The ongoing Los Angeles wildfires have claimed another victim: retired Hollywood actress Dalis Carey, who was a fixture in the “Old Black Hollywood” of the 1950s.
95-year-old Carey — known as “Momma D” to her loved ones — was found dead in her Altadena, California, home, which had burned to the ground in the Eaton Fire. The Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed her death on Sunday.
One of Carey’s grandchildren, Dalis Kelly, who was named after her grandmother, announced the sad news on Facebook on Sunday, January 12.
“About an hour ago, the coroner confirmed that her remains had indeed been found on the property,” she said. books.
“We had a great run. You impacted my life in so many ways. This loss is devastating.”
in interview Kelly, who lived part-time with her grandmother as a caregiver, told NBC’s Kelly that she dropped her grandmother off at home Tuesday evening around midnight, after a long day in the hospital.
“She was exhausted,” she said, and there seemed to be a danger from the distant fire in the mountains northeast of them.
“I had no idea the winds would reach residential areas and destroy the entire city of Altadena,” Kelly said.
Kelly added that the evacuation order was sent via text message at 3:30 a.m., but she believes it is unlikely that her grandmother heard it, given that the 95-year-old was not very keen on using a smartphone.
“We have to do something else,” she said. “I thought evacuations would, you know, involve, like, knocking on doors, not just a letter.”
The day after the fire, she rushed to the area to check on her grandmother, but was stopped at a checkpoint. A police officer told her the area had burned to the ground, and Carrie was officially reported Missing On Friday, January 10.
On Saturday, the National Guard allowed Kelly to visit the ruins of her grandmother’s home.
“It’s under that part of the roof I know.” books On Facebook. “I’ll just have to wait for the bodies to be searched at this point.”
Kelly thanked the media for drawing attention to her grandmother’s death, as well as to her amazing story.
“It would have been possible to honor our grandmother, Dalis Curry,” she said. books. “I knew my grandmother was special, and seeing how this has spread so widely in the world is validation. What a loss.”
She also thanked the public for their sympathy.
“As her life ended so tragically, the outpouring of sympathy and compassion for her to tell her story was comforting.”
Carrey has worked in Hollywood as an extra for decades, appearing in such classics as “The Ten Commandments,” “The Blues Brothers,” “Lady Sings the Blues,” and many others.
