R.I.P. Ellen Holly

Ellen Holly, the first Black actress cast on a soap opera, has died age 92...

From The Sun

ELLEN Holly has died in her sleep on Wednesday at the Calvary Hospital in the Bronx, New York.

Ellen was 92 years old, and she was the first Black person to ever star in a soap opera.

She held the lead role in One Life to Live as Carla Gray from 1968 to 1980 and then again from 1983 to 1985.

Ellen was chosen for the role by Agnes Nixon, a TV producer, after she saw a New York Times opinion piece Ellen wrote, according to Deadline.

The piece was called How Black Do You Have To Be? and it was about how difficult it was to find acting roles as a light-skinned Black woman.

Before her big break on One Life to Live, Ellen appeared on The Big Story in 1957, The Defenders in 1963, Dr. Kildare in 1964, and other television shows.

She was born in New York City on January 16, 1931.

Although she never got married or had children, she did write about her romance with Harry Belafonte, an actor and civil rights leader, in her autobiography.