Ellen Holly, the One Life to Live actress who played the first African-American leading heroine in soaps, has passed away at the age of 92, according to her cousin.

Remembering Ellen Holly

Grant Shipp shared the news on his Facebook page on Wednesday night, saying: “Remembering my cousin Ellen Holly this morning, who passed last night. She was a pioneer in daytime television. Starring on One Life to live for 20 years. Playing Lawrence Fishburn’s mother on the show.

“She appeared in several movies, and performed on stage with the greatest black actors of her generation. Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Cicely Tyson, Robert Hooks, James Earl Jones to name a few. You had One Life to Live and it was amazing Life. You were simply one of the best. Now you know the secret. God rest your soul.”

A First For Soaps

What made Holly’s role on One Life to Live so memorable and groundbreaking was not just the fact that ‘Carla’ was an African-American woman, she was a Black woman passing as white.

When she first debuted on the soap in 1968, Carla was dating a white man, but eventually, we learned her birth name was Clara when her mother, Sadie (Lillian Heyman), became a regular character.

In 1996, Holly published an autobiography, One Life: An Autobiography of an African American Actress, detailing her years on OLTL and the story that made soap history. She remained on OLTL until 1985. Her only other soap role as on Guiding Light as Judge Frances Collier.

Holly’s Acting Career

Holly was born on January 16, 1931, in New York City and was a stage actress before she made her way to the small screen in 1957 in The Big Story. She made several episodic guest appearances over the next decade before landing on One Life to Live for nearly two decades.

On the big screen, Holly appeared in the film Dazed and Confused, as well as the 2002 movie 10,000 Black Men Named George, her last credited role.

Daily Drama sends condolences to Holly’s family and loved ones during this difficult time.