| Diana Colville | |||||||||||||
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| Days of our Lives | |||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Genie Francis (1987-89) Judith Chapman (2019, 2024) | ||||||||||||
| Current status | Current; Recurring | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 1987–1989, 2019, 2024 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | April 13, 1987 | ||||||||||||
| Created by | Leah Laiman | ||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Betty Corday, Ken Corday and Al Rabin | ||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||
| Alias(es) | Diana Cooper | ||||||||||||
| Occupation | Journalist | ||||||||||||
| Residence | Prison Salem, Illinois (formerly) | ||||||||||||
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Diana Colville is a character from the soap opera, Days of Our Lives, first portrayed by Genie Francis from 1987-89.
In January 2019, it was announced that Judith Chapman, who previously portrayed the role of Anjelica Deveraux, had been cast in the role of Diana, now going by the surname of Cooper.
On March 28, 2019 it was announced that Chapman would be leaving Days of Our Lives, her last appearance was on March 25, 2019.
Chapman returned again in June 2024.
Storylines
Diana came to Salem in 1987 and was an old friend from Mike's college days. Diana came in search of a mysterious computer disk that both Victor Kiriakis] and her mother, Serena, were looking for. The disk contained the location of a very rare and valuable mineral.
Diana met Roman Brady, who was actually John Black, when she rescued his daughter Carrie Brady, who was drowning in the river. Carrie and Diana hit it off well, and so did Roman/John and Diana. However, Diana was on a mission and pretended to date Victor Kiriakis. When Diana's mother Serena beat Kiriakis to the computer disk he vowed revenge on her.
While in Greece with Victor for his nephew's wedding, Roman/John and Diana made love and began to pursue a relationship. However, when Serena shot Roman/John, he arrested her, only to find out she was Diana's mother.
Upon returning to Salem, Diana's father was killed by a sniper and she inherited the Colville fortune. Unknown to Diana, Victor Kiriakis and her mother Serena were plotting to steal the fortune away from her. Victor tricked Diana into marrying him because her mother was in danger, but the wedding was thwarted when Roman/John rescued Diana. On the second attempted Serena was "kidnapped" and Diana was to hand over her fortune to the kidnappers. However, Diana's assets were frozen and Diana was taken hostage by some terrorists. Diana was eventually freed and learned from Roman/John, her mother and Victor were scheming to get her fortune. Diana eventually moved into Roman/John's house for protection.
Diana wanted revenge against Victor, who had cost her the Colville fortune. In an attempt to get revenge Diana stole a statue from a museum and planned to frame Victor for the theft in order to get her fortune back. The plan backfired when Roman/John learned she stole the statuette and Victor was never brought up on the charges of theft. Diana's lies and deceit enraged Roman/John, and he broke off their relationship.
Soon after they broke up, Diana moved back in with Roman/John after her life was put in danger by Roman/John's investigation of the Torres family. As a result of him protecting Diana, the two resumed their relationship. Roman/John and Diana eventually lured the Torres family into a trap, but they managed to elude the police, which put Diana in even more danger.
Roman/John and Diana went away to the Bahamas until they thought the threat from the Torres family had passed. Roman/John and Diana renewed their romance, and had become engaged, but when they returned Roman/John was almost killed in a car bombing by the Torres family. Afterward, Roman/John began remembering terrible feelings and memories but was unsure where they were coming from. After he had his sister, Kimberly Brady, hypnotize him, Roman/John recalled being trained in the martial arts by a man named Orion.
Diana and Roman/John's relationship was on edge when Roman/John began receiving hints that Marlena Evans was alive, such as seeing a picture of her appeared in a newspaper, smelling her perfume at one of her favorite restaurants along with strawberries and whip cream. Roman/John was puzzled. Diana, sensing their relationship is becoming strained, rushed their wedding. The ceremony was Cal crashed by Cal Winters who claimed to be Diana's husband. Diana acknowledged their past romance but insisted they were never married. Cal eventually admitted their marriage never happened, but he refused to give up on Diana. Cal went over to Roman/John's place with a gun and got into an argument. Diana grabbed the gun and attempted to shoot Cal, but hit Roman/John by accident. Cal claimed to police that he was the one who shot Roman/John and was arrested; Roman/John remained in a coma for some time. Diana fled town and Cal was eventually released from prison.John (no longer living as Roman) searched for the mother of Matthew Cooper (aka Leo Stark) who was blackmailing John's grandson Will Horton. Leo's mother, Diana Cooper, turned out to be Diana Colville. She had married the late Richard Cooper shortly after leaving Salem. Richard abused Diana during their marriage, and eventually Matthew/Leo as well. Diana returned to Salem and showed up at the Kiriakis mansion, but Leo was not happy to see her. They bickered and Diana blackmailed Leo with the knowledge that he had killed his father. Diana later falsely claimed to John that she was pregnant when she left Salem and that he was Leo's biological father. Deciding she wants John back, Diana plotted to kill Marlena with penicillin, to which Marlena is allergic. She is eventually sent to prison and admitted that John was not Leo's father.
Diana is seen in prison talking to her son Leo.
