In the mid-20th century, American theater and film were deeply entrenched in racial biases and prejudices. Black actors often struggled to compete with their white counterparts on an equal footing. But when it comes to true talent, nothing can stand in the way. A shining example of this is Diahann Carroll. This woman was able to make an indelible mark on American culture despite the color of her skin. She was the first Black actress to win a Tony Award and the first African American woman to have her own television show in the U.S. How she did it is the story we’re telling in this article on bronxski.
A Musical Childhood
Diahann Carroll was born in the Bronx in 1935. Diahann Carroll was not her birth name, though. She adopted the stage name by slightly altering her real name, Carol Diann Johnson, after her acting career began.
The family lived a modest life. Her father, John, was a subway conductor, and her mother, Mabel, was a homemaker who cared for the children. From a young age, Diahann was captivated by music and singing. By the age of six, she was singing in a Harlem church choir. The young girl was a diligent student of vocal and piano lessons, dreaming of a career in opera. When it came time to select candidates for a Metropolitan Opera scholarship to the High School of Music & Art in New York City, her name was at the top of the list.
Diahann grew up to be an obedient, polite, and very beautiful girl. As a teenager, she wanted to become a model because of her striking good looks and slender figure, but her love for music won out. At 16, Diahann and a friend auditioned for Arthur Godfrey’s show Talent Scouts, and that’s when she first used her stage name. Carroll won and got an amazing opportunity to be on a daily radio show that aired for three months. It was there that the young woman gained her first professional experience and solidified her desire to pursue a career in the media.
Making it to the Big Screen
For three years, Diahann continued to pursue music and attend various auditions. Finally, at 19, she got her big break, appearing in a film adaptation of a major musical. Carroll was cast in a supporting role as the friend of Dorothy Dandridge’s character in the musical Carmen Jones. That same year, she made her Broadway debut in the Harold Arlen and Truman Capote musical House of Flowers.
Read the story about the show that lasted for more than 27 years by following this link.
In 1959, Diahann Carroll starred in the musical film Porgy and Bess, but her singing parts were dubbed by opera singer Loulie Jean Norman. Chasing television opportunities, Diahann began to dedicate less time to music and felt her acting potential growing. As a result, she started focusing more on auditions for regular films, not just musicals.
In 1961, Diahann Carroll starred alongside Sidney Poitier in the film Paris Blues. The film was considered a success, and the director and producers were satisfied with her performance, yet she didn’t get another role until six years later in the drama Hurry Sundown. Carroll continued to try to land film roles but didn’t waste her time between auditions. During this period, Diahann worked in theater and achieved significant success on stage. For the first time in U.S. history, a Black actress won the prestigious Tony Award, given for outstanding contributions to theater. That actress was Diahann Carroll, who received the award for her leading role in the musical No Strings. When Hollywood decided to adapt the musical, Carroll was confident she’d reprise her success on screen, but the role was instead given to a white actress, Nancy Kwan. This decision outraged the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which even threatened to boycott Warner Bros. Studios. Following the public scandal, the film was pulled from production and never saw the light of day.
The Rise to Stardom
In 1968, Diahann Carroll once again proved that for talent and determination, the color of your skin doesn’t matter. She launched her own television show, the sitcom Julia. This was a true breakthrough, as unlike previous Black characters, she was not playing a servant or a maid but the main character—a nurse and a widow raising a young son.
This role earned her a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award nomination in 1969. The show was a success and aired for five years. After its conclusion, Diahann Carroll returned to dramatic roles in film. In 1974, she appeared in the film Claudine, where she played a woman from Harlem single-handedly raising six children.
Carroll was nominated for an Oscar, becoming the fourth Black actress at the time to receive a nomination for Best Actress.
After this, major roles became rare, but Diahann Carroll continued to work actively on television. In 1976, she attempted a return with her own variety show on CBS, but the effort was unsuccessful, and the program lasted only four episodes.
However, the actress never stopped working in theater. Among her most popular stage works from that period were Same Time, Next Year and Agnes of God.
The Legendary Dynasty
But the true pinnacle of Diahann Carroll’s career was her role in the popular series Dynasty. In 1984, Carroll joined the cast of this prime-time ABC soap opera. Diahann played Dominique Deveraux, the half-sister of John Forsythe’s character, Blake Carrington, and the rival of the stunning Alexis, played by Joan Collins.
Diahann Carroll first appeared on the show on May 2, 1984, right when it gained immense popularity and won a Golden Globe. It was the first time a Black actress had a leading role in a prime-time soap opera. Carroll was on Dynasty for three years. She appeared in a total of 72 episodes and gained a huge fan base before leaving the series in 1987. Diahann also appeared in the short-lived spinoff The Colbys on a recurring basis from 1985 to 1986.
Personal Life and Career Achievements
After the famous Dynasty, Diahann Carroll disappeared from screens and the theater for a while. However, she had no intention of ending her career. She simply took a short break and returned in the ’90s to delight her fans on both stage and screen.
From 1989 to 1993, Carroll made recurring appearances in the series A Different World, which earned her another Emmy nomination. This was followed by another successful series, Lonesome Dove, where Diahann gave an outstanding performance in a major dramatic role. 1996 marked the actress’s career with the Canadian musical Sunset Boulevard, and 1997 with the film Eve’s Bayou. After her participation in the musical, Carroll once again became enchanted with music and began to dedicate more time to the stage than to television projects.
Among her best film works were the roles of Sadie Delaney in the film Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years (1999) and the mother of the troubled singer Natalie Cole in the film Living for Love: The Natalie Cole Story (2000). The actress also appeared in series such as Half & Half, Strong Medicine, and Grey’s Anatomy. In 2004, the actress received positive critical reviews for her role in the musical Bubbling Brown Sugar.
As for her personal life, the actress never publicized it, yet it was quite eventful. Diahann was married four times, but she had far fewer children than husbands. She had only one daughter, Suzanne, from her first marriage. All of the actress’s chosen partners were not public figures. Among celebrities, she was only engaged to Sidney Poitier in the 1960s, but the wedding never happened. In her final years, Carroll bravely fought breast cancer and became a passionate advocate in the fight against the disease. Ultimately, the illness won—Diahann died of cancer at the age of 84.
