FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2008
Media Contact: Priscilla L. Hunter, 312.344.7805, 312.286.6624 (cell) or phunter@colum.edu
Chicago, IL— Diahann Carroll is an actress of many firsts. She is best known for her title role in “Julia” (1968). This landmark accomplishment established Carroll as the first black actress to star in her own television series where she did not play a domestic worker. She was the first black actress to win a Tony Award (1962) for the role of Barbara Woodruff in the musical “No Strings.” In 1984 she became the first black actress to star in the award-winning nighttime series “Dynasty.”
On Thursday, February 14 at 7:30 p.m. at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, 1306 S. Michigan Ave., Carroll will share her experiences as part of Columbia College’s public programming series Conversations in the Arts: Up Close With…
Tickets are FREE and are available on a first-come, first-served basis at www.colum.edu/tickets or by calling Columbia Ticket Center, 312.344.6600. For further information call 312.344.7287.
Carroll’s first film role was a supporting role in “Carmen Jones” in 1954. She then made her Broadway debut in the musical “House of Flowers.” After seeing her in this production, Richard Rodgers created the Broadway production “No Strings” as a starring vehicle for Carroll. She also starred on Broadway in the award winning play “Agnes of God.”
In 1959 she played Clara in the film version of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” co-starring with Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr. and Pearl Bailey.
For her role in “Julia,” she was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1969 and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series in 1968—its first year on the air. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for “Claudine” in 1974. Carroll’s second Emmy nomination came in 1989 for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for NBC’s TV series “A Different World.”
She had a recurring role in Showtime’s hit series “Soul Food” as Aunt Ruthie for which she was nominated twice for a NAACP Image Award. She guest starred in Lifetime TV’s “Strong Medicine” and in NBC’s TV show “Whoopi,” playing Whoopi Goldberg’s mother. In 2004 she starred on stage in the musical “Bubbling Brown Sugar.”
Some of Carroll’s additional film credits include “Eve’s Bayou,” “The Five Heartbeats,” “Paris Blues,” “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and “Hurry Sundown.”
Carroll is currently writing a book due for release in October. The untitled non-fiction work will be published by Harpers Collins. In June she returns to the Resorts Hotel in Atlantic City and she will continue touring with musician Michael Feinstein.
Conversations in the Arts is an in-depth dialogue with some of today’s most respected members of American arts and letters. Each featured artist is joined by the evening’s host in a small setting for an intimate conversation.
Conversations in the Arts: Up Close with Diahann Carroll is sponsored by American Airlines, Chicago Hilton and Towers and Nielsen Media Research.
Columbia College Chicago, an urban institution committed to open access, opportunity and excellence in higher education, provides innovative degree programs in the visual, performing, media and communication arts to more than 12,000 students in more than 120 undergraduate and graduate programs, including film & video, art & design, arts management, television, radio, music, interactive multimedia – all within a liberal arts context. Founded in 1890 as a communications school, Columbia College Chicago was revisioned in 1963 as a liberal arts college with a “hands-on minds-on” approach to arts and media education and a progressive social agenda. Under the modern leadership of President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D., Columbia is aggressively pursuing this mission. Columbia is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The college is accredited as a teacher training institution by the Illinois State Board of Education. For further information visit www.colum.edu.