Diahann Carroll Broke Racial Barriers On Camera, On Stage, and Behind the Scenes

Diahann Carroll was married to Vic Damon from 1987 to 1996.Photo byPinterest.com

"Diahann Carroll was one of the few Blacks, back in the day, who [forced] the white gaze to see Black women in living color."

So wrote entertainment journalist Zita Allen in The Amsterdam News about actress/singer Carroll (who died of cancer in 2019 at 84), and her on-screen performances in TV shows like Julia (NBC, 1968-1971) and Dynasty (ABC, 1980-1989).

No doubt, Carroll, elegant and multi-talented, changed the course of TV history as the first African American woman to shatter stereotypes on the small screen.

While, too, she also performed on the stage (winning a Tony Award) and was Oscar-nominated for her work in feature films.

Into this mix, however, Carroll was also a trailblazer behind the scenes.

A Closer Look

Born and raised in New York City, Diahann Carroll began performing when she was just 6 years old in the Abyssinian Baptist Church children’s choir.

In her teens, Carroll took things to the next level at Manhattan’s High School of Music and Art and in 1950s TV talent shows.

After a brief enrollment at New York University, Carroll's career took off after she appeared in Carmen Jones, with an all-star Black cast led by Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte, and eloquent dancers like Alvin Ailey, Carmen de Lavallade and James Truitte.

In 1962, Carroll won a Tony Award for No Strings, a musical Richard Rodgers composed with her in mind.

Six years later, Carroll shattered the race ceiling and TV ratings as a widowed nurse and single mother in the Emmy-nominated, Golden Globe-winning sitcom, Julia.

After that series ended in 1971, Carroll received an Academy Award nomination for her leading role as a welfare mother in the 1974 big-screen comedy Claudine.

Decades after that, she broke the TV race barrier again on Dynasty, which originally had an all-White cast. Years later still, she was featured in the TV show White Collar.

Meanwhile, Behind the Scenes...

Behind the scenes and through it all, Diahann Carroll battled prejudice in real life and indirectly helped to break the romantic race barrier in marrying and dating Caucasian men. That wasn't her direct goal; it just happened. She loved human beings for who they are; despite cultural differences.

Carroll married four husbands, three of whom were White: Italian-American crooner Vic Damone (from 1987 to 1996), Fred Glusman (from 1973 to 1973), and music agent and record producer Monte Kay (from 1956 to 1963). Her third husband was Robert DeLeon (from 1975 to 1977).

And though she dated legendary African-American actor Sidney Poiter (from 1959 to 1968), Carroll also became romantically involved with British White TV talk show host David Frost (from 1970 to 1973).

Lasting Impression

Diahann Carroll was one of the most versatile and graceful performers in the history of entertainment, across the board. She had class and sophistication; she could both sing and act, and she loved and respected all people of every culture, on-screen and off.