Biography
A consummate and multi-award-winning performer on film, television, record and stage, Diahann Carroll's life was marked by a series of landmark achievements for black talent, and in particular, black female talent, for over 40 years. She was the first African-American woman to win a Tony for her turn in 1961's "No Strings;" four years later, she made history again with "Julia" (NBC, 1968-1971), the first series to star a black woman in a role …
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Career Milestones
| Auditioned for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts show using the more exotic sounding name of Diahann Carroll | ||
| Modeled for Johnson Publications | ||
| Toured the USA in a concert tour featuring the music of Lerner and Loewe | ||
| Toured with Lou Walters' "Jazz Revue" | ||
1941 | Began singing at age 6 with her Harlem church choir | |
1945 | Won a scholarship from the Metropolitan Opera at age 10 | |
1953 | Won another TV talent show appearance which earned her a week's engagement at the Latin Quarter nightclub | |
1954 | Broadway debut as the virginal protege of a brothel owner (played by Pearl Bailey) in the Harold Arlen-Truman Capote musical "House of Flowers" | |
1954 | Screen debut opposite Dorothy Dandridge as the femme fatale in Otto Preminger's all-black, updated movie version of "Carmen" | |
1959 | Portrayed Clara in Preminger's "Porgy and Bess," starring Sidney Poitier as Porgy and Dandridge as Bess; Pearl Bailey also starred | |
1961 | Acted opposite Poitier in Martin Ritt's "Paris Blues"; also starred Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward | |
1962 | Won a Tony Award for her role in "No Strings"; was the only musical for which Richard Rodgers wrote both the music and lyrics | |
1967 | Third film with director Otto Preminger, "Hurry Sundown" | |
1968 | Starred in own NBC TV series, "Julia" (was the second African American actress to star in her own series); nominated for an Emmy Award in 1969 | |
1974 | Received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for John Berry's "Claudine" | |
1976 | Headlined the short-lived CBS variety series, "The Diahann Carroll Show" | |
1982 | Re-teamed with director John Berry for "Sister, Sister," an NBC TV movie scripted by Maya Angelou | |
1983 | Returned to Broadway to star in "Agnes of God"; replaced actress, Elizabeth Ashley | |
1984 | Joined the cast of the popular prime-time soap "Dynasty" (ABC) as Dominique Deveraux, the half-sister of Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) | |
1985 | Reprised the role of Dominique Deveraux for the "Dynasty" spin-off "The Colbys" (ABC) | |
1988 | Cast in a recurring role as Marion Gilbert in "A Different World"; received an Emmy nomination in 1989 | |
1991 | Returned to features in Robert Townsend's "The Five Heartbeats" | |
1995 | Starred in the Toronto production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard" (first and only African-American to play the lead role of Norma Desmond) | |
1997 | Appeared as a voodoo priestess in "Eve's Bayou" starring Samuel L Jackson and Lynn Whitfield | |
1998 | Acted in the Showtime movie, "The Sweetest Gift" | |
1999 | Co-starred as Sadie Delaney in the CBS TV-movie "Having Our Say" | |
2000 | Played Natalie Cole's mother in the NBC biopic "The Natalie Cole Story" | |
2003 | Has a recurring role as Aunt Ruthie on the Showtime series, "Soul Food" | |
2006 | Cast in a recurring role as the demanding mother of Dr. Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) on "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC); received an Emmy nomination in 2008 for Guest Actress in a Drama | |
Awards
1962 | Tony Award for Actress (Musical) |
1963 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance By an Actress In a in Naked City |
1968 | Golden Globe Award for Actress in a Television Series in Julia |
1969 | Golden Globe Award for Actress in a Television Series - Musical Or Comedy in Julia |
1969 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Continued Performance By an Actress in Julia |
1974 | Academy Award for Actress in Claudine |
1974 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical in Claudine |
1989 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress In a Comedy Series in A Different World |
2008 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress In a Drama Series in Grey's Anatomy |