Ellen Holly, actress on OLTL in groundbreaking storyline

[Larry]

For five months (in 1968) , the audience thought Carla was white,” Nixon continued. “She fell in love with Price Trainor, who was a Black resident [at the hospital], and people were outraged. The reveal of Carla’s true identity was a landmark moment in OLTL’s early history and came via Carla’s first on-screen encounter with her mother, Sadie, played by Lillian Hayman, who was the head of housekeeping at Llanview’s hospital. In a shocking Friday cliffhanger, Carla laid eyes on Sadie and exclaimed, “Mama!”

Remembering ONE LIFE TO LIVE Legend Ellen Holly, 1931-2023

Digest pays homage to the late Ellen Holly (ex-Carla, ONE LIFE TO LIVE), who broke new ground as soaps' first Black leading lady.

www.soapoperadigest.com

 

[Larry]

Ellen Holly, the first Black actor to play a lead role on daytime television, who broke barriers and sparked controversy on the soap opera “One Life to Live” starting in the late 1960s as a woman presumed to be white who becomes enmeshed in a love triangle involving a Black man, died on Wednesday at a hospital in the Bronx. She was 92.

Ellen Holly, Who Challenged Racial Barriers on Daytime TV, Dies at 92

The first Black performer to play a lead role on a soap opera, she spurred controversy on “One Life to Live” in the late 1960s.

www.nytimes.com