Patricia Ann Carroll was an American actress and comedian who died on July 30, 2022 (May 5, 1927).
Her extensive acting career included performances in CBS’s The Danny Thomas Show, ABC’s Laverne & Shirley, and NBC’s ER, as well as various guest-starring and series-regular parts on American television. She was most known for providing the voice of Ursula in The Little Mermaid. She also provided the voices for a number of animated series. Carroll was a Tony Award nominee and a recipient of the Emmy, Drama Desk, Grammy, and awards.
Pat Carroll, a pioneer of television and a recipient of an Emmy, Drama Desk, and Grammy, passed away on July 30 at her Cape Cod, Massachusetts, home while battling pnuemonia.
Beginning in the late 1940s, she appeared as a series regular and frequent guest star on television shows such The Danny Thomas Show, Laverne & Shirley, ER, and Jimmy Durante. In The Little Mermaid and other animated shows, she provided the voice of Ursula.
On May 5, 1927, Patricia Ann Carroll was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. When she was five years old, her family relocated to Los Angeles, and she quickly started performing in regional plays. After completing her education at Immaculate Heart High School, she joined the US Army and enrolled in Catholic University of America.
Carroll began her acting career in 1947 with the release of the movie Hometown Girl. Carroll worked on Sid Caesar’s House from 1956 to 1956, when she earned an Emmy Award, and from 1961 to 1964, she played a regular role on the sitcom Make Room for Daddy.
In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, she made several appearances on variety shows, including those hosted by Steve Allen, Red Buttons, Danny Kaye, Red Skelton, and Carol Burnett. She co-starred in the 1965 staging of the musical version of Cinderella as “Prunella,” one of the evil stepsisters.
Carroll’s one-woman show about Gertrude Stein earned multiple theatrical prizes, and the recording of it was nominated for a 1980 Grammy for Best Spoken Word, Documentary or Drama.
Early in 1976, Carroll was chosen to play Lily, Shirley Feeney’s mother, in the Mother Knows Worst episode of the popular ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley. She also appeared in the syndicated She’s The Sheriff, The Ted Knight Show, and the CBS sitcom Busting Loose.
Carroll sang “Poor Unfortunate Souls” while playing the sea witch Ursula in Disney’s The Little Mermaid in 1989. She listed it among her favorite roles and performed it again in a number of other projects across multiple media.
Daughters Kerry Karsian and Tara Karsian, as well as granddaughter Evan Karsian-McCormick, are still alive. There has been no mention of a memorial service.
Childhood
Carroll’s parents, Maurice Clifton Carroll and Kathryn Angela (née Meagher), welcomed him into the world on May 5, 1927, in Shreveport, Louisiana.
When Pat was five years old, her family relocated to Los Angeles, and she quickly started performing in regional plays. After joining the US Army as a civilian acting technician, she attended Catholic University of America after graduating from Immaculate Heart High School.
Work
Carroll, who was born in Louisiana in 1927, made her acting debut in the 1948 film Hometown Girl. Over the ensuing several years, she appeared in a few TV programs like Goodyear Playhouse, General Electric Theater, and Studio 57 as a bit player or in one-off roles. She was nominated for an Emmy for her performance on the sketch comedy show Caesar’s Hour, which won every major acting award at the 1957 Emmys, setting a record that stood for decades. She later worked regularly on The Danny Thomas Show (also known as Make Room For Daddy) and The Red Skelton Hour.
Carroll started her acting career in 1947, and in the 1948 movie Hometown Girl, she played Lorelei Crawford. Carroll received an Emmy Award in 1956 for her work on Caesar’s Hour, and from 1961 to 1964, she played a recurring role on the sitcom Make Room for Daddy. She appeared as a guest star alongside June Allyson in the drama anthology series The DuPont Show. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Carroll also made appearances on a number of variety shows, including The Steve Allen Show, The Red Buttons Show, The Danny Kaye Show, The Red Skelton Show, and The Carol Burnett Show. She co-starred in the 1965 production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical adaptation of Cinderella as “Prunella,” one of the evil stepsisters.
Carroll’s well-received one-woman play about Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein (written by playwright Marty Martin) won numerous prestigious theater honors in the late 1970s. Her recorded version of the play won a Grammy Award in 1980 for Best Spoken Word, Documentary or Drama.
Early in 1976, Carroll received a role as Lily, Shirley Feeney’s mother in the Mother Knows Worst episode of the popular ABC situation comedy Laverne & Shirley. Shirley Feeney was played by Cindy Williams.
In the 1977 CBS situation comedy Busting Loose, she played Pearl Markowitz, the mother of Lenny Markowitz, played by Adam Arkin. Her regular television appearances in the 1980s included that of Gussie Holt, the mother of Suzanne Somers’ lead character in the syndicated sitcom She’s the Sheriff, and newspaper owner Hope Stinson on the syndicated The Ted Knight Show (formerly Too Close for Comfort) during its last season in 1986. (1987–1989).
Carroll did a lot of voice acting from the late 1980s onward for animated shows[6] like A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Galaxy High, Foofur, and A Goofy Movie. She portrayed Katrina Stoneheart in the television show Pound Puppies. She played Jon’s tough Grandmother in two Garfield television specials, A Garfield Christmas and Garfield’s Thanksgiving. She also provided the Granny voiceover for Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro in its 2005 remake.
In 1989, Carroll performed “Poor Unfortunate Souls” while playing the sea witch Ursula in Disney’s The Little Mermaid.
Later, she made appearances in Busting Loose, Laverne & Shirley, and Love, American Style. She also played the lead role in the one-woman play Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein in the 1970s, which was (obviously) based on the biography of the famous author. She received a Grammy Award in 1980 for Best Spoken Word, Documentary, or Drama for the recording of the show. Beginning in the 1980s, Carroll did voice acting for Galaxy High School, Yogi’s Treasure Hunt, Foofur, Pound Puppies, and the My Neighbor Totoro original English dub.
Carroll cited the part as one of her personal favorites in interviews. [7] She later played the part again in various Disney theme parks attractions and shows, as well as the video game Kingdom Hearts series, the spinoff television series, the Disney+ series The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse,[8] and the direct-to-video sequel The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, in which she also voiced Ursula’s sister Morgana.
Carroll also had appearances on a number of game shows, including I’ve Got a Secret, Match Game 73, You Don’t Say, To Tell the Truth, Celebrity Sweepstakes, and You Don’t Say, To Tell the Truth.
She had a successful career in theater and was a member of the Actors Studio. She appeared in many plays, such as the stagings of Our Town and Electra by Sophocles.
She played Sir John Falstaff, a balding knight with mustaches, in The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Shakespeare Theatre at the Folger in 1990.
When reviewing her performance for The New York Times, theater reviewer Frank Rich penned the following: “Her performance is a triumph from beginning to end, and in my opinion, it was especially bold and moving, with repercussions that went beyond this particular production. The argument that the proper actresses can take on some of the great classic parts typically denied to women and make them their own is revived by Ms. Carroll and Mr. Kahn. Of course, the argument is not new; female Hamlets have existed throughout history. The fact that Ms. Carroll’s portrayal of Falstaff is more than just ideological window dressing for a cheap production distinguishes it from some other recent casting attempts that have used a similar approach.”
At the age of 95, Carroll passed away from pneumonia at her home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on July 30, 2022.
Carroll was hired to voice Ursula the sea witch after Disney struggled for a year to find the right voice for the antagonist of Ron Clements and John Musker’s The Little Mermaid. She gave the character, as she had described it over the years, the energy of a Shakespearean actor crossed with a car salesman (the character’s appearance was famously based on drag performer Divine). The first song sung by a female Disney villain was Ursula’s “Poor Unfortunate Souls” in Aladdin.
Carroll, a voice actor from the era known as the Disney Renaissance, frequently returns to voice characters from later Disney productions, most recently portraying Ursula in a 2020 Wonderful World Of Mickey Mouse short. For the duration of the Kingdom Hearts video game series, she also performed Ursula’s voice. In Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, Carroll also had a vocal appearance.
