Ellen Holly dead at 92: The One Life to Live star and first Black soap opera actress died ‘in her sleep’
One Life to Live star Ellen Holly has died at the age of 92.
The actress, who was the first black soap opera star, died Wednesday at Cavalry Hospital in the Bronx, New York.
According to the New York native, she died “in her sleep.” Deadline.
Holly played Carla Gray on ABC’s One Life to Live from 1968 to 1980 and 1983 to 1985, becoming the first black star to host a daytime television show.
Television producer Agnes Nixon specifically cast her for the role after she saw a New York Times article written by Holly entitled “How Black Do You Need to Be?” which details the difficulties of finding a role for a light-skinned black woman.
One Life to Live star Ellen Holly dies at 92; in the photo from 1979
Holly was born on January 16, 1931 in Manhattan to William Garnett Holly, a chemical engineer, and Grace Holly, a writer and housewife.
She graduated from Hunter College and then began her acting career in theater on stages in New York and Boston.
In 1956, she made her Broadway debut in Too Late Phalarope.
She later starred in the Broadway productions The Face of a Hero, Tiger Tiger Burning Bright and A Hand on the Gate.