European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 17, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Interview dynasty Star reveals her Stormy past in new Book by Susan King even with Little makeup and a bad Case of the flu Diahann Carroll so is still Youthful self assured and glamorous. During the Pas 3d years Carroll has conquered nightclubs Broadway movies and television. She received a Tony award for her performance in Richard rodger5 musical no strings and won kudos for her portrayal of a troubled psychiatrist in Agnet of cod. She also won an emmy nomination for her leading role in the ground breaking Abc sitcom Lulia and an Oscar nomination for her performance in the 1974 film Claudine. Carroll is starring on Abc s nighttime soap dynasty As Blake John Forsythe Carrington s illegitimate half sister Dominique Devereaux. Carroll s private life has been an open Book. Her affairs with Sidney Poitier and David Frost As Well As her current Romance with Singer Vic Damone have been Well documented. Also making headlines is her recently published autobiography Diahann in which Carroll frankly talk about her Stormy marriages she s been married three limes and relationships. She also chronicles her years in therapy her experiences with racial prejudice and the Upland Downs in her career. Susan King what prompted you to write your autobiography Kiahann Carroll you know there Are All sorts of Hills and valleys in a career. Close to five Yean ago Al a time in my career when i was really not certain whal 1 wanted to do i was approached by a publishing House and asked to put my life on paper. I though it was terribly funny bul i said let me think about i made several pads of some notes and found there were things i wanted to say. I fell there were some things that were not Clear about my life and i might be Able to clarify them. . What did you want la clarify do of i thought there was a lot of information about me that was rather speculative. 1 would read things about myself and i want to say this very carefully i m not the kind of human being who takes it to heart when i read she s a Jet setter she goes from relationship to but through the years t think there was misconception about How i operate As a woman i thought a Tol of it was much More surface than i really am. I wanted the Opportunity to clarify that. The More i wrote the More information i Felt i gathered through the years that might Benefit someone particularly younger women and my Peers because i had dealt with situations that were rather complicated i had also had the Opportunity to be Able to afford to have expert advice to guide me through some very difficult situations. So i decided logo ahead with the Book. . This Book must have been very painful to write. . Terribly painful. There were times when i flew into new York and i was working with Ross Firestone her co writer and we would let s say put in approximately a week of four or five hour Days. Al the end of the week i d say Ross 1 can t take it i d run Down to puerto Rico or someplace just to gel away from it. Re living it and re creating the experiences was very difficult and very Unco Rija liable. . Whal has been the response from the people you mention in the Book Sidney and i talked when he was Reading the chapter. David and i spoke before. Also David helped me work on his chapter and is the one who fought for More humor in the Book. He was terribly helpful but of course we had a More positive relationship than Sidney and i Sidney agreed that the chapter was Fine and knew that was going to be a part of the Book before it was published. I have Only heard from David but he s a Friend and his wife and his family Are friends. . I was surprised at your relationship with composer Richard Rodgers who wrote no so ring for Dishann cil Roll tn�19s9 photo left and the pre enl. You. You did t Trust him though after he called his Fate partner Larry Hart a Drunken Little . Thai incident Between Richard Rodgers and myself actually set the Lone for our entire relationship. I was never Able to become dose to or. Rodgers because of that i was extremely grateful to this Man he gave me this Opportunity yet there was no relationship after that remark. I tried to leave in out but then i Felt my life has been filled with enough confusing behaviour. So Why not explain lit . I also was surprised to read about the Lime you attended a party with Marlon Brando in Hollywood Over 30 years ago and Humphrey Bogart who also was there was very abusive to you and accused you of sleeping Wilh Brando. . I included the incident with Humphrey Bogart because it was a comment about Hollywood and 1 Don t know if i made that Clear. I was never Happy in Hollywood during those Days i always Felt Hollywood was a totally segregated Community and Bogart was representative of the kind of prejudice i was exposed to and that any Young Black actress was exposed to upon coming to this town. This town did not open its arms and say . You were banned from the the Bell Telephone hour in the late 50s because you were married to Monty Kay a White Man. Were you banned from other shows . It s very possible. Ii was the Only show open enough to say that was the reason they were not going to Book me. That s also Why i wrote the Book. It was like the other Day i was doing something Here her Beverly Hills House for a particular Magazine. I said at right i m doing this and i m enjoying doing this even Hough i m doing in for a prejudiced one of the Young ladies pulled me aside and said whal do you meant i said you be never had a Black person on the cover of your she said i be never thought of in this country Here Are magazines thai have never had and never intend to have a Black person on the cover in 19b6. They re not embarrassed by that either. . So things really Haven t changed All that much in the past 30 years. , not tremendously. It s changed a bit. . You be been in therapy for most of your adult life and even went through Ltd therapy. What prompt you to gel involved with that controversial treatment . 1 decided to do Ltd therapy because i had been in regular therapy for Many Many years. In my profession there s nothing you can do alone. Everything involves interacting with people and i was t Happy with my interacting with other people. There was something in my behaviour that was controlling me and i did t know whal in was. So i went into therapy. When the answers weren t forthcoming after several years the suggestion came to me through dear friends that 1 try drug therapy. They were a husband and wife very respectable so i was t a flippant suggestion by some Little kid who had Fust discovered Ltd therapy. When i finally had to face the fact that it was indeed the most information i would gel about myself i decided to try it i really want to say that i m proud that i did in. I would never recommend drug therapy to anyone who had not had years of therapy and who fell they were not getting information that they needed in order to function at heir highest level. . How did your role on dynasty come about i had t really thought about television bul after Agnes of cod i began to watch television a great Deal. I was just fascinated by All the ladles i saw on the nighttime soaps. I Felt the role of the woman had taken a tremendous turn since 1 had been a part of television. . In whal Way . Women were no longer secretaries and housewives powerless. The women on soaps were not Little ladies Walling at Home. I identified with them because of the parallel Wilh Many things in my life. I really wanted id find a Niche for myself in this area. Thank heavens Aaron spelling productions were interested in having a third world person As part of their main Story line. . Did you approach them . Yes they had thought about it. Two years ago i left new York to Fly Back to California to do the Golden globes and Al the Golden globes i Learned that Aaron was having a private party at the place i wanted logo to dinner. 1 decided that i would take the Chance and crash the party. I be known Aaron for i guess off and on for 18 years. Thai evening we spent a great Deal of t Ime discussing the possibility of being on the show. When i left that evening i asked series co creator Esther Shapiro that if they did not pursue the idea with me they continue to pursue the idea because i thought in was very valuable idea and so did they. About three weeks later there emerged Dominique Devereaux. King few Tui syndic. 20 Fry 17,196
