#RestInPower: Remembering The Celebs We Lost In 2019 - Page 18

Diahann Carroll

Source: ABC Photo Archives / Getty

Actress, singer, and activist Diahann Carroll was a groundbreaking entertainer who first entered the industry as an esteemed singer in New York City’s nightclub circuit during the 1940’s and 50’s. She soon transitioned to a successful career on Broadway, where she won a Tony Award for her performance in No Strings. During her acting career she worked and rose with her contemporaries including Sydney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge. But in the 1960’s it was her role in Julia where she portrayed a single Black mother, making her the first Black woman to star in a role where she was not playing the role of a domestic worker. She garnered a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination for her portrayal in 1969. Years later she was nominated for an Oscar her role in Claudine opposite James Earl Jones. Over the course of her career she had multiple popular resurgences in Dynasty, The Five Heartbeats, and is still hailed as one of the most prolific actors of her generation. She died on October 4 after a battle with breast cancer. She was 84-years-old.