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One Life to Live star Ellen Holly has passed away at 92.Â
The actress, who was the first Black soap opera star, died on Wednesday at Cavalry Hospital in the Bronx, New York.Â
The New York native passed away ‘in her sleep’ according to Deadline.Â
Holly starred as Carla Gray in ABC’s One Life to Live from 1968 to 1980 and 1983 to 1985, becoming the first Black star to lead a Daytime Television show.Â
She was specifically chosen to play the role by television producer Agnes Nixon, after she saw a New York Times article that Holly wrote, called ‘How Black Do You Have To Be?’ which detailed the hardship of finding roles as a light-skinned Black woman.Â
One Life to Live star Ellen Holly has passed away at 92; pictured in 1979
Her character’s main conflict on One Life to Live was a love triangle between two doctors — one white and one black.
The complicated love story, plus her attempts to come to terms with her racial identity, helped catapult the soap opera into high ratings.
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Holly was born on January 16, 1931, in Manhattan to William Garnet Holly, a chemical engineer, and Grayce Holly, a writer and housewife.
She graduated from Hunter College before starting her acting career in theater, on staged in New York City and Boston.
In 1956 she made her Broadway debut in Too Late the Phalarope.
The actress, who was the first Black soap opera star, died on Wednesday at Cavalry Hospital in the Bronx, New York; pictured in a still from One Life to Live in 1979
She later went on to star in the Broadway productions Face of a Hero, Tiger Tiger Burning Bright and A Hand is on the Gate.
Throughout her years in the theater, she worked opposite such luminaries as Roscoe Lee Browne, James Earl Jones, Jack Lemmon, Barry Sullivan and Cicely Tyson.
During her theater years she worked alongside stars including Roscoe Lee Browne, Jack Lemmon, Barry Sullivan, James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson.
