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Diahann Carroll’s legacy as a trailblazer remembered

Nov 24, 2019 | 3:37 PM

NEW YORK — Diahann Carroll was remembered as a brilliant talent, a loving friend and mother and a trailblazer by the likes of Cicely Tyson, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Lenny Kravitz and more at a poignant memorial service.

Celebrities including Samuel Jackson, Phylicia Rashad, Vanessa Williams and Judith Jamison came out on a rainy Sunday to pay tribute to the entertainer, who died Oct. 4 from breast cancer. The Helen Hayes Theater in the Broadway district was chosen as the venue because of Carroll’s love of the stage.

The Oscar-nominated actress had a career that stretched decades. She was the first black woman to star in a non-servant role in her own television show with “Julia,” and her many credits include the film “Claudine,” the TV show “Dynasty” and her Broadway turn as Nora Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard.”