Skip to main content

Ellen Holly

Holly began her career on stage appearing in the Broadway productions of Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright and A Hand Is on the Gate before embarking on a television and film career. She guest starred on Sam Benedict and The Nurses before landing the role of actress-turned-Judge Clara "Carla" Hall on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, a role she played from 1968 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1985.
Holly came to the attention of Agnes Nixon, the creator of One Life to Live, after writing a letter to the editor of The New York Times about what it was like to be a light-skinned African American. Nixon created the role of Carla and offered Holly a role on her new show.
When Holly began on One Life to Live in October 1968, her African-American heritage was not publicized as part of the storyline; her character, named Carla Benari, was a touring actress of apparently Italian American heritage. Carla and a Caucasian physician, Dr. Jim Craig, fell in love and became engaged. But she was falling for an African-American doctor. When the two kissed onscreen, it was reported that the switchboards at ABC were busy by fans who thought that the show had shown an African-American and Caucasian kissing. The fact that Carla was actually the African-American "Clara Grey" posing as Caucasian was revealed when Sadie Grey, played by Lillian Hayman, was identified as her mother. Sadie would eventually convince her daughter to embrace her heritage and tell the truth.
Holly left the series in 1981, but returned in 1983. According to her autobiography, One Life: The Autobiography of an African American Actress, she was fired from the show by new executive producer Paul Rauch in 1985. She made a return to the small screen in 2002, when she appeared as "Selena Frey" in the made-for-cable film 10,000 Black Men Named George, alongside Andre Braugher and Mario Van Peebles.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Perry Blackwell

I love the 1959 movie "Pillow Talk" which starred Doris Day and Rock Hudson.  One of the reasons why it's in my top movie selection is because of the Singer/Actress Perry Blackwell. She only had one scene in the movie and she sang for most of that scene, but what she did with her expressions and mannerisms spoke much much more. She was also in the 1960 movie "Dead Ringer" with Bette Davis and Karl Malden. There is not much info on her available, but I did discover via a message written by her daughter, that she is a classically trained Pianist and self taught organist. She played Hammond Organ for years. Also she played with  Sonny Stitt, Wes Montgomery Bros. , Roy Milton and  Louis Jordan. She worked many gigs around such people as Nancy Wilson, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Joe Williams, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie Wilson and Red Foxx. She worked on the New York jazz scence for a few years, Best known for her 7 year stint at The Parisian Room in Los A
101 comments
Read more

Madam C. J. Walker

Madam C.J. Walker (December 23, 1867 – May 25, 1919), born Sarah Breedlove , was an African-American businesswoman , hair care entrepreneur and philanthropist . She made her fortune by developing and marketing a hugely successful line of beauty and hair products for black women under the company she founded, Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company. Madam C.J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove, on December 23, 1867 in Delta, Louisiana to Owen and Minerva Breedlove. She was one of six children; she had a sister Louvenia and 4 brothers: Alexander, James, Solomon, and Owen, Jr. Her parents and elder siblings were slaves on a Madison Parish plantation owned by Robert W. Burney. Her mother died, possibly from cholera , in 1872. Her father remarried and died shortly afterward when she was seven years old. Madam C. J. Walker moved in with her older sister, and brother-in-law, Willie Powell. She later said she married Moses McWilliams when she was 14 years old to get a home of h
Post a Comment
Read more

Black History : Nina Simone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nina Simone  (born  Eunice Kathleen Waymon ; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and  civil rights  activist. She worked in a broad range of musical styles including  classical ,  jazz , blues ,  folk ,  R&B ,  gospel , and  pop . The sixth child of a preacher's family in  North Carolina , Simone aspired to be a concert pianist. Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious  Curtis Institute of Music  in  Philadelphia , despite a well-received audition. Simone said she later found out from an insider at Curtis that she was denied entry because she was black. So as to fund her continuing musical education and become a classical pianist, she began playing in a small club in Philadelphia where she was also required to sing. She was approached for a recording by Bethlehem Records, and her rendering of " I Loves You, Porgy " was
Post a Comment
Read more