Although Dalis Curry never became a star, she met some of Hollywood’s old elite and had a legendary mentor.
LOS ANGELES – At 95 years old, there was no other way to describe Dalis Curry, or “Moma Dee” to her large extended family, than “awesome.”
“My grandmother still wore her big hair, her glasses, her nails, you know, and did her makeup. You know, she was really cool,” said her granddaughter and namesake, Dalis Kelly.
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1929, the mega personality was destined to move to one place: Hollywood.
She settled in Los Angeles, where she never became a star, but met some of the old Hollywood elite, including backing singer Pearl Bailey, and as an extra in a scene with Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues. Under the guidance of the first black woman to ever sign a film contract.
Carrie died last week at her home in Altadena as the Eaton Fire tore through the community.
Her granddaughter had dropped her off at home around 11:30 p.m., after she spent the day in the hospital undergoing tests after she felt dizzy. While driving, they saw fire in the distance and the power went out as they exited the highway in Altadena.
But the power was on in her grandmother’s neighborhood, and there was no sign of imminent danger, so Kelly told her grandmother she would arrive later and left. She asked in a neighborhood text group for someone to call her if there were evictions.
I woke up around 5:30 a.m. the next morning to an urgent message in the group text, asking if Curry had gone out during the night evacuations.
Kelly rushed to Altadena but was not allowed through the police barricade. An officer called her saying her grandmother’s house had burned to the ground. She then frantically searched for her grandmother in shelters.
Four days later, the family received confirmation from the Los Angeles coroner’s office that Curry had died, one of at least 25 victims of the devastating Los Angeles fires.
Curry said all family memorabilia, including photos dating back nine decades, were lost in the fire.
The only thing that survived her grandmother unscathed was a blue 1981 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. It was not run, but Carrey hoped to repair it and rent it to production companies making films set in the 1980s.
Carrie had other connections to the film industry, beginning after she befriended Nellie Crawford, who was known by her stage name Madame Soul-Ti-One, at a beauty salon in Los Angeles in the early 1950s, Kelly says, where she told her grandmother’s best stories. You can.
Crawford was the first black woman to appear in films after signing her contract with Fine Arts. She appeared in films such as the 1915 landmark film The Birth of a Nation. When Carrie told Crawford she was interested in the arts and theatre, Crawford said, “Well, that’s it. I’ll take you under my wing. You’re my daughter.”
This led to Carey getting an additional job in the 1956 film “The Ten Commandments,” where she danced and bowed before the king.
“It was a small part, but we were so proud,” Kelly said. Carey also worked as an extra in “Lady Sings the Blues” and “The Blues Brothers,” and sang and danced backing for Pearl Bailey in venues across the United States, her granddaughter said.
Later in life, Carey became a nurse working in convalescent homes and in private care. Carrie, who used her maiden name, has one son. She is also survived by seven grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
Kelly said she will miss her grandmother’s positivity, energy, light, strength and her signature phrase: “Nothing is as bad as it seems, even at its worst.”
“Everyone has to live like this, even the people who were victims of this fire and lost loved ones and lost everything, lost their homes and had to see this devastation,” Kelly said.
Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.
