riggs
- Earl Eugene Walls
- Diane Fawcett Wall’s Children: Two Sons (Jefry Curtis Riggs and Greg Walls)
- Famous for: Television Career and as the Older Sister of Farrah Fawcett
Early Life and Family Background of the Late TV Star
Diane Fawcett Walls was born on the 27th of October 1938 and records have it that her place of birth was in Montgomery, Texas. If we are not mistaken, she was also raised here by her parents, Pauline Fawcett who was previously known as Pauline Alice Evans, and James Fawcett who was known in some quarters as Jim Fawcett.
Her mother was a homemaker who would later be seen in several productions like the 1979 film Sunburn, Richard Simmons and the Silver Foxes: Fitness for Silver Citizens (1986), and documentaries like Playboy: Farrah Fawcett, All of Me (1997), and This Is Farrah Fawcett (2019). Born on the 30th of January 1914 in Henryetta, Oklahoma, Pauline died in Houston, Texas, on the 4th of March 2005 at age 91.
Diane Fawcett Walls’ father James Fawcett was an oil field contractor. Like his first wife Pauline Fawcett, he also later became a television personality, appearing in documentaries like Biography (2000), and Farrah’s Story (2009), amongst others. James was born on the 14th of October 1917 in Hillsboro, Hill, Texas. After the death of his first wife in March 2005, he got married to his second, Rosenda Sofia Carbajol, in October of that same year and they remained married until his death. James passed on the 23rd of August 2010 in Houston, Texas.
Diane Fawcett Walls’ Career in the Television Industry
She wasn’t much of a television personality; neither was she an accomplished actress like her younger sister Farrah Fawcett. As a matter of fact, the mainstream recognition she received was mostly because of her relationship with Farrah rather than her career.
To the best of our knowledge, Diane Fawcett Walls’ first television appearance was in 1977. This was when she was seen in an episode of The Mike Douglas Show: a comedy music talk show that aired from 1961 to 1982.
Many years later (in 2000), she appeared as herself in the “Farrah Fawcett: America’s Angel” episode of the television series documentary, Biography. The series which has been running since 1987 was created by Agnese Nixon to follow the life stories of various celebrities and historical figures.
She Was Married Twice in Her Lifetime and Her First Husband Was J. C. Riggs
Diane Fawcett Walls’ first husband was J. C. Riggs. Born on the 10th of August 1927 in Cushing located in Payne County, Oklahoma, Riggs was one of the children of Frank Earl Riggs and his wife, Hessie G. Riggs. He was a student of Oklahoma A&M and military personnel.
Riggs reportedly served in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army between 1945 and 1952. Later in life, he became a geologist and worked with several establishments like the Aeronautical Chart of Information Center, the U.S. Department of Interior, and the U.S. Department of Energy amongst others.
Diane and Riggs got married in 1957 and had a son together who happens to be their only child. They divorced for reasons that are not clear and moved on with their lives. Riggs, like Diane, got married a second time to Carell Kay Heisig and they remained together until his death at the age of 78 on the 30th of July 2006.
He died of natural causes at his home in Shawnee, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, and was survived by his wife Carell and siblings: Billy G. Riggs (brother) and Gwen M. Speers (sister).
Her Second Husband Was Earl Eugene Walls
Diane Fawcett Wall’s second husband, Earl Walls, was born on the 14th of March 1932 in Waynesburg, Kentucky. The first of nine children born to Newell Walls and Iva Mae Todd, Earl joined the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and would later attend the University of Kentucky where he bagged a B.Sc. degree in Commerce, this was in 1959. He then became one of the workers of Travelers Insurance Company which paved the way for him to meet Diane.
After the insurance company transferred Earl to Texas, he met Diane on a double date and they got married in 1966, precisely on the 26th of November. They remained married until she passed on in 2001. Earl would later get married to Nikki Walls with whom he had two daughters named Jet and Lauren. They are half-sisters to Greg Walls, the only child Diane and Earl had together.
Earl Walls died on the 2nd of January 2018 at the age of 85; he died of old age.
Diane Fawcett Walls Lost Her Life to Lung Cancer
Reports have it that Diane succumbed to cancer of the lungs. Details of her battle with the malignant lung tumor weren’t disclosed to the public. We can only confirm that the disease characterized by unbridled cell growth in tissues of the lung claimed her life on the 16th of October 2001. She died at the age of 62, a few days shy of her 63rd birthday.
Diane Fawcett Walls’ famous younger sister, Farrah Fawcett, also died at age 62. Farrah’s life was as well claimed by cancer, anal cancer. She passed on in Santa Monica, California, at Saint John’s Health Center on the 25th of June 2009. Born on the 2nd of February 1947, Farrah was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006. The American actress and fashion model was a huge icon of pop culture and her career arguably defined an era in Hollywood.
She Had Two Sons—Jefry Curtis Riggs and Greg Walls
Late Diane Fawcett Walls was a mother of two sons named Jefry Curtis Riggs and Greg Walls; albeit she was survived by one. She had her first son Jefry with her first husband, J. C. Curtis. From what we gathered, he was born barely a year after his parents got married, on the 10th of February 1958. His place of birth was in Corpus Christi located in Nueces County, Texas. Sadly, Jefry passed at the young age of 32 on the 30th of October 1990.
With her second husband Earl Walls, Diane had another son named Greg Walls. Much isn’t known about him but he has been seen in at least two television productions. First, he was seen in the “Cajun” episode of the series documentary, Hairy Bikers’ Mississippi Adventure; this was in 2012. In 2020, he appeared in the “Bang for Your Buck” episode of Food Paradise, a reality-television series that stars Jesse Snider, Mason Pettit, and Jesse Blaze Snider.
