Diahann Carroll was one of the honorees at the House of Flowers dinner in Los Angeles on Saturday, and took the opportunity to prove that even at the age of 78 she still has a witty sense of humor and vibrant personality.
Age means nothing to a woman who is as timeless as Diahann Carroll. In fact, Carroll says the years flew by so quickly that she almost forgot just how long she’s actually been in the business.
“I don’t think I realize what the passage of time really means until people talk about things that I did in the ‘50s and I wonder ‘Who the hell are they talking about?,’ ” she joked at the dinner.
She also revealed that her road to becoming an icon wasn’t as easy as some people might assume.
“I certainly don’t feel like an icon,” she said in an interview before the dinner. “I’ve had long stretches of unemployment. This is not an easy game.”
TV and film producer Debra Martin Chase was one of the hosts of the dinner and introduced Carroll as a “legend who’s broken so many
barriers and has always represented glamour.”
Despite earning a Tony Award, an Oscar nomination, four Emmy nominations and becoming the firs Black actress to star in her own prime-time series, Carroll said that there is still one more role she wants to conquer.
“I would love to be a part of a studio that tells our stories and has a means of growing,” she said.
Carroll recently made a comeback to Broadway after 30 years where she will take on the role of Denzel Washington’s mother in “A Raisin in the Sun.”
TV producer Tracey Edmonds joined forces with Chase to host the dinner, which also honored Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the first African- American president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Angela Bassett, Regina King and Anika Noni Rose were also in attendance at the dinner.
