Diahann Carroll | |
|---|---|
 Publicity photo, 1976 | |
| Born | Carol Diann Johnson (1935-07-17)July 17, 1935 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | October 4, 2019(2019-10-04) (aged 84) |
| Alma mater | New York University |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1950–2016 |
| Spouses | |
| Partners |
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| Children | 1 |
Diahann Carroll (/daɪˈæn/dy-AN; bornCarol Diann Johnson; July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. Carroll was the recipient of numerous nominations and awards for her stage and screen performances, including aTony Award in 1962,Golden Globe Award in 1968, anAcademy Award nomination in 1974, and fiveEmmy Award nominations between 1963 and 2008.
Carroll rose to prominence in some of the earliestmajor studio films to feature black casts, including theclassic movie musicalsCarmen Jones (1954) andPorgy and Bess (1959). She received anAcademy Award for Best Actress nomination for her title role in theromanticcomedy-drama filmClaudine (1974). Carroll's other notable film credits includeParis Blues (1961),The Split (1968),Eve's Bayou (1997), andHaving Our Say: The Delany Sisters First 100 Years (1999).
She starred in the title role inJulia (1968–1971), for which she received aGolden Globe Award for Best TV Star – Female. The series- in which Carroll played a nurse at a doctor's office at an aerospace company- was the first onAmerican television to star a black woman whose character was not a servant or slave.[1] She played the role ofDominique Deveraux, a mixed-race diva, in the prime time soap operaDynasty from 1984 to 1987. She also had roles inNaked City,A Different World, andGrey's Anatomy.
Carroll made herBroadway debut playing Ottilie Alias Violet in the musicalHouse of Flowers (1954). She became thefirst African-American woman to win theTony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Barbara Woodruff in the musicalNo Strings (1962).
Carol Diann Johnson was born inthe Bronx, New York City, on July 17, 1935,[2] to John Johnson, a subway conductor, and Mabel (née Faulk),[3] a nurse.[4][5]: 152 While Carroll was still an infant, the family moved toHarlem, where she grew up except for a brief period in which her parents had left her with an aunt inNorth Carolina.[6][5]: 152 [7] She attendedMusic and Art High School,[8][2][6] and was a classmate ofBilly Dee Williams. In many interviews about her childhood, Carroll recalls her parents' support, and their enrolling her in dance, singing, and modeling classes. By the time Carroll was 15, she was modeling forEbony.[4][8] "She also began entering television contests, includingArthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, under the name Diahann Carroll."[4][2][5]: 152 After graduating from high school, she attendedNew York University,[2] where she majored in sociology,[5]: 152 "but she left before graduating to pursue a show-business career, promising her family that if the career did not materialize after two years, she would return to college."[4]
Carroll's big break came at the age of 18, when she appeared as a contestant on theDuMont Television Network program,Chance of a Lifetime, hosted byDennis James.[4][6][5]: 152 On the show, which aired January 8, 1954, she took the $1,000 top prize for a rendition of theJerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein song, "Why Was I Born?" She went on to win the following four weeks. Engagements atManhattan'sCafé Society andLatin Quarter nightclubs soon followed.[9]
Carroll's film debut was a supporting role inCarmen Jones (1954),[4][8][2] as a friend to the sultry lead character played byDorothy Dandridge. That same year, she starred in the Broadway musical,House of Flowers.[4][2] A few years later, she played Clara in the film version ofGeorge Gershwin'sPorgy and Bess (1959), but her character's singing parts were dubbed by opera singerLoulie Jean Norman.[4][8][2] The following year, Carroll made a guest appearance in the seriesPeter Gunn, in the episode "Sing a Song of Murder" (1960). In the next two years, she starred withSidney Poitier,Paul Newman, andJoanne Woodward in the filmParis Blues (1961)[4] and won the 1962Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (the first time for a Black woman) for portraying Barbara Woodruff in theSamuel A. Taylor andRichard Rodgers musicalNo Strings.