Holly later disclosed the mistreatment and underpay she and her Black co-stars faced while working on One Life to Live in her 1996 autobiography, One Life: The Autobiography of an African American Actress.
Ellen Holly, the trailblazing actor best known for her lead role as Carla Gray on ABC’s hit soap opera One Life to Live, has died.
Born on 16 January 1931 in Manhattan, New York, Holly became the first Black star of a daytime television show with her role on the long-running drama.
Following her exit from One Life to Live, she appeared in several other series, including Guiding Light, In the Heat of the Night and Spenser: For Hire.