Diahann Carroll: Trailblazing performer dies at 84

LOS ANGELES: Dynamic actress Diahann Carroll, who won Golden Globe and Tony awards and was nominated for an Oscar, died Friday. She was 84 years old. She starred in 1960s TV show Julia. She was  the first black woman to star in her own primetime show and who later gained international acclaim for her role in the 1980s series "Dynasty".The performer died at her Los Angeles residence after a years-long battle against breast cancer, according to her publicist.Born July 17, 1935 in New York´s Bronx borough, the US star  proved a gifted singer from a young age, and worked as a model as well as in musical theater before being cast in the 1959 screen adaptation of "Porgy and Bess."It was "Julia" that catapulted her to celebrity -- nabbing her a Golden Globe award and an Emmy nomination -- as she portrayed a professional black woman in an era when black actresses generally played stereotypical secondary roles.In films she starred opposite performers like Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman and Michael Caine.

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