OCTOBER 5, 2019 11
Obituaries
By Margalit Fox
NEW YORK TIMES
Diahann Carroll, who more
than half a century ago tran-
scended racial barriers as the
star of “Julia,” the first Ameri-
can television series to chroni-
cle the life of a black profes-
sional woman, died Friday at
her home in West Hollywood,
Calif. She was 84.
Her publicist, Jeffrey Lane,
said the cause was complica-
tions of breast cancer. Ms. Car-
roll had survived the cancer in
the 1990s and become a public
advocate for screening and
treatment.
A situation comedy broad-
cast on NBC from 1968 to
1971, “Julia” starred Ms. Car-
roll as Julia Baker, a widowed
nurse with a young son.
The show featured Marc
Copage as Julia’s son and
Lloyd Nolan as the curmud-
geonly but broad-minded
doctor for whom she worked.
(“Have you always been a Ne-
gro or are you just trying to
be fashionable?” he asks Julia
in an audacious, widely quot-
ed line from the first epi-
sode.)
Popularwithbothblack
and white viewers, “Julia” in
its first season reached No. 7
in the Nielsen ratings, the
highest position it attained in
its three seasons on the air.
Reviewing the show in The
New York Times, Jack Gould
noted its penchant — then par
for Hollywood’s course — for
“tiptoeing around anything
too controversial.”
However, he added: “At all
events the breaking of the col-
or line in TV stardom on a reg-
ular weekly basis should be
salutary.”
Widely known for her ele-
gant beauty and sartorial
glamour, Ms. Carroll began
her professional life as a singer
and continued to ply that art.
She sang on television, in
nightclubs, on recordings, and
on Broadway, where she won a
Tony Award.
In films, she starred oppo-
site the likes of Sidney Poitier,
Paul Newman, James Earl
Jones, and Michael Caine.
On television, she played
the scheming, moneyed Domi-
nique Deveraux on ABC’s
prime-time soap opera “Dy-
nasty” in the 1980s.
But it was for “Julia” that
she remained most enduringly
known. Created by writer, di-
rector and producer Hal
Kanter, the show was a novelty
for its day: Black women,
when they were seen at all in
series television, had long
been relegated to marginal
roles. The few larger parts that
came their way were invari-
ably those of domestics.
“Julia” divided critical con-
sensus.
It was praised in some
quarters as groundbreaking
and criticized in others as re-
ductive, Pollyannaish, and ac-
commodationist — con-
demned, in short, for glossing
over the stark realities of life
that black Americans faced
daily.
Though Ms. Carroll public-
ly defended “Julia,” she ac-
knowledged that in portraying
the black experience it made
many concessions to the mid-
dle-class white viewers it
hoped to attract.
She also said afterward that
her experience playing the
character had been both a pro-
fessional boon and a profes-
sional hindrance.
The series made her one of
the most visible performers of
her day, booked regularly on
TV talk and variety shows. But
in addition, it entailed her be-
coming a de facto spokeswom-
an not only for “Julia” but also
seemingly for her race, an
onus for which she had never
bargained.
Carol Diann Johnson was
born in the Bronx, N.Y., on Ju-
ly 17, 1935, to John and Mabel
(Faulk) Johnson and grew up
in Harlem. Her mother was a
nurse, her father a New York
City subway conductor.
In the early 1950s, while
still in her teens, she won
“Chance of a Lifetime,” a tele-
vision talent competition,
three weeks running.
Her prize was $1,000 aweek, plus an engagement at
the Latin Quarter, the Manhat-
tan nightclub.
Because her parents insist-
ed on a college education, she
enrolled in New York Universi-
ty. But she left before graduat-
ing to pursue a show-business
career, promising her family
that if the career did not mate-
rialize after two years, she
would return to college. She
never did.
In 1954, at 19, Ms. Carroll
was cast in a small part in
“Carmen Jones,” Otto Prem-
inger’s all-black screen adapta-
tionofBizet’sopera“Carmen.”
The film starred Harry Bela-
fonte and, in the title role,
Dorothy Dandridge.
That year she also made her
Broadway debut, in the role of
Ottilie, alias Violet, in “House
of Flowers,” the Truman Ca-
pote-Harold Arlen musical set
in a West Indies bordello. Cap-
tivated by her performance,
Broadway composer Richard
Rodgers was determined to
use Ms. Carroll in one of his
own shows.
