Welcome to Retro Rewind, the new TGJ original feature that invites our readers on a journey to Entertainment’s glorious past.
As a powerful minority in Hollywood continue to deny the important of diversity on-screen, the brains behind the hit show ‘Dynasty’ learned just how lucrative it could be for ratings when they introduced to the African-American character Dominique Deveraux to the series in 1984.
Created by the writing duo Richard and Esther Shapiro, Dominique, portrayed by Diahann Carroll, stepped on to the scene as a secretive woman with a keen interest in the lives of the show’s leading family, the Carringtons.
Eager to slay in the face of the stereotypical, offensive and one dimensional roles often dished out for actors of colour, the Shapiros teamed up with Carroll to create a character just as complex as the show’s villain Alexis Carrington, played by Joan Collins.
The result? A moving story about a young African-American girl from modest beginnings who exposes the plight of biracial children rejected by a society and fathers infected by prejudice, classism and racism.
Watch below…