[1][4][8][2] Twelve years later, she was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Actress for her starring role alongsideJames Earl Jones in the filmClaudine (1974),[1][4][8][2] which part had been written specifically for actressDiana Sands (who had made guest appearances onJulia as Carroll's cousin Sara), but shortly before filming was to begin, Sands learned she was terminally ill with cancer. Sands attempted to carry on with the role, but as filming began, she became too ill to continue and recommended her friend Carroll take over the role.[8] Sands died in September 1973, before the film's release in April 1974.[8]
Carroll is known for her titular role in the television seriesJulia (1968–71),[4][2][5]: 141–151 which made her the first African-American actress in a television series starring role that was not of a domestic worker.[1][8] That role won her theGolden Globe Award for Best TV Star – Female for its first year,[2][10] and a nomination for anPrimetime Emmy Award in 1969.[2] Some of Carroll's earlier work also included appearances on shows hosted byJohnny Carson,Judy Garland,Merv Griffin,Jack Paar, andEd Sullivan, and onThe Hollywood Palace variety show. In 1984, Carroll joined the nighttime soap operaDynasty at the end of its fourth season as the mixed-racejet set divaDominique Deveraux,[4]Blake Carrington's half-sister.[8] Her high-profile role onDynasty also reunited her with her schoolmate Billy Dee Williams, who briefly played her onscreen husband Brady Lloyd. Carroll remained on the show and made several appearances on its short-lived spin-off,The Colbys until she departed at the end of the seventh season in 1987. In 1989, she began the recurring role of Marion Gilbert, Whitley Gilbert's mother, inA Different World, for which she received her third Emmy nomination that same year.[8]
In 1991, Carroll portrayed Eleanor Potter, the doting, concerned, and protective wife of Jimmy Potter (portrayed byChuck Patterson), in the musical drama filmThe Five Heartbeats (1991),[2] also featuring actor and musicianRobert Townsend andMichael Wright. She reunited with Billy Dee Williams again in 1995, portraying his character's wife Mrs. Greyson inLonesome Dove: The Series. The following year, Carroll starred as the self-loving, egotistical, corrupt, manipulative and deceptive silent movie starNorma Desmond in the Canadian production ofAndrew Lloyd Webber's musical version of the filmSunset Boulevard. In 2001, Carroll made her animation debut inThe Legend of Tarzan,[11] in which she voicedQueen La,[12] ruler of the ancient city ofOpar.[13]
In 2006, Carroll appeared in several episodes of the television medical dramaGrey's Anatomy as Jane Burke, the demanding mother of Dr. Preston Burke. From 2008 to 2014, she appeared onUSA Network's seriesWhite Collar in the recurring role ofJune, the savvy widow who rents out her guest room toNeal Caffrey.[14] In 2010, Carroll was featured in UniGlobe Entertainment's breast cancer docudrama titled1 a Minute, and appeared as Nana in two Lifetime movie adaptations ofPatricia Cornwell novels:At Risk andThe Front.[15]
In 2013, Carroll was present on stage at the65th Primetime Emmy Awards to briefly speak about being the first African-American nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. She was quoted as saying aboutKerry Washington, nominated forScandal, "she better get this award."[16]
Carroll was married four times. Her father boycotted the ceremony for her first wedding[17] in 1956, to record producerMonte Kay,[4][8] which was presided over byAdam Clayton Powell Jr. at theAbyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. The marriage ended in 1962.[17] Carroll gave birth to her daughter, Suzanne Kay (born September 9, 1960), who became a journalist and screenwriter.[4][18][19]
In 1959, Carroll began a nine-year affair with the married actorSidney Poitier.[4][6] In her autobiography, Carroll said Poitier persuaded her to divorce her husband and said he would leave his wife to be with her. While she proceeded with her divorce, Poitier did not keep his part of the bargain.[20] Eventually he divorced his wife. According to Poitier, their relationship ended because he wanted to live with Carroll for six months without her daughter present so he would not be "jumping from one marriage straight into another." She refused.[21]
