
Posted October 4, 2019
The Front 10.04.19

Source: Mirrorpix / Getty
Oscar-nominated actress Diahann Carroll, the actress and singer who rose to fame after starring in the TV series Julia, has died at the age of 84.
Susan Kay, Carroll’s daughter, revealed to The AP that her mother passed away Friday in Los Angeles of cancer. Carroll had a storied career in Hollywood which began with Fox’s show Julia. The show followed Carroll, a widowed single mother after her husband was killed in the Vietnam war, a nurse at a doctor’s office.
But more important than the theme of the show was how pioneering it was. Julia was the first show to depict a Black woman in a nonstereotypical, nonservant role. It ran from 1968 to 1971 and would go on to be nominated for a few Emmys and even won a Golden Globe Award in 1969 for Carroll’s role as Julia Baker.
During her lengthy career, the Bronx-born actress earned a Tony Award for the musical “No Strings” and an Academy Award nomination for best actress for Claudine, where Carroll played a maid to a very wealthy suburban family.
Ava DuVernay, a pioneer for Black women in entertainment in her own right, took to Twitter to offer her condolences.
“Diahann Carroll walked this earth for 84 years and broke ground with every footstep. An icon. One of the all-time greats,” the director wrote on Twitter. “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.”

Remembering Diahann Carroll In A Lifetime Of Photos After Legendary Actress Dies At 84
Remembering Diahann Carroll In A Lifetime Of Photos After Legendary Actress Dies At 84
1. Julia - Season 3

2. Millay Colony for the Arts Dinner at the Plaza Hotel,

3. 47th Academy Awards

4. Diahann Carroll And Don Marshall

5. Paley Center For Media's Hollywood Tribute To African-American Achievements in Television

6. 2016 ABFF Awards: A Celebration Of Hollywood

7. Julia Scene with Diahann Carroll and Guest Stars

8. Diahann Carroll and Jim Brown

9. Frank Sinatra and Diahann Carroll

10. 37th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards

11. 38th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards

12. Portrait At Mar-A-Lago

13. Diahann Carroll with Harry Belafonte

14. Bill Cosby and Diahann Carroll

15. In London

16. Portrait Of Diahann Carroll

17. BET's 2017 American Black Film Festival Honors Awards

18. Essence Black Women In Hollywood Awards

19. Diahann Carroll Reflects On Early Days Of Career

20. Julia - Season 1

21. Julia - Season 2

22. Julia - Season 3

23. Dynasty

24. Diahann Carroll

25. Dynasty cast party

26. Heroes Of Hollywood Awards Luncheon

27. In the UK

28. In London

29. In LA

30. In the UK

31. Robert Goulet, Diahann Carroll Performing On 'The Bob Goulet Show'

32. Promotional Photo

33. Diahann Carroll Performing On 'The Bob Goulet Show'

34. Diahann Carroll Promotional Photo

35. Diahann Carroll Promotional Photo

36. Portrait of Diahann Carroll

37. Phyllis Diller, Julie Andrews, Diahann Carroll Appearing On 'The Julie Andrews Hour'

38. Portrait of Diahann Carroll

39. Portrait of Diahann Carroll

40. Claudine (1974)

41. Diahann Carroll Performing On 'The Twentieth Century Follies'

42. American actress Diahann Carroll pictured on her arrival in Sydney

43. American actress and singer Diahann Carroll, of the TV series "Julia" pictured at Sydney airport today. She is here for a season at the VChevron Hotel.

