Diahann Carroll
Trailblazing Actress, Singer, Cancer Survivor

Award-winning performer Diahann Carroll, an accomplished actress and singer, has made her mark on the stage, television and the big screen, becoming the first African-American to star in her own TV sitcom and play the lead role in the hit musical "Sunset Boulevard."

Carroll's induction into the world of entertainment came early. At age 10, she won a scholarship to study at the Metropolitan Opera; later she attended the prestigious Manhattan High School for the Performing Arts, which was immortalized in the movie "Fame." Her first professional job was as the star of the all-black film adaptation of Bizet's opera "Carmen," a critical success. Also in 1954, Carroll made her Broadway stage debut in Truman Capote's production of "House of Flowers."

By 1962, Carroll was a big name. Broadway composer Richard Rodgers wrote his hit musical "No Strings" for Carroll, who won a Tony Award for her performance. She broke new ground in 1968 when she became the first woman of color to star in her own TV sitcom. "Julia" was a show about a nurse and single mom; the role earned Carroll a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination. She returned to television in the 1980s when she played brazen businesswoman Dominique Deveraux Lloyd on "Dynasty."

Throughout a career that has endured more than 40 years, Carroll has also racked up an impressive list of movies, most notably "Porgy and Bess," "Claudine," "Roots: The Next Generation," "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and "Eve's Bayou." In 1995, she became the first African-American to step into the role of Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical "Sunset Boulevard."

Being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998 at a routine exam was not the first obstacle this pioneering African-American actress had faced. Born in Harlem in 1935, she had already survived her share of adversity. In the mid-1960s, she and her colleagues on the movie Hurry Sundown endured discrimination and death threats filming in Louisiana. On the heels of that, she sparked controversy as the title character in the groundbreaking TV series Julia, the first ever about an African-American professional woman. She had suffered through abusive romances and failed marriages and lived to tell about it.

Carroll bravely faced her cancer with quiet determination, grace, and resolve. Her growing knowledge of the disease led her to go public about her breast cancer and risk the ostracism from her peers in Hollywood. She invited an ABC camera crew to accompany her to meet with her oncologists and to follow her into the radiation room for a televised special.

Carroll has stayed true to her commitment to educate women everywhere about the life-saving benefits of mammograms and early detection of breast cancer.