Diana Dors’ First Husband Dennis Hamilton Obituary and Cause of Death

Dennis Hamilton was the first husband of Diana Dors, a late British actress and singer. She was only 19 years old when the actress was married to Dennis, 26. Throughout their marriage, the late rocky couple made a number of headlines sometimes of domestic violence, resulting in Dors’ pronounced brushes and swollen eyes and sometimes of their ultra wild parties at their home. 

However, all in all, Hamilton and Dors weren’t a happy couple who even went through a couple of separations before Hamilton died in 1959. To know further about their unstable marriage and Dennis’ death, keep scrolling!

Key Takeaways:

• Dennis married the late actress Dors just five weeks later their first encounter. 
• Diana’s parents decided not to come to their wedding due to their daughter’s underage.
• They never had children but once had an abortion. 
• Dennis and Diana were married until his death in 1959. His cause of death was tertiary syphilis.
• Diana, for the second time, went on to marry Richard Dawson, a TV icon.

When Did Dennis Hamilton Die? His Cause of Death and Funeral

Diana Dors’ first husband Hamilton died at the beginning of Feb 1959. He was only 32 years old at the time of his death. He was initially reported to die of a heart attack but a day after the funeral Dors found out that her hubby had passed away of tertiary syphilis.

The funeral service of Dennis took place at St. James Roman Catholic Church, Spanish-place Marylebone on 2nd Feb 1959. And Hamilton was buried at the  Westminster Cemetery, Uxbridge-road.

Dennis, the first husband of Dors was widely regarded as “the archetypal sponger’, who by ­turning himself into his wife’s ­manager stole her money, going into business with Peter ­Rachman, the slum landlord, and investing in duff schemes, such as El Dors, ‘a Singapore-style restaurant in Windsor.”

Hamilton Met His Future Wife Diana Dors in May 1959

As mentioned, Hamilton and Diana met for the first time in May 1951 while on the set of Lady Godiva Rides Again for Rank. At that time, Dors had a boyfriend named Michael Caborn, son of Count Del-Colnaghi. Despite that, Hamilton used to send her flowers daily.

Soon after, Caborn was sent to jail for some shady business deals and Dennis took a chance. Diana was completely smitten with him and they got engaged at the end of June 1951, four days before their wedding.

Dennis and Daian’s Wedding in July 1951

Just five weeks later their first meeting, Dennis and his spouse Dors decided to take a huge leap in their relationship, exchanging their vows at 4. pm on 3rd July 1951 at the Caxton Hall registry office in Westminster.

At the time of their marriage, Hamilton was 26 while Dors was only 19, making her ineligible for the then-legal-age of 21. Despite the legal boundaries, the two eventually married even without the permission of Dors’s parents.

As Diana was busy on the set of the movie Godiva Rides Again, they had no honeymoon celebration. But their guests had a meal at Olivelli’s on Store Street.

Not long after the nuptial, Hamilton introduced his wife to something basically called ‘S** parties.’ During their marriage, Dors’ career was handled by Dennis who mostly promoted her as a sex symbol rather than an actress.

Once in an interview, Diana stated that her first hubby “promoted me strictly as a sex symbol, never as an actress, but it served its purpose and at the time it was fun.”

Dennis and Diana Had Separated A Couple of Times

As mentioned above, the marital relationship between Hamilton and Diana was full of toxicity and infidelities, also leading them to part ways a few times before Dennis’ death. The first time, they separated was when it was reported that Dennis had an extra-marital affair with Raymond “Mr. Teasy-Weasy” Bessone’s wife in London in November 1956.

Later down in the line, the late duo also went through a few more separations but remained together until Hamilton’s death in 1959.

They Never Had Children

Hamilton and Diana were married for almost eight years until his untimely passing in 1959. Despite their long union, they never welcomed any children rather Dors had her second abortion with Dennis.

In fact, the actress had her first abortion with her ex-boyfriend Michael.

Diana Dors Married Her Second Husband Richard Dawson in April 1959

A couple of months after her first spouse Dennis’ demise, Diana went on to marry TV host Richard Dawson on 12th April 1959 in New York. They had two sons named Gary and Mark Dawson. However, their marriage also didn’t last long and they divorced in 1966.

After their split, Dors married her third hubby Alan Lake while Dawson got hitched to his second wife Gretchen Johnson.