Diahann Carroll - Definition and Overview

Diahann Carroll, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1955

Her first film role was in Carmen Jones in 1954, but her big break came when she became the first African American actress to star in her own television series in which she did not play a domestic worker, when Julia debuted in 1968. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for the role.

In 1959, she played Clara in the film version of Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess along with such distinguished actors as Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr. and Pearl Bailey. Opera singer Loulie Jean Norman provided Carroll's singing voice.

In 1974 she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Claudine. She has also starred in the series Dynasty and The Colbys. Carroll also had a recurring role on the NBC sitcom A Different World as Whitley Gilbert's (Jasmine Guy) mother.

Broadway credits

• House of Flowers (1954) in the part of Ottilie
• No Strings (1962) in the part of Barbara Woodruff