Pat Carroll | |
|---|---|
 Carroll in 1972 | |
| Born | Patricia Ann Carroll (1927-05-05)May 5, 1927 Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | July 30, 2022(2022-07-30) (aged 95) Cape Cod, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Other names |
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| Alma mater | Catholic University of America |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1947–2022 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingTara Karsian |
| Awards | |
Patricia Ann Carroll (May 5, 1927 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress and comedian. She is best known for providing the voice ofUrsula inThe Little Mermaid.[1] She made guest appearances in many popular television series includingThe Mary Tyler Moore Show,Laverne & Shirley, andER; she also had a regular role onThe Danny Thomas Show as Bunny Halper. Carroll was anEmmy,Drama Desk, andGrammy Award winner, as well as aTony Award nominee.
Carroll was born inShreveport, Louisiana, on May 5, 1927, to Maurice Clifton Carroll (d. 1963) and Kathryn Angela (née Meagher).[2] Carroll's family moved toLos Angeles when she was five years old, and she soon began acting in local productions. She graduated fromImmaculate Heart High School and attendedCatholic University of America after enlisting in theUnited States Army as a civilian actress technician.[3]
Carroll began her acting career in 1947. She got her first acting credit as Lorelei Crawford in the 1948 filmHometown Girl.[4] In 1952, she made her television debut inThe Red Buttons Show.[5] In 1955, her Broadway debut inCatch a Star! garnered her a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.[4] In 1956, Carroll won anEmmy Award for her work onCaesar's Hour. From 1961–1964, she was a regular on the sitcomMake Room for Daddy .[5] She guest-starred in the dramaanthology seriesThe DuPont Show with June Allyson. She co-starred in the 1965 television production ofRodgers and Hammerstein'sCinderella as "Prunella", one of the wicked stepsisters. Carroll also appeared on many variety shows of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, such asThe Steve Allen Show,The Danny Kaye Show,The Red Skelton Show, andThe Carol Burnett Show.
In the late 1970s, Carroll's successful one-woman show,Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, by playwright Marty Martin, won several major theater awards;[6] her recorded version won a 1980Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word, Documentary or Drama.[7]
In early 1976, Carroll was cast as Lily, the mother of Shirley Feeney, on the hitABC situation comedy,Laverne & Shirley, in the episode "Mother Knows Worst" .[8] She portrayed Pearl Markowitz, the mother ofAdam Arkin's character Lenny Markowitz, in the 1977CBS situation comedyBusting Loose.[citation needed] In 1978, she made a guest appearance onThe Love Boat. Her television roles in the 1980s included newspaper owner Hope Stinson on the syndicatedThe Ted Knight Show (formerlyToo Close for Comfort) during its final season in 1986, and Gussie Holt, the mother ofSuzanne Somers's lead character in the syndicated sitcomShe's the Sheriff (1987–1989).[citation needed]
Starting in the late 1980s, Carroll took several voice-over roles for cartoons,[8] includingA Pup Named Scooby-Doo,Galaxy High,Foofur, and the filmA Goofy Movie. On the seriesPound Puppies, she had a regular role voicing Katrina Stoneheart. On twoGarfield television specials (A Garfield Christmas andGarfield's Thanksgiving), she portrayedJon's feisty grandmother. She also voiced the character of Granny in the 2005 re-release ofHayao Miyazaki'sMy Neighbor Totoro.
