Diahann Carroll dead at 84...

[DRW50]

 

[Contessa Donatella]

https://movieweb.com/diahann-carroll-talks-about-her-new-white-collar-role/

 

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/diahann-carroll-dead-celebrity-reactions-1203359012/?yptr=yahoo

[Khan]

Such an amazingly beautiful and talented woman, who elevated the role of African-American women in our society in important ways.  RIP.

[DramatistDreamer]

Two of Bronx's finest.

 

[Contessa Donatella]

A list from how we reacted to this terrible loss today:

legend, class, style, substance, admire, respect, first black bitch, icon, immortal, elevated language, impeccable speech, proper emphasis, Petronia Paley from AW, stunning, single greatest TV beauty, broke the color ceiling ...

Julia, Dynasty, White Collar

[Contessa Donatella]

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay paid tribute to the late icon.

“Diahann Carroll walked this earth for 84 years and broke ground with every footstep. An icon. One of the all-time greats. She blazed trails through dense forests and elegantly left diamonds along the path for the rest of us to follow. Extraordinary life. Thank you, Ms. Carroll,” DuVernay said.

 

Yee-es! Way to go, Ava DuVernay!

[ChitHappens]

Dame Joan...

 

 

[Khan]

I'm surprised Dame Joan would post such scenes.  Alexis doesn't come out the victor in any of them.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

This would be the time to be magnanimous.

 

 

Mr. Billy Dee Williams.

 

[Cat]

Wow. I knew her primarily from Dynasty where she blew onto the screen. She was effortlessly glamorous. People tend to dismiss that sort of thing as inconsequential or superficial, but by being so glamorous, Carroll projected self-worth and self-determination. And that is no small thing.

 

Having seen Dame Joan in her one woman show and met her briefly once, IRL she is pretty self-deprecating, vulnerable and even a little shy. Dynasty era she was probably a diva, and she still projects a little Alexis for public appearances, for fans, and also I think to help her nerves. When I first met her, she was visiting the widow of one of her first talent agents, so it does not surprise me that she would select Dominique Devereaux scenes which showed Diahann Carroll in her best light. She is nicer and more thoughtful than she lets on.

[DaytimeFan]

 

 

 

 

The simple truth is Diahann and Dame Joan were friends, real friends, during and after Dynasty. They were also neighbours, for many years, in the Sierra Towers condo building in West Hollywood, they shared the same publicist, Jeffrey Lane, and were in each other's lives up to the end...there was a real love between them, and I'll leave it to Diahann's own words about Dame Joan (at 1:40 onward) to explain why, today, Dame Joan has shown the side of herself, as @Cat so beautifully describes, that she seldom does:

 

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RIP Diahann. She broke barriers with a regal style and flair that belied all the rough times she'd undoubtedly endured. Hers is a story of high standards and success. She is being remembered as the Queen that she was. I only hope she understood how much she was loved, and, probably most importantly to her, respected. 

[Khan]

 

Especially when it comes to how the mainstream depicts POC in general, and WOC in particular.  "Kids these days" simply don't know or grasp how revolutionary it was to see a woman like Diahann Carroll on TV as something other than the damn maid.

 

True, "Julia" was a problematic series for a lot of African-Americans.  For one thing, you had the stereotypical image of a Black woman raising a small child WITHOUT a father.  For another, it was ridiculous how the woman could afford such a fabulous apartment and wardrobe on her nurse's salary.  (The military pays well, but not THAT well, lol.).  But I give DC, as well as the series' creator and producer, Hal Kanter, credit for their attempts to present a refined, intelligent WOC, who was devoted to raising her son properly.  As ridiculous as that sounds TODAY, it was a [!@#$%^&*] courageous thing to do back in 1968, when "Julia" premiered.

[amybrickwallace]

Miss Carroll had an amazing life, similar to a soap in that there were so many ups and downs, twists and turns (especially in the romance department). What a beautiful woman and phenomenal entertainer. May she RIP. ❤

[DRW50]

 

I think people can easily mistake care in appearance with not caring about anything or anyone, rather than not understanding for many (especially of older generations) it was a way to show pride in themselves, because in some cases that was all they had, and if they didn't believe in themselves, they knew no one else would. 

 

I saw this interview earlier today, and she spoke about how much effort it took to convince the people behind Claudine to trust her to play the part, because they assumed she had no idea of the world Claudine lived in. She said she'd grown up around women like Claudine, had had them in her family. 

 

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The show was probably even more controversial at the time than now, because there was no focus on militant views (and I think Diahann may have chosen to end it partly because of those changing times), but when you think about a lot of what has come since, so much trash TV and so much exploitation, you have to respect the effort. And, as she says in the interview, she used the show to give actors like Diana Sands an opportunity.

[AbcNbc247]

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