Diana Hyland played the matriarch of the Bradford family for season 1

She died on March 27, 1977 in Los Angeles of breast cancer

:rip: Diana - gorgeous lady and then the fiancee of John Travolta. I wonder if John has kept in touch with Diana's son in the years since.

Also...in honor of Diana Hyland, my friend Deanna and other women who have lost their lives to this vicious disease - may a cure be found...soon...

Refresh my memory, please! How old was she when she passed away? How old was her son?

Diana Hyland was born on January 25, 1936 and died on March 27, 1977, at the age of 41. She married a man named Joseph Goodson in 1969 and they eventually had a little boy named Zachary. The couple divorced in 1975, and a year later Diana hooked up with the young actor who played her son in the TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble - John Travolta. She reportedly died in his arms. After the funeral, sole custody of Zachary went to his father, and John went off to film Saturday Night Fever. I think her son was only about 4 or 5 when he lost his mother. :(

Thank you for this touching thread Brian. So many wonderful talents were taken from us by this wretched disease, including poor Diana. I have VHS recordings of most of the S#1 EIE so I have 2 eps that Diana was in (I'm not exactly sure how many she was in but I know it likely no more than five.

R.I.P. Diana - you were taken from us way too early.

:rip: Diana Hyland.

I honestly had forgotten her relationship with Travolta, btw.