Carroll, Diahann
1935 -
Actress and singer, born Carol Diann Johnson on July 17, 1935, in the Bronx,
New York. She has a younger sister, Lydia.
When Carroll was just ten years old, she received a Metropolitan Opera
scholarship for studies at New York's High School of Music and Art. She
went on to study sociology at New York University, working part-time as a model, in TV bit
parts, and as a nightclub singer. Carroll's Broadway debut was in the
Harold Arlen/Truman Capote production House of Flowers (1954), and
her film debut was in the immensely successful Carmen Jones (1954),
a modern version of Bizet's opera Carmen, performed by an all-black
cast. She also appeared in the film version of Porgy and Bess
(1959). Carroll was back on Broadway in 1962, winning a Tony Award for
No Strings.
In 1968, she broke important ground in Hollywood by starring in the TV
sitcom Julia, about a beautiful and independent single career woman
and mother, who happened to be black. This was the first TV show to star a
black personality, and her character's dignified occupation as a nurse was
a significant improvement over the stereotypical roles often assigned to
black performers on TV in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1968, Carroll was
nominated for an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Julia, and she won a
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress the same year.
Although a sweetheart on TV in the 1960s, Carroll returned to the small
screen with a completely different type of character in the glitzy 1980s,
portraying the glamorous, scheming businesswoman Dominique Devereaux, in
the nighttime soap opera Dynasty (1984-87).
Carroll's second Emmy nomination came in 1989 for a guest
appearance in the comedy series A Different World, as
actress Jasmine Guy's mother. In 1974, she was nominated for an
Academy Award for her performance in Claudine. In 1995,
she starred as Norma Desmond in a production of Andrew Lloyd
Webber's Sunset Boulevard. In 1998 and 1999, she toured
the country singing classic Broadway songs in Almost Like
Being in Love--The Lerner and Loewe Songbook.
Carroll published her autobiography, Diahann
, in 1986, and in 1997
she launched a signature line of clothing and eyewear targeted to the needs
of African-American women. In 1998, Carroll was diagnosed with breast
cancer. Following successful treatment, she became the spokeswoman for the
National Women's Cancer Research Alliance, and an outspoken advocate of
early cancer prevention and detection. She is also well known for her work
on behalf of AIDS research.
Carroll has been married four times and has a daughter, Suzanne, by her
first husband, Monte Kay, a Jewish casting director and owner of the jazz
club Birdland. Carroll's father disapproved of the interracial marriage
and did not attend the wedding. Her third marriage ended when her husband,
Robert DeLeon, was killed in an automobile accident.
Links:
Diahann : An Autobiography
Julia Website
Diahann Carroll Tribute