Julia is a 1977 film drama made by 20th Century Fox. It is based on Lillian Hellman's book Pentimento, a portion of which purports to tell the story of her relationship with her lifelong friend, "Julia," who worked as an anti-Nazi in the years prior to World War II. The film was directed by Fred Zinnemann and produced by Richard Roth, with Julien Derode as executive producer and Tom Pevsner as associate producer, from a screenplay adapted by Alvin Sargent.

Julia was a 1960s television series, best remembered as being one of the first weekly series to depict an African American woman in a non-stereotypical role. Previous television series featured African American lead characters, but the characters were usually servants. The show starred actress and singer Diahann Carroll, and ran for 86 episodes on NBC from September 17, 1968 to March 23, 1971.

In Julia, Carroll played widowed single mother Julia Baker (her fighter pilot husband had been shot down in Vietnam) who was a nurse in a doctor's office. The doctor, Morton Chegley, was played by Lloyd Nolan, and Julia's romantic interests by Paul Winfield and Fred Williamson.

Though Julia is now remembered as being groundbreaking, while on the air, it was derided by a significant segment of the African American community as not being "political" or "angry" enough, owing largely to its status as a standard, lighthearted sitcom. nyt-black_white.htm" target="_blank">http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_nyt-black_white.htm

Carroll won the 1968 _Golden Globe for Best Actress in a television series for her role in Julia. http://www.thegoldenglobes.com/welcome.html?nominee/carroll_diahann.html

Diahann Carroll said in interview that the show ended when she asked to be let out of her television contract, having grown tired of the controversy surrounding the show from its inception.

From "Pentimento," the memoirs of late playwright Lillian Hellman, JULIA covers those years in the 1930s when Lillian attained fame with the production of her first play "The Childrens' Hour" on Broadway. Not surprisingly, it centers on Lillian's relationship with her lifelong friend, Julia. It is a relationship that goes beyond mere acquaintance and one for which the word "love" seems appropriate. While Julia attends the University in Vienna, studying with such luminaries as Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein, Lillian suffers through revisions of her play with her mentor and sometimes lover Dashiel Hammett at a New England beachhouse. After becoming a celebrated playwright, Lillian is invited to a writers conference in Russia. Julia, having taken up the battle against fascism, enlists Lillian en route to smuggle money through Nazi Germany which will assist in the Anti-Fascist cause. It is a dangerous mission especially for a Jewish intellectual on her way to communist Russia. During a brief meeting with Julia on this trip, Lillian learns that Julia has had a child which is called Lilly. Shortly after returning to the States, Lillian is informed of Julia's murder. The details of her death are shrouded in secrecy. Lillian sadly travels to England to search for her namesake the child she had promised Julia to care for. Written by Mark Fleetwood