Diane Venora was born Diana Venora in East Hartford Connecticut. She left Hartford for a full scholarship at the Juilliard School of Drama. After graduating from Julliard, she performed extensively on the stage and developed a reputation as a talented stage actress particularly in Shakespearian plays. In 1983, she starred in Joseph Papp's production of Hamlet at the New York Shakespeare Festival, in the lead role, the first woman to play the role at the New York Shakespeare Festival.

In 1988, her critically acclaimed performance in Clint Eastwood's biographical feature of jazz great Charlie Parker, Bird, as Chan Parker, his wife, earned her a Golden Globe nomination and the New York Film Critics Award. These roles essentially made her famous.

She was married to cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak (Speed) but later divorced him. After the divorce, she lived in New York with daughter Madzia, traveling often for work. She quit show business when Madzia was 8 to spend more time with her daughter. During her 7-year hiatus, Venora stayed close to home, teaching disadvantaged children and acting in an occasional play. When Madzia was 15, Venora took her to Los Angeles and soon landed a starring role in the ABC series Thunder Alley playing Ed Asner's daughter and a recurring role in the Emmy award-winning series Chicago Hope.

In 1995, she starred opposite Al Pacino and Robert De Niro as Pacino's wife in Heat, earning high regard from both critics and audiences for her of role of Justine Hanna, caught in a troubled marriage. That performance, and her follow-up as Juliet's mother in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet impressed the directors of both The Jackal and The 13th Warrior starring Antonio Banderas.
Was replaced on the TV sitcom "Thunder Alley" because the producers said that she was playing her role (Bobbi Turner) as if she was still on Broadway. Attended and graduated from the Juilliard school of music She has a remarkable relationship with Shakespeare's Hamlet. In the 1982/83 season she appeared on stage at the Public Theatre under the direction of Joseph Papp in the title role, making her the only female performer to take on the role in the history of the New York Shakespeare Festival. In 1990, she played Ophelia opposite Kevin Kline's Hamlet. In 1999 She assailed the role of Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, to Liev Schreiber's woeful prince. And, most recently, she again played Gertrude to Ethan Hawke's Hamlet in the 2000 film. Has a daughter.