Carroll dated and was engaged to British television host and producerDavid Frost from 1970 until 1973.[4][6] In February 1973, Carroll surprised the press by marrying Las Vegas boutique owner Fred Glusman.[4][8] After four months of marriage, Glusman filed for divorce in June 1973. Carroll filed a response, but did not contest the divorce, which was finalized two months later.[6][22] Glusman was reportedly physically abusive.[23]
On May 25, 1975, Carroll, then aged 39, married Robert DeLeon (1950–1977),[24] the 24-year-old managing editor ofJet magazine in New York City.[4][8] They met when DeLeon assigned himself to a cover story on Carroll about her 1975 Oscar nomination forClaudine.[25] DeLeon had a daughter, Monica, from a previous marriage.[24] Carroll moved to Chicago whereJet was headquartered, but DeLeon soon quit his job so the couple relocated to Oakland.[25] Carroll was widowed when DeLeon was killed in a car crash in Beverly Hills on March 31, 1977.[6][26][24][27] Carroll's fourth and final marriage was to singerVic Damone in 1987.[4][8] The union, which Carroll admitted was turbulent, had a legal separation in 1991, reconciliation, and divorce in 1996.[6][28][29]
Carroll was a founding member of the Celebrity Action Council, a volunteer group of celebrity women who served the women's outreach of the Los Angeles Mission, working with women in rehabilitation from problems with alcohol, drugs, or prostitution. She helped to form the group along with other female television personalities includingMary Frann,Linda Gray,Donna Mills, andJoan Van Ark.[30]
Carroll was diagnosed withbreast cancer in 1997. She said the diagnosis "stunned" her, because there was no family history of breast cancer, and she had always led a healthy lifestyle. She underwent nine weeks ofradiation therapy and had been clear for years after the diagnosis. She frequently spoke of the need for early detection and prevention of the disease.[8][31] She died from natural causes at her home inWest Hollywood, California, on October 4, 2019, at the age of 84.[8][4] Carroll also suffered from another form of cancer and dementia at the time of her death, which was unrelated, though actor Marc Copage, who played her character's son onJulia, said that she did not appear to show serious signs of cognitive decline as of late 2017.[32][33]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Carmen Jones | Myrt | [2][4][8] |
| 1959 | Porgy and Bess | Clara | [2][4][8] |
| 1961 | Goodbye Again | Night Club Singer | [8] |
| Paris Blues | Connie Lampson | [8] | |
| 1967 | Hurry Sundown | Vivian Turlow | [4][8][6] |
| 1968 | The Split | Ellen "Ellie" Kennedy | [4][8] |
| 1974 | Claudine | Claudine | [1][4][8][2] |
| 1982 | Sister, Sister | Carolyne Lovejoy | |
| 1990 | Mo' Better Blues | Jazz Club Singer | Uncredited |
| 1991 | The Five Heartbeats | Eleanor Potter | [6][11] |
| 1992 | Color Adjustment | Herself | [34][35] |
| 1997 | Eve's Bayou | Elzora | [11] |
| 2013 | Tyler Perry Presents Peeples | Nana Peeples | [36][37] |
| 2016 | The Masked Saint | Ms. Edna | (final film role)[11] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Chance of a Lifetime | Herself | Four consecutive weeks as a contestant | [4][6] |
| The Red Skelton Hour | Herself | 1 episode | [6] | |
| 1955 | General Electric Theater | Anna | Episode: "Winner by Decision" | [6] |
| 1957–61 | The Jack Paar Tonight Show | Herself | 28 episodes | [6][5]: 152 |
| 1957–68 | The Ed Sullivan Show | Herself | 9 episodes | [6] |
| 1959–62 | The Garry Moore Show | Herself | 8 episodes | [38]: 173–177 |
| 1960 | Peter Gunn | Dina Wright | Episode: "Sing a Song of Murder" | [6][5]: 152 |
| The Man in the Moon | TV movie | [6][11] | ||
| 1962 | What's My Line? | Mystery Guest | Episode: Diahann Carroll | [6][39] |
| Naked City | Ruby Jay | Episode: "A Horse Has a Big Head!" | [6][5]: 152 | |
| 1963 | The Eleventh Hour | Stella Young | Episode: "And God Created Vanity" | [6][5]: 152 [11] |
| 1963–75 | The Merv Griffin Show | Herself | 2 episodes | [6] |
| 1964 | The Judy Garland Show | Herself | Episode 21 | [6][5]: 152 |
| 1964–69 | The Hollywood Palace | Herself | 10 episodes | [6] |
| 1965 | The Dean Martin Show | Herself | 1 episode (First Dean Martin Show) | |