44. Diahann Carroll Appearing In 'The Twentieth Century Follies'

45. The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards

46. Diahann Carroll, actress, singer, arrived in Sydney today for an Opera House concert.

47. Diahann Carroll in Hot Tub

48. Diahann Carroll Appearing On 'ABC Stage 67'

49. Diahann Carroll Session

50. Ashford & Simpson And Friends

51. Diahann Carroll Session

52. Diahann Carroll Session

53. Diahann Carroll Session

54. Portrait Of Diahann Carroll

55. Diahann Carroll In 'Julia'

56. Diahann Carroll

57. Julia

58. Sidney Poitier

59. Diahann Carroll In Watts

60. Diahann Carroll

Remembering Diahann Carroll In A Lifetime Of Photos After Legendary Actress Dies At 84
[caption id="attachment_3889002" align="alignnone" width="857"] Source: NBC / Getty[/caption] Prayers up. We have lost an icon. Legendary actress, singer, and activist Diahann Carroll has died, according to multiple reports. She was 84 years old. Carroll's daughter told the Hollywood Reporter that her mother died at her Los Angeles home after battling breast cancer. READ MORE: 10 Times Diahann Carroll Slayed "Carroll was known as a Las Vegas and nightclub performer and for her performances on Broadway and in the Hollywood musicals Carmen Jones and Porgy & Bess when she was approached by an NBC executive to star as Julia Baker, a widowed nurse raising a young son, on the comedy Julia," the Hollywood Reporter wrote. https://twitter.com/ava/status/1180159835989348352?s=20 Born July 17, 1935, in the Bronx, Carroll's career on stage, television, and film was noteworthy for breaking color barriers. In 1962, Carroll became the first Black actress to win a Tony Award for her performance in the 1962 musical “No Strings,” a role written especially for her by the American composer Richard Rogers. Six years later, Carroll starred on the hit NBC sitcom "Julia," marking the first time an African American actress starred on a television series in a non servant role. Carroll's groundbreaking performance as widowed single mother Julia Baker received widespread critical acclaim. In 1969, she became the first Black actress to be nominated for - and win - a Golden Globe award for her work on "Julia." A year later, Carroll would make history once again by becoming the first Black actress to earn a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. https://twitter.com/TheWing/status/1180164976134295553?s=20 And if Carroll's achievements weren't impressive enough, she also nabbed an Oscar nomination in 1974 for her role in the film “Claudine.” https://twitter.com/ava/status/1180177310961397761?s=20 She was also an accomplished singer, as shown in the video below. https://twitter.com/BlackMusicHstry/status/1180165558978977792?s=20 TV One remembered how Carroll would "go on to star in Dynasty in 1984 as the super sexy fashionista Dominique Deveraux, making her the first prominently featured African-American character on a primetime soap opera — a spot that wouldn’t be filled by another Black woman until Kerry Washington in 2012." Carroll's role as Dominique Deveraux in the prime time soap opera "Dynasty" proved to be a transformative experience for the actress. According to a Washington Post interview published in 2017, Deveraux was "an elegant songstress and businesswoman whom Carroll declared at the time would be television’s 'first black bitch.' She instructed the prime-time soap’s writers to 'just pretend that I’m a white male . . . and write the character from there.' And there, yet another breakthrough, America getting to watch a black woman complaining about the off-brand of caviar she had been served." https://twitter.com/ira/status/1180154333863657472?s=20 Carroll went into a bit more detail when describing to the producers of "Dynasty" how she'd like Deveraux's character to be. "The most important thing to remember is write for a white male, and you'll have the character. Don't try to write for what you think I am. Write for a white man who wants to be wealthy and powerful. And that's the way we found Dominique Deveraux," Carroll said in the early 1980s. https://twitter.com/TelevisionAcad/status/1180162768260853760?s=20 Carroll also played Whitley Gilbert's mother on the popular 1990s sitcom "A Different World." https://twitter.com/_80sPROTOTYPE_/status/1180172955428573185?s=20 She was married four times and is survived by her daughter, producer and journalist Suzanne Kay, and her grandchildren, August and Sydney. Carroll was first diagnosed with cancer in 1997, which she beat after undergoing surgery and radiation therapy. The experience inspired her to become a public breast cancer activist. She is also a founding member of the Celebrity Action Council, which offers services to homeless women struggling with drug and alcohol addiction or prostitution. The world will miss her dearly. Scroll down to take a look at dozens of stunning photos of her through the years.