Singer and Tony-winning, Oscar-nominated actress Diahann Carroll, the first African-American woman to star in her own TV series, has died at her home in Los Angeles after a long bout with cancer. …
In 1986, Carroll released her frank autobiography Diahann, which detailed the triumphs of her professional life and some of the torments of her personal life.
Carroll was married four times, to talent manager and music producer Monte Kay, retailer Fred Glusman, editor Robert DeLeon, and singer Vic Damone.
(Variety, October 4, 2019)
Truth be told, when it comes to pioneering black actresses, Cicely Tyson features in my mind more than Diahann Carroll. No doubt this is because I found Tyson’s starring role in the TV miniseries Roots (1977) far more impactful than Carroll’s in the TV sitcom Julia (1968).
Not to mention that Tyson was a pioneer in her own right:
In 1963 Tyson became the first African-American star of a TV drama in the series East Side/West Side, playing the role of secretary Jane Foster.
(Biography, July 24, 2015)
Still, none of my seven sisters would forgive me if I failed to pay homage to Carroll. Because no actress imbued them with more racial and gender pride than seeing her play Julia Baker (on our black and white TV).
Her character was a professional woman and single mother. But Julia was also witty, cosmopolitan, and drop-dead gorgeous. She wasn’t a bra burner. But she was a feminist long before Mary Richards of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) made being one fashionable.
Yet it was Carroll’s stint on the TV dramas Dynasty (1984) and The Colbys (1985) that sealed her fame (and banked her fortune). She played Dominique Deveraux, a character every bit as pioneering as Julia.
Except that, far from being a genial working mother, this witty, cosmopolitan, and drop-dead gorgeous woman was also a conniving, filthy-rich bitch. Simply put, her Deveraux character was the female version of the show’s white patriarch, Blake Carrington. She just happened to be black.
Of course, what is most remarkable about these two signature roles is that they were, in many respects, Carroll’s art imitating her life. The opening quote only hints at the drama she lived. But through it all, she personified independence, sophistication, and beauty. And, showing that her talents extended beyond typecasting roles, the lady also sang the blues.
Perhaps God had a crossbreeding of Nina Simone and Elizabeth Taylor in mind when He made her; this, with all due respect to Diana.
Given the pioneering status she enjoyed in life, Carroll deserves far more media coverage than she’s getting in death. Unfortunately, President Trump sucks up so much media airtime, I doubt even Oprah would get much more coverage if she died today.
Besides fearing the wrath of seven sisters, adding what little I can to her coverage is why I felt obliged to pay this homage to Carroll. She was 84.
Farewell, Diahann.