Style Icon of the Week: Diahann Carroll

Style Icon of the Week: Diahann Carroll

I grew up watching Diahann Carroll on Dynasty as the always fabulous and deliciously catty Dominique Deveraux (the half sister of Blake Carrington-yes I remember) .

As a young girl, I looked at this beautiful woman in awe.  Her make up was always fabulous and her clothes were always...luxurious.  As a child, she was my first  glamorous style icon.  (I still mimic her style at times!)

Diahann Carroll represented to me the image of a powerful, strong, yet achingly beautiful Black Woman, which until that point I had not seen. (yes Dynasty was a soap opera, however, a lot of Black Women especially up until that point were usually type cast as less desirable types.)

Today at 77, Diahann is still going strong and as beautiful as ever!

At Lena Hornes Home Funeral

 From Diahann Carrolls Official Website :"Diahann Carroll is the consummate entertainer.  So varied and dynamic are her gifts that she continually astounds fans and critics alike with her versatility and magnetism.  She is one of America's major performing talents appearing in nightclubs, the Broadway stage, a Las Vegas headliner, in motion pictures and television.  Diahann Carroll is a Tony Award winner, an Emmy and Grammy nominee, a Golden Globe winner and a Best Actress Oscar nominee.

Always elegant!

     In April 2006, she debuted her new cabaret show at Feinstein's, New York's prime venue, to sell-out audiences receiving overwhelming reviews.  Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote, "Diahann Carroll is historic.  Experience it while you can.  Her opening number, "Come Rain or Come Shine" erupts out of her like an emotional volcano.  From here on, the lava never stops flowing.  The forceful dramatic immediacy of her performance of "As if We Never Said Goodbye", is second to none.  Throughout the show Ms. Carroll demonstrates her A-to-Z range as a singing actress.  A rip-roaring version of the Sophie Tucker showstopper "Some of These Days" is matched in commitment by its quiet opposite, the break-up song "Where Do I Start?".  The New York Post said "Looking impossibly beautiful for her 70 years, and dressed and coiffed in a manner that would make Norma Desmond (whom she played "Sunset Boulevard") proud, she delivers in a strong voice remarkably unaffected by age, a well-chosen mixture of standards, pop ballads and songs associated with her stage career".

     Her television nominations go back to 1963, and in 1968 Diahann Carroll become the first black actress in television history to star in her own series, "Julia" for NBC, which soared to the top of the Nielsen ratings and received an Emmy nomination in its first year on the air.

Another foulard!

    In 1989 she was nominated for an Emmy Award for the successful NBC-TV series, "A Different World", as outstanding actress in a comedy series.  In 1984 Diahann Carroll become the first black actress to star in the award-winning night-time series "Dynasty", which is still in syndication around the world.

     She had a recurring role in Showtime's hit series "Soul Food", playing the outspoken '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-TV's "WHOOPI", playing Whoopi Goldberg's mother.  In 2004 she starred on stage in the musical "Bubbling Brown Sugar" receiving critical acclaim.

     In October of 1995 she starred on stage as 'Norma Desmond' in the Toronto premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical "Sunset Boulevard", staged by director Trevor Nunn and the show's entire original creative team.  Hailed by the press as "the ultimate Norma Desmond", Diahann Carroll played to sell-out crowds and her Canadian cast recording outsold all other recordings of the show.

     Diahann made her Broadway stage debut starring in Harold Arlen and Truman Capote's "House of Flowers" and after seeing her in this production, Richard Rodgers created the Broadway production "No Strings" as a starring vehicle for Miss Carroll, for which she won the Tony Award.  She also starred on Broadway in the award-winning play "Agnes of God".

With JFK

     Her film work includes "Claudine", for which she received a 1974 Best Actress Academy Award nomination, "Carmen Jones", "Paris Blues", "Porgy & Bess", "Hurry Sundown", "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" and "Eve's Bayou".

     She is an award-winning actress, a successful entrepreneur, a devoted humanitarian ... indeed Diahann Carroll is a legend."

Indeed she is!

With Brando

Always elegant!  That fur, blouse and skirt are to die for!