Dianne Carroll was born on July 17, 1935 in the Bronx, New York. She attended Manhattan’s School of Performing Arts and worked as a nightclub singer and model before making her Broadway debut in The House of Flowers in 1954. That year, she also made her film debut alongside Dorothy Dandridge in Carmen Jones.
Little did Ms. Carroll know that in the late 1960s she would break a major ethnic barrier on the small screen. In Julia (1968), Carroll played widowed single mother Julia Baker (her husband, Army Capt. Baker, an O-1 Bird Dog artillery spotter pilot had been shot down in Vietnam) who was a nurse in a doctor’s office.
The doctor, Morton Chegley, was played by Lloyd Nolan, and Julia’s romantic interests by Paul Winfield and Fred Williamson. Julia’s son, Corey (Marc Copage) was approximately six to nine years old during the series run.
Despite other African American actresses starring in a TV series (i.e., Hattie McDaniel in “Beulah”), Diahann became the first full-fledged African-American female “star” — top billed, in which the show centered around her lead character.The show gradually rose in ratings and Diahann won a Golden Globe award for “Best Newcomer” and an Emmy nomination. The show lasted only two seasons, at her request.
Ms. Carroll is also well known for her role as jet setter Dominique Deveraux on Dynasty from the 1980s. She received her third Emmy nomination in 1989 for her role on A Different World. Most recently, Carroll has made recurring guest appearances on the hit dramedy Grey’s Anatomy.
Carroll made a number of films during her career and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for Claudine in 1974. She starred in No Strings (1962) and also appeared in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1979).