Diahann Carroll, Oscar-nominated, pioneering actress, dies

NEKESA MUMBI MOODY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Diahann Carroll, the Oscar-nominated actress and singer who won critical acclaim as the first black woman to star in a non-servant role in a TV series as "Julia," has died. She was 84. Carroll's daughter, Susan Kay, told The Associated Press her mother died Friday in Los Angeles of cancer. During her long career, Carroll earned a Tony Award for the musical "No Strings" and an Academy Award nomination for best actress for "Claudine." But she was perhaps best known for her pioneering work on "Julia." Carroll played Julia Baker, a nurse whose husband had been killed in Vietnam, in the groundbreaking situation comedy that aired from 1968 to 1971. "Diahann Carroll walked this earth for 84 years and broke ground with every foots