Ellen Holly
Ellen Holly | |
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File:EH Edit 1996.jpg
Holly in 1996
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Born | Ellen Virginia Holly January 16, 1931 New York City, U.S. |
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. New York City, U.S. |
Years active | 1959–2002 |
Known for | Performance in American soap opera television |
Works | Filmography |
Partner(s) |
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Ellen Virginia Holly (16 January 1931 – 6 December 2023) was an American actress. Beginning her career on stage in the late 1950s, Holly was perhaps best known for her role as Carla Gray–Hall on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live (1968–1980; 1983–1985). Holly is noted as the first black American to appear on daytime television in a leading role.[1]
Biography
Career
Born on January 16, 1931,[2] in New York City, Holly was a life member of The Actors Studio.[3] Holly began her career on stage appearing in the Broadway productions of Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright and A Hand Is on the Gate, then embarked on a television and film career. In 1968, Holly became the first black actress to be cast as a recurring cast member on daytime television.
Holly guest-starred on Sam Benedict and The Nurses as well as landed the role of actress-turned-Judge Carla Gray on One Life to Live, a role she played from 1968 to 1980 and again from 1983 to 1985.[4] 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 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 white 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 white person kissing. The fact that Carla was the African-American Clara Gray posing as white was revealed when Sadie Gray, played by Lillian Hayman, was identified as her mother. Sadie convinced her daughter to embrace her heritage and tell the truth. Holly left the series in 1980, but returned in 1983.[2]
In 1996, she released her autobiography describing her life and struggles as a light-skinned black actress in Hollywood. 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. Holly returned to daytime in the long-term recurring role of a judge on Guiding Light from 1989 until 1993. She made a return to the small screen in 2002, when she appeared as Selena Frey in the television film 10,000 Black Men Named George, alongside Andre Braugher and Mario Van Peebles.
Personal life
Ellen Virginia Holly was born in New York City on January 16, 1931 to William Garnet Holly and Grace Holly. Holly was Black,[5] and claimed African, English, French, and Shinnecock Native heritage.[6]
She was from a prominent Black family. Holly's paternal great-grandmother was Susan Smith McKinney Steward; the third African-American woman to earn a medical degree, and the first in New York state.[7] Her grandaunt was Sarah Smith Thompson Garnet, an educator and suffragist from New York City who was a pioneering African-American female school principal in the New York City public school system.[7] Holly's great-grandfather was the Rev. James Theodore Holly, the first African-American bishop in the Protestant Episcopal church, who spent most of his episcopal career as missionary bishop of Haiti.[7] Her another great-great grandfather was Sylvanus Smith, one of many leaders encouraging African American people to purchase land in Kings County, New York (later known as the Weeksville settlement).[7] Her maternal aunt was Anna Arnold Hedgeman, a civil rights leader, politician, educator, and writer who served under President Harry Truman as executive director of the National Council for a Permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission.[7]
Holly was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.[8]
Holly never married or had children. She had a relationship with her One Life to Live co-star Roger Hill who is also known for his role as Cyrus in the cult film The Warriors (1979). In her autobiography, she wrote about her romance with Harry Belafonte.[9]
Holly died at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx on December 6, 2023, at the age of 92.[2][10][11]
Filmography
Film | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
1959 | Take a Giant Step | Carol, the Girl in the Bar | |
1973 | Cops and Robbers | Ms. Wells | |
1988 | School Daze | Odrie McPherson | |
Television | |||
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1963 | The Defenders | Janet Lamb | 1 episode |
Sam Benedict | Elissa Reagan | 1 episode | |
1963–1964 | The Nurses | Helena Fuentes Natalia Cortez |
2 episodes |
1964 | Dr. Kildare | Lucille Mann | 1 episode |
1968–1986 | One Life to Live | Clara Hall/Carla Scott/Carla Bonari | 91 episodes |
1974 | King Lear | Regan | Television movie |
1978 | Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force | Amy | Television movie |
1985 | ABC Afterschool Special | Mrs. Robbins | 1 episode |
1986 | Spenser: For Hire | Amanda Layton | 1 episode |
1989–1990 | In the Heat of the Night | Ruth Peterson | 4 episodes |
1989–1993 | Guiding Light | Judge Collier | Unknown episodes |
2002 | 10,000 Black Men Named George | Selena Frey | Television movie |
References
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- ↑ Schemering, Christopher. The Soap Opera Encyclopedia, September 1985, pg. 158-166, ISBN 0-345-32459-5 (1st edition)
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Roses and Revolutions : Waxidermy Archived 2009-01-06 at the Wayback Machine
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External links
- Ellen Holly at the Internet Movie DatabaseLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Ellen Holly at the Internet Broadway DatabaseLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Ellen Holly at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Ellen Holly discography at Discogs
- Ellen Holly at The Interviews: An Oral History of TelevisionLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
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- Webarchive template wayback links
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- 1931 births
- 2023 deaths
- American soap opera actresses
- Actresses from New York City
- African-American actresses
- American television actresses
- 20th-century American actresses
- American film actresses
- American stage actresses
- Delta Sigma Theta members
- 20th-century African-American women
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- 21st-century African-American women