Who Is Suzanne Kay? Untold Truth About Diahann Carroll’s Daughter

Suzanne Kay is an essayist, screenwriter, filmmaker, and producer who people better know as the only daughter of the late actress Diahann Carroll. As the daughter of an actress and a record producer, Suzanne has always been seemingly comfortable with the entertainment industry.

While Suzanne’s significance in the film and TV sphere pales in differentiation to her actress mother, Diahann, she, has had a few or two notable credits worth shedding a light upon. For starters, she has been an award-winning filmmaker who notably wrote and produced acclaimed films, Cape Of Good Hope, and Hero, amongst others.

Learn more about her – including her personal life; her husband, her kids, if she is married now in addition to her relationship with her late mother, her ethnicity, her achievements, monetarily and otherwise, her presence on the social media, and far more.

Suzanne Kay Is From Santa Monica California

Suzanne who is a Santa Monica native was born on Sep 9, 1960, which makes her 61 years of age. Her birth name is Suzanne Patricia Ottilie Kay.

Although a definitive assertion about her ethnicity is yet to come, people have nevertheless taken Suzanne as a descent of an African-American mother. The reasonings, however, get chancier in terms of her father, Monte Kay’s ethnicity with some claiming he came from a Jewish line while the rest believe, he too might be of African heritage.

Her Education

Kay, who is now aged, 61, studied at Columbia University where she did her Master’s in Journalism.

Does Suzanne Kay Have Siblings?

While Suzanne is the only child of Diahann, she was close to having siblings as her mother, Caroll lost two babies to miscarriages when alive.

Suzanne Kay’s Relationship With Her Late Mother, Diahann Carroll

When alive, the Julia alum in 2019 revealed her relationship with her daughter, Suzanne wasn’t that good mostly because of how absent she was in her daughter’s life.

The Golden Globe winner died of complications from breast cancer in early Oct 2019. Suzanne’s mom had been able to beat the disease when she first discovered it in the early 90s.

Kay’s father, Monte, who was a musicians’ agent and record producer lost his life in May 1988 of heart failure.

Suzanne Worked At Several News Stations Before Becoming A Filmmaker

Before her career as a writer and a filmmaker, Suzanne Kay first worked as an intern for PBS NewsHour in the mid-70s. This was after she graduated from Columbia University.

After PBS, Kay went on to work as a news writer and producer at CNN in Atlanta. Later, she would also work as an Arts and Entertainment editor for Essence Magazine. Not long after that, she landed the job of on-air co-anchor at ETV!’s first entertainment news program with co-hosts, Greg Kinnear and Julie Morgan.

Next, the Dynasty actress’ daughter, Suzanne worked as a TV scriptwriter in Hollywood for several FOX TV sitcoms. During this time, she also co-wrote the 2000 short film, Hero and started a production company, Wonder View Films.

After that, she would work for most of her future as a freelance screenwriter. In the meantime, Suzanne also worked as a writing consultant for Sankofa.org, a subsidiary social justice organization of Harry Belafonte.

She additionally has produced a documentary about Ed Sullivan and his work in fighting racial injustice and his motive to acknowledge Black artists. For this, she teamed up with the TV producer, Precht Speciale.

Suzanne likewise worked on a documentary about her late mother, Diahann Carroll. She also produced and co-wrote a feature film, Cape of Good Hope. The film later went on to win several accolades including Honorable Mention for the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, National Board of Review, and an NCAAP Image Awards.

Suzanne as per her LinkedIn currently works as a producer and writer for Kaymont Entertainment. As a writer, some of her pieces have been featured in Huffington Post, the Southampton Review, and BigCityLit.

Meanwhile, she also takes part in speaking as the legacy holder by being the daughter of men who were active in the Civil Rights Movement.

Suzanne Kay Shares Two Children With Her Ex-Husband, Mark Bamford

While Suzanne seems to be all single for now, in the past, she was the wife of a fellow filmmaker, Mark Bamford, also a writer and producer. Bamford and Kay were in a marital relationship from 1996 to 2016.

When together, they had two children, a son, August, and a daughter, Sydney. From the looks of Suzanne’s Instagram, her children seem to be in their early 20s.

 

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Although nothing much about their early relationship is obvious, some editorials do suggest, that Mark and Suzanne met in Los Angeles. They were also professional partners and co-wrote the aforementioned short film, Hero, and together also created Wonder View Films.

The former couple’s collaboration, Hero led them to cruise around the world for its premieres and even festivals. The film also brought Suzanne’s ex-husband the Atom Films Director To Watch Award in 2001.

During these, Suzanne and Mark also visited Cape Town, South Africa. Apparently, when staying in the country, the ex-couple loved it so much there that they even thought about settling there with their kids. And during their time in South Africa, they volunteered and wrote their first feature film, Cape of Good Hope which as mentioned above went on to garner a handful of laudations and critical praises.

Suzanne Kay Parents; Her Mother Cheated On Her Father With Sidney Poitier

Suzanne’s parents, Diahann Caroll and Monte Kay were husband and wife from 1956 to 1963. They apparently married against Diahann’s parents’ consent as they were against the Masked Saint actress and Monte’s union.

Monte, a casting director, was Diahann’s first husband. They met during the audition for the musical House of Flowers. Diahann and Monte’s union fell apart after the former went on to have an affair with the late Academy winner Sidney Poitier.

The Eve’s Bayou actress has confessed to having an affair with Poitier in her memoir. Poitier, too at the time was married to someone else with whom he shared two kids. While Diahann eventually left Suzanne’s father for Poitier, the Porgy and Bess actor didn’t quit his marriage.

After this Caroll decided to reconcile her relationship with Monte and they did so for a while during which they also welcomed Suzanne. Diahann and Suzanne’s father, nonetheless, would end their union after which the former went on to date another man, Freddie Glussman.

The relationship didn’t last either following which, Suzanne’s mother, Caroll married a journalist, Robert DeLeon. This marriage too ended after DeLeon’s death in a car accident. Suzanne’s actress/singer mom would marry once again; this time to a musician, Vic Damone. He would be her last husband.

Suzanne Instagram Says She Is Single

Evidently, Suzanne appears to be fond of sharing just about what she does off the work to her fans on settings including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

And as for now, Suzanne like previously mentioned gives the feeling of being a whole lot single or so conveys her Instagram on which the Oscar nominee’s daughter comes across as enough up and running.

For the most part, she posts pictures of herself having bashes with her friends and children. In addition she also often commemorates her late father and mother; either wishing them on parents’ days or on their birthdays.

She, nonetheless, is yet to accord even the minimal hints of what her happening marital facet looks like.

Did Suzanne Kay Inherit From Her Mother; What Is Her Net Worth? 

Although Suzanne’s mother, Diahann Carroll had a positively substantial net worth at the time of her death; around $20 million or so, whether Kay, being her only daughter, inherited her mother’s eight-figure fortune is anyway a mystery.

Further, not even Suzanne’s social media image makes mention of her as someone who breathes in the realm of extravagance. It, nonetheless, might be a safe bet to say, Diahann’s daughter, Suzanne is still an above-the-average moneyed woman with her net worth supposedly hanging in the proximity of hundreds of thousands of dollars.