| 1967–71 | The Carol Burnett Show | Herself | 2 episodes | [38]: 25, 31 |
| 1968–71 | Julia | Julia Baker | 86 episodes | [4][2][1][8] |
| 1972–86 | The Dick Cavett Show | Herself | 3 episodes | [40][41][42] |
| 1972 | The New Bill Cosby Show | Herself | 1 episode | [43] |
| 1975 | Death Scream | Betty May | TV movie | [6] |
| 1976 | The Diahann Carroll Show | Herself | 4 episodes | [5]: 154 |
| 1977 | The Love Boat | Roxy Blue | Episode: "Isaac the Groupie" | [6][11] |
| 1977–78 | Hollywood Squares | Herself | 11 episodes | [6] |
| 1978 | Star Wars Holiday Special | Mermeia Holographic | TV special | [6] |
| 1979 | Roots: The Next Generations | Zeona Haley | Episode: Part VI (1939-1950) | [4][6][5]: 154 |
| I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings | Vivian | TV movie | [4][6][5]: 154 | |
| 1982 | Sister, Sister | Carolyne Lovejoy | TV movie | [2][6][5]: 154 |
| 1984–87 | Dynasty | Dominique Deveraux | 74 episodes | [2][19] |
| 1985–86 | The Colbys | Dominique Deveraux | 7 episodes | [2][19] |
| 1989 | From the Dead of Night | Maggie | TV movie | [6][5]: 156 |
| 1989–93 | A Different World | Marion Gilbert | 9 episodes | [4][2] |
| 1990 | Murder in Black and White | Margo Stover | TV movie | [6][5]: 156 |
| 1991 | Sunday in Paris | Vernetta Chase | TV short | [6] |
| 1993 | The Sinbad Show | Mrs. Winters | Episode: "My Daughter's Keeper" | [6] |
| 1994 | Burke's Law | Grace Gibson | Episode: "Who Killed the Beauty Queen?" | [6] |
| Evening Shade | Ginger | Episode: "The Perfect Woman" | [6] | |
| 1994–95 | Lonesome Dove: The Series | Ida Grayson | 7 episodes | [2][6] |
| 1994 | A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle | Lydia Bishop | TV movie | [6] |
| 1995 | Touched by an Angel | Grace Willis | Episode: "The Driver" | [6] |
| 1998 | The Sweetest Gift | Mrs. Wilson | TV movie | [6] |
| 1999 | Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years | Sadie Delany | TV movie | [4][6][5]: 156 |
| Jackie's Back | Herself | TV movie | [6] | |
| Twice in a Lifetime | Jael | 2 episodes | [6] | |
| 2000 | The Courage to Love | Pouponne | TV movie | [6] |
| Sally Hemings: An American Scandal | Betty Hemings | Miniseries | [6][5]: 156 | |
| Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | Crow | Episode: "Aesop's Fables: A Whodunit Musical" | [44] | |
| Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story | Maria Cole | TV movie | [6] | |
| 2001 | The Legend of Tarzan | Queen La | Voice, 3 episodes | [11][12] |
| 2002 | The Court | Justice DeSett | 6 episodes | [6] |
| Half & Half | Grandma Ruth Thorne | Episode: "The Big Thanks for Forgiving Episode" | [6] | |
| 2003 | Strong Medicine | Eve Morton | Episode: "Love and Let Die" | [6] |
| 2003–04 | Soul Food | Aunt Ruthie | 2 episodes | [11][6] |
| 2004 | Whoopi | Viveca Rae | Episode: "Mother's Little Helper" | [6] |
| 2006–07 | Grey's Anatomy | Jane Burke | 5 episodes | [4][8][2][19] |
| 2008 | Back to You | Sandra Jenkins | Episode: "Hug & Tell" | [6] |
| Over the River...Life of Lydia Maria Child, Abolitionist for Freedom | Narrator | Documentary | [6][45] | |
| 2009–14 | White Collar | June Ellington | 25 episodes | [4][8][2][19] |
| 2010 | At Risk | Nana Mary | TV movie | [46] |
| The Front | Nana Evelyn | TV movie | [46] | |
| Diahann Carroll: The Lady. The Music. The Legend | Herself | Filmed live in concert inPalm Springs, California | [47] | |
| 2010–11 | Diary of a Single Mom | Jane Marco | 7 episodes | [2] |
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | House of Flowers | Ottillie (alias Violet) | Alvin Theatre, Broadway | [6] |
| 1962 | No Strings | Barbara Woodroff | 54th Street Theatre, Broadway | [6] |
| 1977 | Same Time, Next Year | Doris | Huntington Hartford Theatre | [8] |
| 1979 | Black Broadway | Performer | Benefit concert | |
| 1983 | Agnes of God | Dr. Martha Livingstone | Music Box Theatre, Broadway | [8][2][6][48] |
| 1990 | Love Letters | Melissa Gardner | Los Angeles Production | [49] |
| 1995 | Sunset Boulevard | Norma Desmond | Ford Centre, Toronto | [4][8][2][6] |
| 1999 | The Vagina Monologues | Performer | Westside Theatre, Off-Broadway | |
| 2004 | Bubbling Brown Sugar | Performer | Theater of the Stars, Atlanta | [6] |
| On Golden Pond | Ethel | Kennedy Center, Washington D.C. | [48][50][51] | |
| 2007 | Both Sides Now | Performer | Feinstein's at the Regency, New York | [6] |
