Diahann Carroll (born July 17, 1935) is an American actress and singer. Born in New York City, she attended its LaGuardia High School for performing arts. She appeared in the prestigious African-American themed films, Carmen Jones (1954) and Porgy and Bess (1959). Between 1968 and 1971, Carroll starred in her own television series, Julia, which made her the first African American actress to star in her own television series where she did not play a domestic worker. In 1984, she joined the evening television soap opera series, Dynasty as Dominique Deveraux. She went on to appear in its spinoff, The Colbys, in 1987. She is the recipient of numerous stage and screen awards and nominations. Carroll has been married four times and became the mother of a daughter in 1960. She is a breast cancer survivor and activist.

Early years

Carroll was born Carol Diahann Johnson in The Bronx, New York, to John Johnson and Mabel Faulk. Her family moved to the Harlem neighborhood of New York City when she was an infant. She attended Music & Art High School, along with schoolmate Billy Dee Williams. In the early 50's she attended what was known as the School of Commerce at NYU (now Stern School) where she used to entertain her classmates by singing in the Lassman Hall Student Lounge.