Despite the fact that Ilsa was killed at the end of the film, she was resurrected for a sequel, Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks. This was set in the Middle East in an unspecified post-war time period. This was followed by Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia with Ilsa as the sadistic and over-sexed leader of a Russian gulag in 1953. The last film, Ilsa, the Wicked Warden takes place in a corrupt Latin American "banana republic".

Thorne first appeared as "Lahna Monroe" in the 1964 sexploitation film Sin in the Suburbs from grindhouse Director Joseph W. Sarno. Thorne continued to make exploitation films and sex comedies such as Love Me Like I Do (1970) and Wam-Bam, Thank You, Spaceman (1973) before attaining notoriety as Ilsa, a cruel Nazi dominatrix similar to Audrey Campbell's Olga. Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1974) was a surprise hit that spawned three sequels and a flood of imitators.

Thorne had married Howard Maurer in 1974. (Both had roles in five of the same movies.) As of late June 2014, both were ordained ministers, who owned an alternative wedding Business in Las Vegas, Nevada. They conducted scenic outdoor weddings as an alternative to a traditional wedding chapel.

In 1991, Danish art rockers Sort Sol released the album Flow My Firetear. Track 9, "Dyanne Thorne", is an homage to the Artist.