Diana Sands

Diana Patricia Sands was born one of three children in the Bronx, New York City, on August 22, 1934 to Rudolph Sands, a Bahamian carpenter, and Shirley (née Thomas), a milliner. For her early education, Sands attended elementary school in Elmsford, New York. Sands enrolled at the Music & Art High School (which is now identified as Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School) in 1949, where she was a classmates of Diahann Carroll and Billy Dee Williams.[6] During high school, Sands received her first role in the school production of George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara". After graduation from high school in 1953, Sands began her professional career as a dancer; touring with a traveling carnival.

As Beneatha Younger with Claudia McNeil and Sidney Poitier in the Broadway version of A Raisin in the Sun, 1959.

In 1959, Sands landed the role of Beneatha Younger for the Broadway production of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. Two years later, in 1961 Sands co-starred alongside Claudia McNeil, Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee for the film version of the play.

Sands later became a member of the Actors Studio,[7] In 1964, Sands was in a production of James Baldwin's Blues for Mr. Charlie. Her performance was noted as a highlight of the show. Sands didn't continue the role due to a subsequent London engagement that Sands had previously committed, the original Broadway production of The Owl and the Pussycat; co-starring Alan Alda. For her role in the production, Sands was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.[8]

In 1970, Sands co-starred in the film The Landlord, and then appeared in Doctors' Wives and Georgia, Georgia. During this time, Sands met musician Bob Dylan. In his memoirs, Dylan tells of meeting Sands at a party and states that she was, "an electrifying actress who I might have been secretly in love with ..."[9][10] In 1972, Sands was sought to provide a track for the Original New York Cast album of Free to Be... You and Me. However, Sands had died by the time the ABC Afterschool Special had begun production and her previously recorded vocal track was not selected for inclusion. During the fall of 1972, Sands filmed Honeybaby, Honeybaby on location in Beirut, Lebanon co-starring Calvin Lockhart. According to Lockhart, Sands went to a local hospital during the filming in Lebanon; stating his belief that Sands knew she was seriously ill.[11] In early 1973, Sands returned to New York City and began filming Willie Dynamite, a blaxploitation film starring alongside Roscoe Orman.

In late-August 1973, Sands began filming Claudine alongside James Earl Jones in Harlem section of New York. [12] According to an October 1973 article in Jet, Sands later collapsed during the filming and was rushed to a local hospital in early–September 1973. Upon surgery, Doctors discovered a cancerous growth in Sands' abdomen, which was diagnosed as pancreatic cancer.[13] Sands had only began filming a week earlier when she collapsed.[14] Due to her aggressive illness, Sands was unable to film and suggested to producers that her longtime friend Diahann Carroll replace her in the film;[15] in which Carroll was selected.