Who was the actress that overcame breast cancer and played a part in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?
Diahann Carroll Diahann Carroll ( ) (born Carol Diahann Johnson, July 17, 1935) is an American television and stage actress and singer known for her performances in some of the earliest major studio films to feature black casts, including "Carmen Jones" (1954) and "Porgy and Bess" (1959) as well as on Broadway. "Julia" (1968) was one of the first series on American television to star a black woman in a nonstereotypical role and was followed by her portrayal of Dominique Deveraux in the primetime soap opera "Dynasty" over three seasons. She is the recipient of numerous stage and screen nominations and awards, including the Golden Globe Award for "Best Actress In A Television Series" in 1968. A breast cancer survivor and activist, Carroll was scheduled to return to the Broadway stage in the 2014 revival of "A Raisin in the Sun" as Mama, but withdrew prior to opening citing the demands of the rehearsal and performance schedule.
Loretta Young Loretta Young (January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress and singer. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1947 film "The Farmer's Daughter" and received an Oscar nomination for her role in "Come to the Stable" in 1949. Young moved to the relatively new medium of television, where she had a dramatic anthology series, "The Loretta Young Show", from 1953 to 1961. The series earned three Emmy Awards and was rerun successfully on daytime TV and later in syndication. In the 1980s, Young returned to the small screen and won a Golden Globe for her role in "Christmas Dove" in 1986. Young, a devout Roman Catholic, worked with various Catholic charities after her acting career.