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Diahann Carroll passes at 84

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Diahann Carroll, the first Black actress to star in a non-servant role in a television series, passed last week at age 84. She broke ground as “Julia” in an NBC series that ran more than 80 episodes from 1968 into the 1970s.

“Carroll was a consummate entertainer and beloved icon whose career spanned nearly seven decades,” her daughter, Suzanne Kay, said in a statement, reports NBC News. “She paved the way for many and never allowed anyone to limit or define her.”

Carroll played a nurse named Julia Baker who was raising a young son on her own following the death of her serviceman husband in the Vietnam War. It was a groundbreaking show, marking the first time an African-American was cast as the star of a show in a role other than that of a servant. There had been other Black actors on scripted TV before, most notably Ethel Waters as the star of “Bulah,” which ran for 78 episodes between 1950 and 1953 on ABC.

Waters played a maid in the comedy. And on “Star Trek,” Nichelle Nichols’ Lt. Uhura was the Enterprise’s chief communications officer, though she was still in a supporting role to William Shatner’s Capt. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock and DeForest Kelley’s Dr. McCoy. Carroll once told PBS that she embraced her lead “Julia” character because she stood out as a self-sufficient, confident African American woman.

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