"Diahann Carroll was the only mother I knew," says her Julia son

The New York Times

From the age of 5 to 8, Marc Copage played Corey Baker opposite Carroll's single mother Julia Baker on the groundbreaking 1968-1971 NBC sitcom. Baker writes in The New York Times that his real mother left the family when he was 2, so Carroll ended up becoming a surrogate mom. "Ms. Carroll taught me to always be punctual and a person of my word, as she was. She came to the set on time for each show, completely prepared," he writes. "She was polite to everyone and always careful about her diet. She would let me know if I started to get a little too pudgy. The producers would give me Bazooka bubble gum, but she would give me carob snacks that she thought were much healthier." Copage would eventually become a cater-waiter who, in 2010, ended up working a dinner attended by Carroll. They last saw each other at an autograph show they worked together in 2017. ALSO: Read new tributes to Carroll from Billy Dee Williams, Kerry Washington, Shonda Rhimes and Taraji P. Henson.