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Ellen Holly
Born	January 16, 1931 (1931-01-16) (age 78) New York City, New York, United States

Ellen Holly (born January 16, 1931) is an American actress.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Career 1.2 Personal life 2 Filmography 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Career

Holly began her career on stage appearing in the Broadway productions of Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright and A Hand Is on the Gate before embarking on a television and film career. She guest starred on Sam Benedict and The Nurses before landing the role of actress-turned-Judge Clara "Carla" Hall on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, a role she played from 1968 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1985. ^{[1] [2]} Holly came to the attention of Agnes Nixon, the creator of One Life to Live, after writing a letter to the editor of The New York Times about what it was like to be a light-skinned African American. Nixon created the role of Carla and offered Holly a role on her new show.

When Holly began on One Life to Live in October 1968, her African-American heritage was not publicized as part of the storyline; her character, named Carla Benari, was a touring actress of apparently Italian American heritage. Carla and a Caucasian physician, Dr. Jim Craig, fell in love and became engaged. But she was falling for an African-American doctor. When the two kissed onscreen, it was reported that the switchboards at ABC were busy by fans who thought that the show had shown an African-American and Caucasian kissing. The fact that Carla was actually the African-American "Clara Grey" posing as Caucasian was revealed when Sadie Grey, played by Lillian Hayman, was identified as her mother. Sadie would eventually convince her daughter to embrace her heritage and tell the truth.

Holly left the series in 1981, but returned in 1983. According to her autobiography, One Life: The Autobiography of an African American Actress, she was fired from the show by new executive producer Paul Rauch in 1985. She made a return to the small screen in 2002, when she appeared as "Selena Frey" in the made-for-cable film 10,000 Black Men Named George, alongside Andre Braugher and Mario Van Peebles.

[edit] Personal life

Holly is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.^[3]Offscreen, Holly pursued a relationship with costar Roger Hill, known for his role as Cyrus in the cult film The Warriors.

[edit] Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1959	Take a Giant Step	Carol, the Girl in the Bar
1973	Cops and Robbers	Ms. Wells
1988	School Daze	Odrie McPherson
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963	The Defenders	Janet Lamb	1 episode
	Sam Benedict	Elissa Reagan	1 episode
1963-1964	The Nurses	Helena Fuentes Natalia Cortez	2 episodes
1964	Dr. Kildare	Lucille Mann	1 episode
1969-1980	One Life to Live	Assistant District Attorney Clara "Carla" Grey Hall Scott (aka Carla Bonari)	Unknown episodes
1974	King Lear	Regan	Television movie
1978	Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force	Amy	Television movie
1983-1985	One Life to Live	Carla Bonari	Unknown episodes
1985	ABC Afterschool Special	Mrs. Robbins	1 episode
1986	Spenser: For Hire	Amanda Layton	1 episode
1989-1990	In the Heat of the Night	Ruth Peterson	4 episodes
1991-1993	Guiding Light	Judge Collier	Unknown episodes
2002	10,000 Black Men Named George	Selena Frey	Television movie

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ellen Holly at the Internet Movie Database
• Ellen Holly at the Internet Broadway Database

Persondata
NAME	Holly, Ellen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Actress
DATE OF BIRTH	January 16, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH	New York City, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH