Emmy-wins actor Pat Carroll dies at 95: Here are the achievements in her career

Updated on August 01, 2022 14:41 PM by Michael Davis

Death due to Pneumonia

The long-lasting actress and comedian passed away at her Cape Cod home Saturday after a session with Pneumonia, according to her daughter, Kerry Karsian. The latter affirmed her death to The Hollywood Reporter.

Patricia Ann Carroll was brought into the world on May 5, 1927, in Shreveport, Louisiana. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 5. At age 20, she filled in as a Civilian Actress Technician for the army, composing, creating, and coordinating all-warrior creations. In 1949, she graduated from Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

Early Career

Carroll's most memorable professional appearance had come in 1947 alongside Gloria Swanson in a regional stock creation of A Goose for a Gander. This prompted more stock company jobs, and by performing in nightclubs and resorts, she also sharpened her comic chops.

In 1950, Carroll's off-Broadway debut came in Come What May. Soon after, she began landing television work on Goodyear Television Playhouse, The Red Buttons Show, and The Saturday Night Revue.

The First Emmy award

Carroll previously starred on Broadway in 1955 in the musical Catch a Star! The performance earned her a Tony nomination. Decades later, Carroll got rave surveys for her off-Broadway one-woman show Gertrude Stein: A One-Character Play. She was composed by Danny and Neil Simon.

Carroll's lively personality, screwball mind, and impeccable timing made her a tremendous second banana. Charley Weaver Red Buttons, Jimmy Durante, Mickey Rooney, and Steve Allen were among the individuals who called upon her to make their programs more clever.

Her antics on Caesar's Hour earned her an Emmy in 1957, and she was nominated for her work on the classic variety show the following year.

Popular Characters of Carroll

Carroll played Bunny Halper, the cheerful spouse of nightclub proprietor Charley Halper Sid Melton, on three seasons of The Danny Thomas Show in the early '60s; was Hope Stinson, who shared responsibility for a newspaper with Ted Knight's character, on the last season (1986-87) of Too Close for Comfort; and appeared inverse Suzanne Somers on the 1987-89 series She's the Sheriff.

Carroll stood apart as a cranky patient who shared a hospital room with Mary Richards who was there to take tonsils out on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1971, and she was also portrayed as Lily Feeney, the mother of Cindy Williams' character, in a 1976 installment of Laverne and Shirley.

Carroll in TV shows and Game shows

Her TV credits also included The Love Boat, My Three Sons, Cinderella, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Love, American Style, Police Woman, Busting Loose, Trapper John, M.D., Evening Shade, Designing Women, and ER.

Carroll also was a game show favorite. I've Got a Secret followed by, To Tell the Truth, Password All-Stars, The Match Game, You Don't Say, The $10,000 Pyramid, and so on, in With Six You Get Eggroll (1968) she played it, and she played Doris Day's matchmaking sister.

The natural animation artist

Carroll's throaty laugh and lively intonations made her a natural for animation work. She slipped into the keep stall in 1966 for the animated series The Super 6. In any case, it was during the '80s that her voiceover career soared. She voiced for Yogi's Treasure Hunt, Galaxy High School, Foofur, Pound Puppies, and Superman.

The Little Mermaid

Without a doubt, her most memorable character was Ursula for the 1989 Disney feature The Little Mermaid. It would end up being one of her favorite jobs. "To do a Disney film is a long-lasting ambition of mine," she told to Allan Neuwirth in Makin' Toons.

"In this way, I was theirs with barely a second thought." Carroll won the part and voiced the character in several computer games and a 1993 Little Mermaid CBS series. She also gave the voice to Morgana in the 2000 direct-to-video release The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea.

Walter Kerr about Carroll

In his 1979 survey for The New York Times, Walter Kerr stated: "Miss Carroll, follows the text of Marty Martin, gives us the bizarre, neatly trimmed, lavishly robed woman who could be and whenever was mistaken for a minister with a zing that is awesome."

"I don't know definitively how Miss Carroll can make it happen, yet she manages with no effort at all to make us share Gertrude Stein's attitude toward herself," he added. The actress got a Drama Desk Award for her portrayal of the author; she beat out individual chosen people Moore, Susan Sarandon, Phyllis Frelich, and Blythe Danner for the honor.