Diahann Carroll Biography
Carol Diahann Johnson, 17 July 1935, The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. After studying at New York's High School of Music and Art Carroll attended NYU, meanwhile seeking part-time work as a model and singer. Her film debut came with a small role in Carmen Jones (1954) but her first major acting success was that same year's Harold Arlen-Truman Capote musical House Of Flowers on Broadway. For this, she received a Tony nomination and also appeared on the original cast recording in 1955. In 1959, she was back in Hollywood for Porgy And Bess, with Sidney Poitier, and followed this with Paris Blues (1961). In 1962, she returned to Broadway for the Richard Rodgers stage musical No Strings, winning a Tony Award and appearing on the original cast recording. Also that year, she was a guest on Judy Garland's television show and appeared in Naked City, the latter appearance gaining her an Emmy nomination. Carroll made more film appearances, including Hurry Sundown (1967) and The Split (1968). In 1968, Carroll starred on television in the title role of a new drama series Julia, receiving another Emmy nomination and winning a Golden Globe as Best Actress. The character's popularity brought a spin-off when Mattel, Barbie's manufacturer, brought out a new line of dolls: Talking Julia. Before Julia ended in 1971, she was again nominated for a Golden Globe, unsuccessfully this time.
Carroll then went back to films, appearing in Claudine (1974), for which she received an Oscar nomination. In 1976, television's The Diahann Carroll Show ran for one season. Other television appearances in the late 70s and on into the 80s included I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings and in the late 80s she was also a regular cast member of Dynasty, playing Millie "Dominique" Cox Deveraux. She also appeared as Marion Gilbert in A Different World, for which in 1989 she was nominated for an Emmy. In 1992, she was in television's Lonesome Dove: The Series. In the mid-90s she played the leading role of Norma Desmond in a Canadian production of Sunset Boulevard, appearing on this version's cast recording. In 2002, she played Justice DeSett in the Sally Field ABC television drama series, The Court, and late that same year she co-starred at the Pasadena Playhouse in Blue. Directed by Sheldon Epps, this production of Charles Randolph-Wright's play starred Phylicia Rashad as Peggy Clark while Carroll portrayed her mother, Tillie Clark. The play featured music by Nona Hendryx and lyrics by Hendryx and Randolph-Wright, and was acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, with Carroll's performance attracting particular praise. Carroll's private life was often tumultuous. She married casting director Monte Kay in 1956 and had a daughter, Suzanne. In the early 60s, while making her two films with Poitier, the couple began a much-publicized affair but by the time both she and Poitier were divorced and free to marry their relationship ended. In the early 70s she had a brief relationship with UK television personality David Frost, and two weeks after this affair ended early in 1973 she married Freddie Glusman and was divorced a few months later. She married Robert DeLeon in 1975, but her husband was killed in a car accident in March 1977. In 1987 she married singer Vic Damone, eventually divorcing in 1996. Outside of showbusiness, the late 90s saw her establish a successful fashion-ware business, The Diahann Carroll Collection, and in 1998 she won a fight against breast cancer. A capable singer, Carroll's recordings sometimes benefited from front-rank accompanists, among them Ralph Burns on a set of Harold Arlen songs, and André Previn on a selection of songs from Porgy And Bess and on The Fabulous Diahann Carroll.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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