Diahann Carroll dead at 84...

[DramatistDreamer]

This is a very interesting discussion which I wish I had come across earlier.  comedian/writer Paul Mooney posted this on his social media and I'm in the process of watching this.

When the topic turned to the audience for daytime TV and how much of that audience is made of Black Americans, then led to the question of why blacks do not have more of an imprint (other than Oprah/talk show) on the daytime television landscape, my thoughts immediately went to the daytime network soaps and the problems we've been discussing on this board about the dearth of truly compelling stories with impact for black characters overall on the daytime soaps. On the supposedly #1 daytime drama, it is particularly abysmal and has been so for years now.

 

Anyway, Ms. Carroll is a delight here.

 

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Also, I know that Wayne Brady is not a favorite person on this board, lol, but he's really good (so far) moderating this discussion.

[Contessa Donatella]

I've just gotta tuck this here for later. I don't want to lose it.

I haven't heard the last 2 clips yet, having no headphones on for now. But, it reminds me of Irna & Pete Lemay. One of the first things Irna told him was that you could not put a black person at a table in a cafe or cafeteria with a  white person there with them. Why? Supposedly, because the viewer would change the channel to another soap. The same rational was what was given to prevent Lemay from doing his gay storyline with Michael, the male twin, of Michael & Maryanne. Nope, couldn't do it. The viewer might change over to General Hospital. P&G and Irna were just so short-sighted.

12 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said: Anyway, Ms. Carroll is a delight here.

 

Did she seem particularly articulate? A really smart dame, with critical thinking skills? I have this image of her in my head. Of course, that just may be from her in interviews.

[Contessa Donatella]

Thank you. This was so good to get to see.

[Contessa Donatella]

Loved this.

[Contessa Donatella]

 

Excited this morning to run into ex-SPW Editor Mimi Torchin's FB post about Diahann Carroll:

 

So sad to learn that the great Diahanne Carroll has died at 84. I saw her in one of my earliest Broadway shows, No Strings, and fell instantly (that voice, that face!) and lastingly in love with her. She was a great talent and a trailblazer,  and she will be missed.

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Yes, trailblazer, there's another adjective we can add to the long list that begins with legend & icon.

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Unlike many, Lenny Kravitz actually knew Carroll, for most of his life.  Anyone who remembers the film Claudine may remember that his mother, the late great actress Roxie Roker was in Claudine. 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

CBS Sunday Morning - 2 we lost this week

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/passage-diahann-carroll-and-jessye-norman/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab6i&linkId=74840225

American Black Film Festival

 

Our hearts are heavy today with the loss of a Hollywood icon and our friend Diahann Carroll.  Her charisma, poise, and gracefulness will always be remembered.  Thank you for sharing your talent with the world.  Rest in peace.

 

 

[DRW50]

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[Contessa Donatella]

https://worldofwonder.net/remembering-diahann-carroll-rip-in-no-strings/

 

Remembering Diahann Carroll (RIP) in “No Strings”

By Stephen Rutledge on October 4, 2019 12:45 pm

Carroll and Kiley, 1962, via YouTube

Remember when Americans thought France was simply swell? When there were books, movies and Broadway musicals devoted to celebrating la différence between Parisians and Americans?

No Strings (1962) is a musical, which among its many novelties, features both words and lyrics by Richard Rodgers, a composer remembered mostly as part of a team, first with Lorenz Hart and later with Oscar Hammerstein; and the orchestrations that call for no string instruments. No Strings returns to the Rodger’s swinging pre-Hammerstein days of the 1920s and 1930s, when urbanity was considered a virtue. But this musical is important because Rodgers showed that he was savvy about social change.

No Strings, with a book by Samuel A. Taylor, is about an affair between a young fashion model and an older novelist. It presents romance as a sparkling, yet stinging thing, with a score that is equal parts mordant and moody, from the hymn to hedonism, Eager Beaver, to the dark, wistful Sweetest Sounds.

It is pre-Hair, the sort of musical where its drop-dead gorgeous female lead is mentored by a French connoisseur of women who demands no sexual favors in return; where she says sincerely: ”I still have so much to learn about wine and art.”

When No Strings was being produced, the issue of Civil Rights, voter registration for blacks, integration, and fairness and equality in the workplace, was starting to gain momentum in the USA, but it was a topic rarely tackled on Broadway.

Neither the book nor score make mention of race, nor does it impact upon any decisions made by the romantic couple, but Rodgers still addressed the issue. Other than the model’s reference to her growing up north of Central Park (Harlem), there is nothing in the script to suggest she’s African-American. It was only in the casting of beautiful Diahann Carroll and masculine baritone Richard Kiley as lovers that the subject of interracial romance surfaced, but any production of the show easily could be cast with two leads of the same race without changing the content in any significant way. The casting was socially progressive at the time.

Rodgers got the idea for casting a black woman as the lead after seeing Carroll on The Tonight Show. He had seen her perform and knew he wanted to work with her and had her audition for the lead in Flower Drum Song in 1958, but she didn’t come across as Asian, as the role required. Can you believe that? Rodgers felt that the casting in No Strings spoke for itself and any specific references to race in the play were unnecessary. Rodgers:

”Rather than shrinking from the issue of race, such an approach would demonstrate our respect for the audience’s ability to accept our theme free from rhetoric or sermons.”

However, the characters’ reluctance to discuss race was just as controversial as the casting. The casting formula was repeated when Barbara McNair and Howard Keel replaced Carroll and Kiley in the run, Art Lund and Beverly Todd in the London production, and every revival I have ever encountered (No Strings deserves more revivals).

The musical opened on Broadway in 1962 and ran for 580 performances. It received a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical, Rodgers won for Best Score, and Joe Layton won for his choreography. There was also a Tony win for Carroll, a first for a black woman.

Ironically, a couple of years late, Warner Bros. discussed making a film version of No Strings, and Rodgers did nothing when the studio wanted to have Asian actor Nancy Kwan as the lead. Carroll found this out reading the morning paper.

Before No Strings, Carroll had appeared on Broadway in the much misunderstood but exotic musical House Of Flowers (1954) by Harold Arlen (music and lyrics) and Truman Capote (lyrics and book), based on his own short story.

Carroll appeared on stage in projects previously considered the territory for white actors: Same Time, Next Year (1977), Agnes Of God (1983), Sunset Boulevard (1995), and On Golden Pond (2004).

Diahann Carroll was taken by cancer on Friday, October 4.

 

[DramatistDreamer]

[Contessa Donatella]

Diahann Caroll

You Tube: Why the Caged Bird Sings

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[ChitHappens]

OMG!  I remember watching this in my teens.  Wow.  Definitely gonna check this out.  

[DRW50]

The actress who played her daughter in that movie left a comment somewhere - I think she said she was also battling breast cancer and had gotten into contact with Diahann. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Did you see the roundtable discussion with Diahann Carroll that I posted upthread?  It's from the same YouTube channel ReelBlack.  They have many interesting videos uploaded on their channel.

[Taoboi]

Pure class.

 

R.I.P.