Diahann Carroll

She has married four times in her life. Her first husband was Monte Kay, a record producer, with whom she has a daughter Suzanne Kay Bamford. Suzanne is a freelance media journalist.

In 1973, she married Fred Glusman, a Las Vegas boutique owner. After several weeks, she filed for divorce citing physical abuse. In 1975, she got married for the third time with Robert DeLeon, a managing editor of “Jet” magazine.

After the death of Robert in a car accident, she tied the nuptial knot for the fourth time with singer Vic Damone in 1987. In 1996, they got divorced.

Born in Bronx, New York, Carol Diahann Johnson was the first child of John Johnson, a subway conductor, and Mabel Faulk Johnson. She grew up in Harlem where her family shifted later.

With support of her parents, she attended dancing, singing and modelling classes at a very young age. At the age of ten, she received a Metropolitan Opera scholarship for studies at New York’s High School of Music and Art.

At the age of 15, she did modelling assignment for “Ebony” magazine. During this time, she auditioned for Arthur Godfrey’s radio programme “Talent Scouts”. Success in this contest brought her recognition.

After finishing her school education, she studied at New York University. At that time, she was contemplating to pursue a nightclub career.

The turning point in her life came when she participated on the Dumont Television Network Program ‘Chance of a Lifetime’ in 1954. She was the winner of this show for four weeks. Due to her popularity in this program, she got job offers from Manhattan’s Caf� Society and Latin Quarter nightclubs.

In 1954, she made her film debut with ‘Carmen Jones’ in a supporting role. Later, she featured in the ‘House of Flowers’, a Broadway musical by Harold Arlen and Truman Capote.

In 1959, she portrayed the character of Clara in the film version of George Gershwin’s ‘Porgy and Bess’.

In the year 1960, she made a guest appearance in ‘Peter Gunn’, a television series. After making appearances on a number of shows, she acted in the night-time soap opera ‘Dynasty’ in which she played the role of Dominique Deveraux from 1984 to 1987.

Later, she appeared in ‘The Colbys’, an American soap opera and acted in television sitcom ‘A Different World’. She was nominated for Emmy award in 1989, for her performance in ‘A Different World’.

In 1961, she portrayed the role of Connie Lampson in the film ‘Paris Blues’. This film is based on Harold Flender’s novel and deals with racism in America.

Her acting in television series ‘Julia’, an American sitcom of 1968, earned her fame as an actress. In ‘Julia’, she played the character of an African American woman in a non-stereotypical role. The NBC broadcast its 86 episodes from the month of September.

In 1991, she played the role of an ideal wife Eleanor Potter in ‘The Five Heartbeats’, a musical drama. Directed by Robert Townsend, this musical deals with the rise and fall of Motown, a record company.