In 1989, Carroll portrayed the sea witch Ursula in Disney'sThe Little Mermaid and sang "Poor Unfortunate Souls".[8] In interviews, Carroll referred to the role, her first as a villain,[5] as one of the favorites of her career.[9] She later reprised the role in other forms of media, including theKingdom Hearts series of video games, theLittle Mermaid television series, theDisney+ seriesThe Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse,[10] and variousDisney theme parks attractions and shows,[citation needed] as well as voicing Ursula's crazy sister Morgana in the direct-to-video sequelThe Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea.[1]
Carroll also appeared on a variety of game shows includingYou Don't Say,To Tell the Truth,Match Game 73,Password All-Stars,I've Got a Secret, andThe $10,000 Pyramid.[1]
A member ofthe Actors Studio, she also enjoyed a successful career in the theater, appearing in numerous plays including productions ofOur Town and Sophocles'sElectra.[11][12] In 1990, she starred inThe Merry Wives of Windsor at theShakespeare Theatre at the Folger in the role ofSir John Falstaff, a balding knight with whiskers.[13]
When drama criticFrank Rich ofThe New York Times reviewed her performance inThe Merry Wives of Windsor, he wrote, "Her performance is a triumph from start to finish, and, I think, a particularly brave and moving one, with implications that go beyond this one production. Ms. Carroll and Mr. Kahn help revivify the argument that the right actresses can perform some of the great classic roles traditionally denied to women and make them their own. It's not a new argument, to be sure; female Hamlets stretch back into history. But what separates Ms. Carroll's Falstaff from some other similar casting experiments of late is that her performance exists to investigate a character rather than merely as ideological window dressing for a gimmicky production."[13]
Carroll married Lee Karsian in 1955 and they had three children: one son, Sean, and two daughters, Kerry and actressTara Karsian. The marriage ended in a divorce in 1976. Lee remarried before he died in 1991. Carroll also outlived her son Sean, who died in 2009.[3] In 1991, Carroll received an honorary doctorate fromSiena College inAlbany, New York.[14]
After reading an article claiming that video games were not for people born prior to 1965, Caroll started playing video games. While on the road forGertrude Stein Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein, she became a "video game junkie". She at first played at parlors, then bought herself a home computer.[15]
In 1963, Carroll filed a $12,000 lawsuit againstHanna-Barbera forbreach of contract, claiming that she had been cast and signed on to the role of Jane Jetson onThe Jetsons.Morey Amsterdam, who alleged that he had been cast asGeorge, was also a plaintiff in the same suit.[16][17] Although her contracts stipulated she would be paid US$500 an episode with a guarantee of twenty-four episodes (i.e., a full season), she recorded only one episode before being replaced.[16] Several sources claimed the change had occurred as a result of sponsor conflict with Carroll's work onMake Room for Daddy.[18][19] The case had been closed by early 1965.[20] Carroll stated in an interview in 2013 that the court had ruled in favor of Hanna-Barbera.[16]
Carroll died ofpneumonia at her home onCape Cod,Massachusetts, on July 30, 2022, at the age of 95.[21][22][4]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Hometown Girl | Lorelei Crawford | Film debut[4] |
| 1951 | Up Front | Italian Girl | Uncredited |
| 1968 | With Six You Get Eggroll | Maxine Scott | [23] |
| 1973 | The Brothers O'Toole | Callie Burdyne | [24] |
| 1984 | Racing with the Moon | Mrs. Spangler | |
| 1988 | My Neighbor Totoro | Granny | Voice, Disney English dub |
| 1989 | The Little Mermaid | Ursula | Voice |
| 2000 | Songcatcher | Viney Butler | |
| The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea | Morgana | Voice; direct-to-video | |
| 2001 | Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse | Ursula | |
| 2002 | Mickey's House of Villains | ||
| 2005 | Once Upon a Halloween | Performer of "Sidekicks and Henchmen" | |
| 2007 | Freedom Writers | Miep Gies | |
| Nancy Drew | Landlady | ||
| 2014 | BFFs | Joan | |
| 2023 | Once Upon a Studio | Ursula | Voice (archival recordings) |
Video games[edit]
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| Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Catch a Star! | performer | Broadway debut Tony Award nomination | [26][27] |
| 1973 | Anything Goes | Reno Sweeney | [28] | |
| 1975 | Something's Afoot | [29] | ||
| 1979 | Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein | Gertrude Stein | Drama Desk Award | [30][31] |
| 1984 | Dancing in the End Zone | Madeleine Bernard | [32][33] | |
| 1986 | Romeo and Juliet | Nurse | [34] | |
| 1989 | Cinderella | Fairy Godmother | [35] | |
| 1990 | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Falstaff | [13] | |
| 1992 | The Show-Off | Mrs. Fisher | [36][37] | |
| 1993 | Mother Courage and Her Children | Mother Courage | [38] | |
| 1996 | Volpone | Volpone | [39] | |
| 1998 | Grace and Glorie | Grace | [40] | |
| Electra | Chorus of Mycenae | [41][42] | ||
| 2000 | Thoroughly Modern Millie | Mrs. Meers | Pre-Broadway production | [43][44] |
| 2002 | Our Town | The Stage Manager | [45] |
Notes
Further reading
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