He tried to cast her in
“Flower Drum Song,” his 1958
musical with Oscar Hammer-
stein II. But whatever makeup
she was put into, she could not
be got to look like any of the
Chinese-Americans on whom
the show centered, and it
opened without her.
Ms. Carroll played Clara,
the fisherman’s wife, in Prem-
inger’s 1959 screen adaptation
of “Porgy and Bess,” the opera
by George and Ira Gershwin
and DuBose Heyward. But be-
cause the film’s music supervi-
sor, André Previn, deemed her
voice too low, her singing — in-
cluding the emblematic num-
ber “Summertime” — was
dubbed by soprano Loulie
Jean Norman.
She met with particular ac-
claim in early 1962, when she
at last starred in a musical by
Rodgers, “No Strings,” written
expressly for her. He com-
posed both music and lyrics: It
was his first show after the
death in 1960 of Hammer-
stein.
In it, Ms. Carroll portrayed
an American fashion model
living in Paris who embarks on
a romance with an American
novelist, played by Richard Ki-
ley. That the romance was in-
terracial was largely incidental
to the plot.
The performance won her
the Tony Award for best ac-
tress in a musical.
The next few years brought
a few guest roles on television
shows. But jobs remained far
between.
“I’m living proof of the hor-
ror of discrimination,” Ms.
Carroll said in late 1962, testi-
fying at a congressional hear-
ing on racial bias in the enter-
tainment industry. “In eight
years I’ve had just two Broad-
way plays and two dramatic
television shows.”
She added: “I’ve asked re-
peatedly why. Surely I’m not so
difficult to include.”
Then along came “Julia.”
Ms. Carroll’s portrayal of
Julia Baker was generally
praised for its poise and
warmth.For the role, she received
an Emmy nomination and
won a Golden Globe Award.
But the show as a whole
was criticized on several
fronts. One was the fact that
Julia’s elegant apartment,
magnificent wardrobe, and
saintly, unruffled tempera-
ment were surely unrepresen-
tative of the life of any single
working mother of a young
child.
More serious charges con-
cerned issues of race. Though
the show’s scripts dealt with
various slights of racism — or
“discrimination,” as it was
called then — in a gentle, hom-
iletic manner, many critics felt
that “Julia” painted a far rosier
picture of American racial am-
ity than actually existed in
1968.
In an interview with TV
Guide that December in which
she addressed the portrayal of
black characters on television,
Ms. Carroll acknowledged: “At
the moment, we’re presenting
the white Negro. And he has
very little Negro-ness.”
Ms. Carroll went on to play
a woman very different from
Julia in the 1974 film “Clau-
dine,” a drama also starring
James Earl Jones.
For her portrayal of the title
character, a single mother of
six in Harlem, she received an
Academy Award nomination.
Among her other films are
“Paris Blues” (1961); Prem-
inger’s “Hurry Sundown”
(1967); and “The Split”
(1968), based on a novel by
Donald E. Westlake.
Her television credits in-
clude the miniseries “Roots:
The Next Generations” (1979)
and the TV movies “I Know
Why the Caged Bird Sings”
(1979), an adaptation of Maya
Angelou’s memoir in which
she portrayed Angelou’s moth-
er, and “Having Our Say: The
Delany Sisters’ First 100
Years” (1999), in which she
played the indomitable Har-
lem centenarian Sadie Delany
opposite Ruby Dee.
Ms. Carroll had recurring
roles on several television se-
ries, including “A Different
World,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and
“White Collar.”
Onstage in the 1990s, she
was Norma Desmond in the
Canadian company of the An-
drew Lloyd Webber musical
“Sunset Boulevard,” the first
African-American to play the
role.
Ms. Carroll’s first marriage,
to Monte Kay, a casting direc-
tor and music impresario, end-
ed in divorce, as did her sec-
ond, to Fred Glusman, a Las
Vegas boutique owner. Her
third husband, Robert DeLe-
on, managing editor of Jet
magazine, died in a car crash
in 1977, two years after they
were wed. Her fourth mar-
riage, to singer Vic Damone,
ended in divorce. (Damone
died last year.)
She also had highly public
engagements to Poitier and
English television journalist
David Frost.
