Celebrating Extraordinary Lives: Dianna’s story soars from skydiving to stunt doubles
At Peninsula Villages on the NSW Central Coast, remarkable life stories aren’t just remembered, they’re celebrated.
Among its care residents is 84-year-old Dianna Perlovski, whose extraordinary journey has taken her from the skies of Europe to the film sets of Hollywood.
Not everyone’s life includes jumping out of planes, forging parental consent forms and doubling for the late Raquel Welch in a Hollywood film, but for Dianna, these memories are part of a vivid, soaring past.
Born in England during World War II, Dianna was just 19 when she took her first leap, both literally and figuratively, into the world of skydiving.
"I was naughty," she laughs, remembering how she forged her mother's signature to get permission. But there was no stopping her. That first jump launched a lifelong passion that would carry her across Europe and eventually to Australia.
It wasn't just the thrill of freefall that drew her in, it was the community. In the 1960s, skydiving wasn't a solo sport. Dianna and her fellow jumpers travelled from France to Germany, Italy to Norway, joining a vibrant international network of enthusiasts.
"Each country had their own team," she recalled.
“Everywhere you went, there were people you knew."
While most skydivers were men, Dianna helped change that. She and her friend Helen were the first British women to successfully link up in freefall, a manoeuvre requiring precision, coordination, and nerves of steel. Her future husband George snapped photos afterwards, capturing a moment of triumph and the essence of a fearless era.
France became a second home. The government subsidised sport parachuting, making it more affordable than in England, and Dianna secured a job at the British Consulate in Strasbourg. Living on the border of Germany and France allowed her and her husband to roam easily across Europe.
"We used to see how many different aircraft we could jump from. Planes, helicopters, even 1930s biplanes with cloth wings," she continued.
There were competitions too. Dianna fondly remembers winning a three-tier crystal cake stand in Germany, a prize she still treasures. There were also a few surprises along the way. Once, she misjudged the wind and landed on the roof of a hangar in Strasbourg.
Another time, she drifted into a nearby school playground, where the children rushed out in excitement to watch her land.
Dianna's skydiving career also opened extraordinary doors. In Spain, Dianna was hired as a stunt double for Raquel Welch in a film and even influenced her move to Australia in 1969.
"I told them I was emigrating for the weather, but really, it was to keep jumping," she explained.
George was an amateur photographer, and their affection for one another is clear in the many photographs they took together. Dianna still smiles as she looks through them.
"We loved each other very much," she added.
Their shared passion for skydiving and the countless jumps they made across Europe became the foundation of a life together that spanned decades, continents, and thousands of feet in the air.
These days, Dianna lives a quieter life at Peninsula Villages in Umina Beach, but her stories remain vibrant. Albums of old photos show a fearless, windswept young woman in flight suits and parachute harness, soaring over Swiss Alps, or grinning beside fellow jumpers on alpine airfields.
"Sometimes I look back and think, was that really me?" she said.
