Olga James, the singer and actor who costarred with Harry Belafonte in Otto Preminger’s classic 1954 musical film Carmen Jones, died January 25 at an assisted living facility in Los Angeles. She was 95.

Her death was announced by family.

James also starred opposite Sammy Davis Jr. in Broadway’s 1956 musical Mr. Wonderful. On TV, she played Verna Kincaid in Bill Cosby’s 1969-71 sitcom The Bill Cosby Show. Her character was the sister-in-law of star Cosby’s main character.

Born February 16, 1929, in Washington D.C. into a musical family — her father played the saxophone, her mother was a dancer — James would attend Julliard in New York City where she studied opera. She made her professional debut in 1952 in Paris, performing in the opera Four Saints in Three Acts.

After returning to America, she was hired to perform in the all-Black revue at Atlantic City’s Club Harlem. It was while performing...