She is survived by a daugh-
ter from her first marriage, Su-
zanne Kay; a sister, Lydia; and
two grandchildren.DiahannCarroll,84;brokecolor
barrierswithTVshow‘Julia’
JEAN-JACQUES LEVY/ASSOCIATED PRESS/1972
Ms. Carroll began her professional life as a singer and won
a Tony Award for her work in “No Strings” in 1962.Remembered
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Funeral Services Funeral Services
STOSSEL, Thomas Peter
Age 78, of Belmont, Massachusetts,
passed away unexpectedly on Septem-
ber 29.
Born in Chicago in 1941 to Otto and
Anne (Tuchmann) Stossel, German
Jews who immigrated in 1930, he grew
up in Wilmette, Illinois. After graduat-
ing summa cum laude from Princeton
in 1963 and cum laude from Harvard
Medical School in 1967, he went on
to a 50-year career as a physician and
scientific researcher, focusing on blood
and cancer. He served as chief of the
hematology-oncology unit at Massachu-
setts General Hospital from 1976-1991,
then moved to Brigham and Women’s
Hospital where he was head of experi-
mental medicine from 1991 to 1998,
and co-director of the hematology and
translational medicine units until 2014.
He was also a professor of medicine for
more than three decades, serving as
the American Cancer Society Profes-
sor of Medicine at Harvard Medical
School from 1987 until he retired from
academia in 2017. Later in life, Stossel
became involved in policy issues related
to medical research, defending produc-
tive relationships between academic
researchers, physicians, and the private
sector.
Stossel was internationally known in
the medical community for his research
on the molecular mechanism of how
cells move and change shape, and
in particular for his discovery of two
important cellular proteins, filamin and
gelsolin. He held more than 50 patents
and was the author or co-author of
more than 300 scientific papers, as
well the widely used medical-school
textbooks Hematology: A Pathophysi-
ological Approach (1984) and Blood:
Principles and Practice of Hematology
(1997). He served as a senior fellow at
the Manhattan Institute, as a visiting
scholar at the American Enterprise
Institute, and wrote for The Wall Street
Journal, The Washington Post, and
the The Boston Globe, among others.
In 2015, he published Pharmaphobia:
How the Conflict of Interest Myth
Undermines American Medical In-
novation (2015). Stossel was a member
of The National Academy of Sciences,
The American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, and the National Academy of
Medicine, and a past president of both
the American Society of Hematology
and the American Society of Clinical In-
vestigation, as well as the former editor
of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
At the time of his death, Stossel
was editor in chief of Current Opinion
in Hematology, and Chief Scientific
Officer of BioAegis Therapeutics Inc., a
biotechnology company he co-founded.
“Today my goal and my passion is to
translate the exciting scientific discover-
ies into products that will save lives and
extend quality of life for patients,” Stos-
sel said a few weeks before his death.
“Treatment of patients suffering from
infectious, injurious and degenerative
disease with plasma gelsolin treatment
promises to deliver the meaningful re-
sult of my life’s work.” Stossel’s brother,
the prominent libertarian television
personality John Stossel, wrote in his
2006 book, Myths, Lies, and Downright
Stupidity that Tom was “the superstar
of the family”--”While I partied and
played poker, he studied hard, got top
grades, and went to Harvard Medical
School.”
With his wife Kerry Maguire, a
public health dentist, and others,
Stossel founded Options for Children
in Zambia, a 501c(3) charity providing
preventive dental and medical care
in collaboration with local Zambian
partners. He established a sickle cell
disease clinical and research center
in collaboration with physicians at
University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka.
Most recently, he had been working
on a point-of-care diagnostic tool for
sickle cell disease that could be used in
low-resource areas. In 2012, his work
in Zambia won him the Humanitarian
Award from the Hippocrates Society of
Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Passionate about music, and in
particular J.S. Bach, Stossel was an
accomplished pianist and songwriter,
composing pieces for parties and
special occasions. He had a remarkable
facility for languages, achieving varying
degrees of fluency in German, French,
Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese,
Swedish, Nepali, Swahili, and Bemba,
among others. He had a curious,
wide-ranging intellect, encompassing
science, classical literature, and history.
