{"id":31603,"date":"2022-07-31T23:01:03","date_gmt":"2022-07-31T23:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/actress-and-voice-of-ursula-in-the-little-mermaid-the-hollywood-reporter\/"},"modified":"2022-07-31T23:01:03","modified_gmt":"2022-07-31T23:01:03","slug":"actress-and-voice-of-ursula-in-the-little-mermaid-the-hollywood-reporter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/actress-and-voice-of-ursula-in-the-little-mermaid-the-hollywood-reporter\/","title":{"rendered":"Actress and Voice of Ursula in The Little Mermaid \u2013 The Hollywood Reporter"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\tPat Carroll, the gregarious Emmy-winning comedienne who was a television mainstay for decades before segueing to a voiceover career that included portraying the villainous sea witch Ursula in The Little Mermaid<\/em>, has died. She was 95.<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll died Saturday of pneumonia at her home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, her daughter Kerry Karsian told The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll’s perky personality, screwball wit and impeccable timing made her a great second banana, and Red Buttons, Jimmy Durante<\/span>, Mickey Rooney, Steve Allen and Charley Weaver were among those who called upon her to make their programs funnier. every antics Caesar’s Hour<\/em> earned every moment Emmy in 1957, and she was nominated for her work on the classic variety show the following year.<\/p>\n

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\tIn a 2013 interview with Kliph<\/span> Nesteroff<\/span>Carroll compared Howard Morris, Carl Reiner<\/span> and Sid Caesar on Caesar’s Hour<\/em> to the Chicago Cubs’ legendary double-play combination of Tinkers to Evers to Chance.<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cI learned so much about comedy from watching those three work together. It was unfailing,\u201d Carroll said. \u201cThey worked together for so long that they had that innate sense of each other’s timing. It was impossible for them to fumble. We did two shows every Saturday night because one was for the West Coast and one was for the East Coast. If they totally abhorred a sketch they did, those three would sit in Sid’s dressing room with the writers and write a brand new sketch. Yes, it’s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tFor the next two decades, the bubbly blonde always seemed to pop up on TV.<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll played Bunny halper<\/span>the high-spirited wife of nightclub owner Charley halper<\/span> (Sid Melton), on three seasons of The Danny Thomas Show<\/em> in the early ‘60s<\/span>; was Hope Stinson, who shared ownership of a newspaper with Ted Knight’s character, on the last season (1986-87) of Too Close for Comfort<\/em>; and appeared opposite Suzanne Somers on the 1987-89 series She’s the Sheriff<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll stood out as a cranky patient who shared a hospital room with Mary Richards (the latter was there to have her tonsils taken out) on The Mary Tyler Moore Show<\/em> in 1971, and she portrayed Lily Feeney<\/span>the mother of Cindy Williams’ character, on a 1976 installment of Laverne<\/span> & Shirley<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\tEvery TV credits also included Cinderella<\/em>, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies<\/em>, Love, American Style<\/em>, My Three Sons<\/em>, Policewoman<\/em>, Busting Loose<\/em>, The Love Boat<\/em>, Trapper John, MD<\/em>, Evening Shades<\/em>, Designing Women<\/em> and ER<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll also was a game show favorite. To Tell the Truth<\/em>, The Match Game<\/em>, I’ve Got a Secret<\/em>, Password All Stars<\/em>, You Don’t Say<\/em> and The $10,000 Pyramid<\/em> \u2014 you name it, she played it.<\/p>\n

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\tAnd she played Doris Day’s matchmaking sister in With Six You Get eggroll<\/span><\/em> (1968).<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll’s throaty laugh and spirited intonations made her a natural for animation work.<\/p>\n

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\tShe first slipped into the recording booth in 1966 for the animated series The Super 6<\/em>. But it was during the ‘80s<\/span> that her voiceover career skyrocketed; she could be heard on the cartoons Yogi’s Treasure Hunt<\/em>, Galaxy High School<\/em>, foofur<\/span><\/em>, Pound Puppies<\/em> and superma<\/em>n.<\/p>\n

