Diahann Carroll, the Oscar-nominated actor, and singer who was critically acclaimed as the first black woman to star in a non-servant lead role in a TV series as “Julia” in 1968 has died from cancer at age 84.
Carroll was born in the Bronx in 1935 and pioneered her storied career, which began with modeling in the 1950s and soon graduated to television and movies.
She rose to stardom with performances in some of the earliest major studio films to feature black casts, including “Carmen Jones” in 1954 and “Porgy and Bess” in 1959. In 1962, Carroll won a Tony Award for best actress, a first for a black woman, for her role in the Broadway musical “No Strings.”
While her film roles were somewhat sporadic, she was most famously known for her most memorable character in the 1974 classic “Claudine,” which garnered her an Academy Award nomination.
In the 1980s, she appeared in the long-running prime-time soap opera “Dynasty” as the iconic Dominique Deveraux for three years and more recently, she had a number of guest spots and small roles in TV series, including playing the mother of Jasmine Guy’s character, Whitley, in “A Different World” and Isaiah Washington’s character, Dr. Preston Burke, on Grey’s Anatomy.
In the wake of the news, Hollywood is paying its respects to Ms. Carroll as Director Ava DuVernay tweeted, “Diahann Carroll walked this earth for 84 years and broke ground with every footstep. An icon. One of the all-time greats. She blazed trails through dense forests and elegantly left diamonds along the path for the rest of us to follow. Extraordinary life. Thank you, Ms. Carroll.”
Carroll is survived by her daughter Susan Kay, and her two grandchildren Sydney and August.