Acompetitive sailor in his youth, he
became an avid tennis player in adult-
hood. In his later years, he acquired
a shellfish license for Wellfleet, MA,
where he harvested oysters for his
family and friends. He developed a late
love for New Orleans, where he was a
member of the Krewe of Orpheus and
relished riding in the annual Mardi
Gras parade.
Stossel is survived by his wife, Kerry
Maguire; his brother, John Stossel; his
son, Scott Stossel; his daughters, Sage
Stossel and Tamara Sakala; and three
grandchildren. He is also survived by
his first wife, Anne Hanford.
Services will be private.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be
made to Options for Children in Zam-
bia, at optionsforchildren.org/donate
For online condolences, please visit
http://www.nickersonfunerals.com
TOBIN, Matthew Robert
January 14,
1967-October 2,
2019
Passed peacefully on October 2nd in his
Scituate home, cradled in the love of
Paige (Margules), his wife of 27 years,
and his devoted children, Maxwell and
Hannah, as the morning sun lit the
room and they played and sang his
favorite songs. It followed a marvelous
night for a moondance and a twilight
reading of “Old Man and the Sea.”
Matt’s greatest source of pride was his
unconditional devotion to his family,
and he was known for his fondness of
Bruce Springsteen and bad country
music, so it was, as it should have been.
Raised in Brighton by James and Hel-
ena Tobin, he had a remarkable moral
compass that was forged in part by
the hands of his 11 siblings (Jeff, Paul,
Mark, Michael, Catherine, Elizabeth,
Sheila, Theresa, Maureen, Eileen, &
Amy) during 52 years of Sunday gather-
ings and Wednesday spaghetti dinners.
This compass was honed to guide an
ethical and compassionate approach to
his work, family, and friendships that
commanded an immense respect.
With little more than gumption, a sharp
mind, and a strong work ethic, Matt
strode through the halls of Catholic
Memorial, Boston College, and Suffolk
LawSchoolonthewaytobecominga
partner and owner of the law firm Mur-
phy, Lamere, & Murphy, PC for 21 years
with his spouse Paige and their dear law
partner, Michele McNulty. Matt often
quipped that he and Paige were lucky to
be “life partners and law partners.” Matt
proudly represented many Massachu-
setts municipalities and school districts,
harnessing his passion and skill to
strongly advocate for his clients. As a
mentor to many young attorneys, Matt
wielded his red pen mightier than any
sword, guided by the conviction that
“education is not the filling of the pail
but the lighting of a fire.” He was a big
fan of the Oxford comma and occasion-
ally enjoyed the semi-colon.
Matt will be warmly remembered and
emulated for an unmatched sartorial
sense rooted in his respect for others
and the good fortune in his life. The im-
posing figure he cut in his suit, ties, and
scarf as he charged from the courtroom
to a Scituate Harbor social gathering,
however, was quickly outshone by his
sparkling sense of humor and an inimi-
table laugh.Noonecouldlaughmore
at his own jokes than Matt. Matt deeply
valued his friendships, of which he was
blessed with many, as well as his com-
munity in Scituate. We will sorely miss,
yet fondly remember, our lazy Sundays
spent at Humarock Beach.
He was the favorite uncle to many
nieces and nephews. He took joy in
playing Spikeball with them in the
backyard and spending time hiking,
biking, kayaking, and skiing.
Matt had a special fondness for his
brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law,
treasuring time spent with them at Red
Sox games, concerts, restaurants, and
travelling to see the Patriots in Dallas
and enjoy pinxtos in Spain.
His diagnosis of cancer changed none
of this. Matt drew upon his faith, fam-
ily, and humor to realize that though he
was given a cross to bear, he would be
sure to carry rather than drag it. “Any
fool can fight a winning battle, but it
takes character to fight a losing one.”
Matt’s love is still with us – sure as he
was up with the sunrise every morning,
strong coffee and the Globe in hand
with his beloved dog Pippa by his side,
readying to do good in the world. His
character is an enduring source of
inspiration to all those who knew and
loved him.
MattjoinshismotherHelena,sister,
Theresa, brother Michael and his
devoted dog, SportyLulu, in rest and
peace.
A Visitation will be held on Sunday Oc-
tober 6, 2019 from 4-8pm at Richard-
son-Gaffey Funeral Home, 382 First
Parish Road, SCITUATE, MA. A Funeral
Mass will be held on Monday, October
7, 2019 at 10am from St. Mary of the
Nativity Church, 1 Kent St. Scituate.
