The Ohio native was a promising black American stage actor, when he first gained national prominence as the smooth-talking, carefree younger brother of Charles S. Dutton's titular character in "Roc" (Fox, 1991-94). Having moved to NYC after working for a season at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Carroll honed his craft performing Shakespeare for high school students before being cast in his acclaimed breakthrough role in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play "The Piano Lesson", which also featured Dutton. Originating the part of Lymon at the Yale Rep in 1987, he was tapped to recreate it when the show moved to Broadway in 1989. Carroll picked up a Tony Award nomination for his efforts and landed his first feature role in "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989). When "Roc" was created for Dutton, the actor encouraged its producers to consider his co-stars from the play for other roles. Both Carroll and Carl Gordon were hired for the Fox sitcom and this abundance of stage-trained talent inspired the producers to film "Roc" live beginning with the 1992 season.
When "Roc" went off the air in 1994, Carroll attempted to parlay his success into a film career but his roles in "The Chase" (1994), "Crimson Tide" (1995) and "The Great White Hype" (1996) didn't really register with critics or audiences. The latter, though, introduced him to Peter Berg and Carroll was soon joining Berg on the small screen portraying emergency room surgeon Dr. Keith Wilkes in the CBS medical drama "Chicago Hope". Staying for that series for four seasons, Carroll demonstrated his dramatic chops and earned a new group of fans.
Switching gears for his next small screen venture, Carroll was cast as a pompous TV host who considers a new weatherman (Jim Gaffigan) a threat to his popularity in "Welcome to New York", a short-lived CBS sitcom that aired in 2000-2001. Although he earned praise for his comedic work, the performer chose a serious drama as a follow-up. In "The Agency" (CBS, 2001- ), Carroll was cast as the leader of a counter-terrorism team of CIA operatives.