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\tUndoubtedly, her most memorable character was Ursula for the 1989 Disney feature The Little Mermaid<\/em>. It would prove to be one of her favorite roles. \u201cIt was a lifelong ambition of mine to do a Disney movie,\u201d she told author Allan Neuwirth<\/span> of machine<\/span>‘ Toons<\/span>: Inside the Most Popular Animated TV Shows and Movies<\/em>. \u201cSo, I was theirs hook, line and sinker.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll’s enthusiasm made the octopus-like character uniquely her own and Ursula would become one of Disney’s most memorable villains. However, she landed the part only after an arduous search by the studio.<\/p>\n

\n\tLittle Mermaid <\/em>producer and lyricist Howard ashman<\/span> was a big fan of TV’s Dynasty<\/em> and envisioned Ursula as a Joan Collins-type. And who better to play her than Collins herself? Alas, each agent quickly nixed the idea.<\/p>\n

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\tWriter-directors Ron Clements and John Musker<\/span> saw Ursula more like a bellowing aquatic version of Bea Arthur, but her agent took offense when the script likened the actress to a witch \u2014 and passed. Roseanne, Heart’s Nancy Wilson and Nancy Marchand<\/span> Ugh The Sopranos<\/em> fame then reportedly read for the role, but none was quite right.<\/p>\n

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\tCharlotte Rae and Elaine Stritch<\/span> auditioned, but Rae didn’t have the vocal range for Ursula’s signature tune, \u201cPoor Unfortunate Souls,\u201d and Stritch<\/span> couldn’t deliver the song the way ashman<\/span> wanted.<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll, though, immediately understood Ashman’s<\/span> approach. The key was a recording that he had made of him singing the song. Once Carroll heard and saw that, the rest was easy.<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cHe gave me that performance! Come on, I’m honest enough to say that,\u201d she said in machine<\/span>‘ Toons<\/span><\/em>. \u201cI got the whole attitude from him\u2026 his shoulders would twitch in a certain way, and his eyes would go a certain way\u2026 I got more about that character from Howard singing that song than from anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll won the part and went on to voice the character in several video games and a 1993 Little Mermaid<\/em> CBS series. (She also provided the voice for morgana<\/span> in the 2000 direct-to-video release The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

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\tPatricia Ann Carroll was born on May 5, 1927, in Shreveport, Louisiana. When she was 5, she and her family moved to Los Angeles. At age 20, she served as a Civilian Actress Technician for the army, writing, producing and directing all-soldier productions. She graduated from Catholic University in Washington, DC in 1949.<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll’s first professional appearance had come in 1947 alongside Gloria Swanson in a regional stock production of A Goose for a Gander<\/em>. This led to more stock company roles, and she also sharpened her comic chops by performing in nightclubs and resorts.<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll’s off-Broadway debut came in 1950 in Come What May<\/em>. Shortly after, she began landing television work on Goodyear Television Playhouse<\/em>, The Red Buttons Show<\/em> and The Saturday Night Revue<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll first starred on Broadway in 1955 in the musical revue Catch a Star!<\/em> written by Danny and Neil Simon. The performance earned her a Tony nomination. Decades later, Carroll received rave reviews for her off-Broadway, one-woman show Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein: A One-Character Play<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\tIn his 1979 review for The New York Times<\/em>Walter Kerr wrote: \u201cMiss Carroll, working from a text prepared by Marty Martin, gives us the bizarre, close-cropped<\/span>richly robed woman who could be \u2014 and once was \u2014 mistaken for a bishop with a zest that is awesome \u2026 I don’t know precisely how Miss Carroll is able to do it, but she manages \u2014 without any effort at all \u2014 to make us share Gertrude Stein’s attitude toward herself.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll received a Drama Desk Award for her portrayal of the author; she beat out fellow nominees Moore, Susan Sarandon<\/span>Phyllis Frelich<\/span> and Blythe Danner<\/span> for the honor.<\/p>\n

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\tCarroll was married to Lee Karsian<\/span> from 1955 until their divorce in 1976, and they had three children: Tara, an actress; daughter Kerry, a casting director; and son Sean (he died on the same date as his mom 13 years ago).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n