Ellen Holly, the primary Black individual to star in a cleaning soap opera along with her lead position on One Life to Reside, died Wednesday at Calvary Hospital within the Bronx, N.Y. She was 92 and died in her sleep.
Her first roles on tv included appearances on The Large Story (1957), The Defenders (1963), Sam Benedict (1963), Dr. Kildare (1964) and The Docs and the Nurses (1963 and 1964).
Holly performed the groundbreaking character Carla Grey on the hit ABC present One Life to Reside from 1968 to 1980 and 1983 to 1985. She was personally chosen for the position by tv producer Agnes Nixon after she noticed a New York Instances opinion piece that Holly wrote, referred to as “How Black Do You Have To Be?” in regards to the issue of discovering roles as a light-skinned Black lady.
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