00:00Loretta Devine came to my dressing room with crocodile tears.
00:03I've known Loretta since I was 19 years old.
00:05I've never seen her cry.
00:07But we held each other, and then we went on to tell great stories about
00:12the great Diane Carroll.
00:14And we finished our scene as she would have wanted us to do.
00:24I love Diane Carroll because she has such a vision for herself.
00:27She was like, I'm not going to play what you think I should.
00:31I'm going to play bitches.
00:32I'm going to play strong women that don't have money, too.
00:36My favorite movie is Claudine.
00:38I love the soundtrack.
00:39I love everything about it.
00:41That's what I'm talking about, being able to diversify your spirit and your energy
00:45and your presence.
00:46I love it.
00:46Diane was a friend.
00:49I've known her for a good while.
00:50She and my wife are really good friends.
00:52They talk and communicate.
00:54And I spent time talking to her when we did East Bayou.
00:58We hung out.
00:59And because of her, she changed the ideal of what a lot of people in Hollywood
01:06thought about who we are and what we're able to accomplish.
01:08And the kind of people we are and the diversity of character in terms of not
01:14being the Butterfly McQueen or other people in the industry to be somebody classy and strong
01:21and intelligent and gorgeous and to change the dynamic.
01:25And she did that and opened a bunch of doors.
01:27She kicked the door all the way open.
01:29She was a black woman on a soap opera fighting a white woman.
01:33Well, you're going to jump for that.
01:35Then she was like she had her own sitcom.
01:38First black woman to have her own sitcom.
01:40Like the things that she did was monumental.
01:43And she has the best Dorothy Dandridge stories, honey.
01:46I can't tell them like how she did because she did it with a lot of class.
01:50I met her in one of the airplane lounges and we had an opportunity to talk.
01:59She talked about men, talked about how to handle them.
02:02And I learned a lot about her life with some of the men that she had been involved with.
02:08We had a wonderful time.
02:09And after that, we had an opportunity to have a lot of telephone conversations.
02:13And of course, I'm heartbroken because for me, she's still too young to have died.
02:19And she paved the way and she showed black women that you can be beautiful,
02:24you can achieve, and you can basically get what you want.
02:28And she did that and all of these young black actresses that come behind her,
02:33they have to pay tribute to her because she was the queen.
02:37All of us have a little Dominique Devereaux in us.
02:39I think, you know, she was the first black woman I ever saw on television as a little girl.
02:44I was raised with a white mother, so having an image on television that I could connect to
02:48that looked like me was important.
02:50She was beautiful, she was smart, she was a nurse, she wasn't a maid, spoke well.
02:54I thought, wow, you know, I can aspire to be more.
02:57And she was a really pivotal part in my childhood.
03:00You know, it's really sad because today she's getting a stage dedicated to her.
03:03So for her to pass away, you know, 24 hours before that.
03:06But look, she had a lot of recognition in her life and she is appreciated for her legacy.
03:10And I just think for us young actresses coming through to see what she did so many years ago,
03:14it reminds us that it's possible now.
03:16It's still difficult, but it is possible.
03:18She did it then and we can do it now.
03:20She was my wife, you know, on Dynasty.
03:22We'll allow it.
03:25You know, it was one of the great memorable experiences because we showed up every day
03:30grateful to be having, to be working together and to be working.
03:34And we had the most fun.
03:36She's the most gracious, graceful, charming, brilliant trailblazer, I guess,
03:44because she was one of the first.
03:46Diane Carroll paved the way for all of us.
03:50Loretta Devine was on the set of Blackish yesterday and she pounded on my door.
03:56I had not heard about Miss Carroll.
03:58Loretta Devine came to my dressing room with crocodile tears.
04:02I've known Loretta since I was 19 years old.
04:05I've never seen her cry.
04:07But we held each other and then we went on to tell great stories about the great Diane
04:13Carroll and we finished our scene as she would have wanted us to do.
04:18She was the beautiful flower in front, you know.
04:21She's just a wonderful person and she's just so positive when you meet her and actually
04:24get a chance to sit down and talk with her.
04:27She has such great stuff to say and I think she was happy about us doing so well.
04:32The way we are going to be happy about all the well stuff we're going to get to do.
04:36I've never seen so many black faces on television, in movies, on Broadway.
04:42It's just a good feeling.
04:43As a little girl watching her, I remember we used to practice like her posture and the
04:48way she talked and, you know, it just gave little girls something to aspire to.
04:52What it's meant to me is that I could keep going and I could be myself.
04:57Because you were the queen of that.
05:00Well, yes.
05:01And so was she.
05:02She was the queen.
05:03But she also, you know, when you have those good genes, you can't, you don't have bad looking
05:08days.
05:09You know what I mean?
05:10But she would say, you know, it's not in the genes, it's in the soul.
05:14And that's everything.
05:16Diane Carroll is someone that's truly paved the way for all of us to literally stand here
05:20and be here.
05:21And then you have people like Kerry Washington, which 30 plus years later, then she's able
05:25to be a lead on a television show.
05:26So it's because of women like her that's been this great legacy that she's been our whole
05:32life that allows me to be able to stand here today, be at Tyler Perry Studios in such a
05:36grandiose way.
05:37When I see the roles that she took, you know, they were positive.
05:42They were inspiring and they weren't, they weren't lowbrow, you know?
05:46So that's what I aspire, I mean, to have that type of career where at the end of your life
05:51at 84, people are still admiring your work, your beauty, your class, your grace.
05:56We honor her tonight.
05:58She led the way, Julia, Claudine, all of it, her beauty, her grace, her activism.
06:06We love Diane Carroll.
Comments