Words of comfort can be left at
http://www.richardsongaffeyfuneralhome.com
Please consider a donation in honor of
Matthew Tobin to Dr. Oxnard’s
Research Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Philanthropy Office, PO Box 849168,Boston, MA 02284Of Somerville, October 3,- Beloved husband of
Mary E. (Moriarty) Ward.
Loving father of Anne Marie Ward
Scribner and her husband Daniel of
Hanover, Mary Ellen Tiano and her
husband Frank of Chelmsford, Kathleen
Rose Kumar and her husband Rajinder
of Medford and Dennis J. Ward of
Somerville. Devoted brother of the late
John P. Ward. Cherished grandfather of
Mary-Kate, Michael-Krishna, Megan,
Maggie, Brian, Kathleen-Neelam and
Peter. Dear uncle of Cynthia, Jill, John,
Jr. and cousin of William J. Dailey, Jr.
of Lexington. Lifelong friend of Ted
and Kay O’Shea of Gloucester. Dennis
considered his Leonard St. neighbors
to be family. Funeral Procession from
the George L. Doherty Funeral Home,
855 Broadway (Powder House Sq.),
SOMERVILLE, Monday morning at
9am, followed by a Funeral Mass in St.
Clement Church, Somerville at 10am.
Relatives and friends invited. Calling
Hours Sunday 3-7pm. Interment Holy
Cross Cemetery, Malden. In lieu of flow-
ers, donations may be made in Dennis’s
memory to The Jimmy Fund, P.O.
Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284-9168.
Veteran, US Marine Corps. Dennis
proudly served on the USS Franklin D.
Roosevelt, CVB-42. Lifetime member
of the VFW, James A. Logan Post 6800.
For more information, please visit
dohertyfuneralservice.com
WARD, Dennis J.
Retired Lt. Arlington Fire
Department, of Arlington,
October 3. Beloved husband
of Patricia M. (St. Martin) Vincent.
Devoted father of Robert J. and wife
Terrie of Lexington, Patricia A. Ducey of
Billerica, Carol Hemming and husband
Bruce of Webster and the late William
A. “Billy” Vincent. Proud grandfather
ofRichardandAndrewAvant,Kristen
Olesnevich and Stephen Coonrod,
David, Peter and Eric Vincent. Also
survived by 10 great-grandchildren and
many nieces and nephews. Brother of
Marguerite Cronin and the late John
and Thomas Vincent. Funeral from The
DeVito Funeral Home, 1145 Mass Av-
enue, ARLINGTON, Monday morning
at 9:00, followed by a Funeral Mass at
10:00 in St. Agnes Church. Interment
to follow Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. Visit-
ing Hours Sunday 2:00 to 6:00pm. In
lieu of flowers, donations in Harold’s
name may be made to: The Fidelity
House, 25 Medford St., Arlington, MA
02474, would be appreciated. Late
WWII Navy Veteran and served aboard
USS LST 643. Member of The American
Legion Post 39, Arlington Knights of
Columbus, Council 109, The Retired
Men’s Club of Arlington and Arlington
Disabled Veterans Club.VINCENT, Harold P.
“Skeets”BOSTON FIREFIGHTERS
LOCAL 718
We regret to announce the death
of Brother John M. Crimlisk of
Fire Prevention, Retired.
Funeral Services were held Sep-
tember 29th at Lehman, Reen
& McNamara Funeral home, 63
Chestnut Hill Ave., Brighton. Fu-
neral Mass in Our Lady Help of
Christians Church, 573 Washing-
ton St., Newton, was held Sep-
tember 30th.Robert P. Petitti, President
Eric P DesRoches, Treasurer, D/WPIPEFITTERS LOCAL 537
We regret to announce the death
of Brother Frank Cimildoro.
Funeral Mass on Saturday,
October 5th, Saint Mary of the
Hills Church, 29 Saint Mary’s
Road., Milton, MA, at 10:00AM.
Visiting hours are at Dolan Fu-
neral Home, 460 Granite Avenue,
Milton, MA, Friday, October 4th
from 3-8pmBrian P. Kelly, Business Mgr./FST
Daniel T. O’Brien, PresidentSWEENEY BROTHERS
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