Carol Bruce

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Carol Bruce
Carol Bruce in Keep 'Em Flying trailer.jpg
Bruce in Keep 'Em Flying (1941)
Born
Shirley Levy

(1919-11-15)November 15, 1919
New York City, U.S.
DiedOctober 9, 2007(2007-10-09) (aged 87)
Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, singer
Years active1937–2000
Spouse
Milton Nathanson
​
​
(m. 1945;div. 1963)​
Children1

Carol Bruce (born Shirley Levy; November 15, 1919 – October 9, 2007) was an American band singer, Broadway star, and film and television actress. She had the recurring part of Mama Lillian Carlson on TV's WKRP in Cincinnati .

Contents

Early years

Bruce was born Shirley Levy in a Jewish family, in Manhattan, to Beatrice and Harry Levy. She had a sister, Marilyn. [1]

Because of her family's moving, she attended Jamaica High School, Girls' High School, and New Utrecht High School before graduating from Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, New York. Although she studied violin for eight years, she never took singing lessons. [1]

Singing

Bruce began her career as a singer in the late 1930s with Larry Clinton and his band. She sang with Ben Bernie's orchestra in 1940–1941. [2] She recorded several tracks, including "I'll Be Around", "Embraceable You" and "Abraham", with Red Norvo's Oversea Spotlight Band in 1943 for the war effor V-Disc program.

Stage

Bruce made her Broadway debut in Louisiana Purchase , with songs by Irving Berlin, who discovered her at a nightclub in Newark, New Jersey. She was the first actress to play the role of Julie in a Broadway production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's Show Boat since the 1932 Broadway revival. Bruce played the role onstage in 1946 and garnered favorable comparisons to Helen Morgan, [2] who had originated the role onstage in 1927 and repeated it in both the 1932 revival and the 1936 film.

Her other Broadway credits include New Priorities of 1943, Along Fifth Avenue (1949), Do I Hear a Waltz? , Henry, Sweet Henry, and A Family Affair. [3]

Radio

Bruce's radio debut came on The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour . [2] She sang on Carton of Pleasure and The Henny Youngman Show. [4]

Personal life

Bruce's only marriage to Milton Nathanson, which ended in divorce, produced a daughter, Julie, an actress, singer and playwright who married jazz guitarist Larry Coryell. Bruce's grandchildren, Murali and Julian Coryell, are both musicians. [5] Bruce was Jewish. [6]

Bruce was a Democrat who supported Adlai Stevenson's campaign in the 1952 presidential election. [7]

Death

Bruce died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, aged 87. She was survived by her sister and two grandsons. [8] Upon her death, she was cremated and her ashes given to her cousin. [9]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1941 This Woman Is Mine Julie Morgan [10]
Keep 'Em Flying Linda Joyce [2]
1942 Behind the Eight Ball Joan Barry
1969 The Girl Who Returned A voice role
1980 American Gigolo Mrs. Solan
1987 Planes, Trains & Automobiles Joy
1996 The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists Old One (Voice)

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1949Jazz ConcertSelfEpisode: #1.3
The Lamb's GambolEpisode: #1.5
The Fifty-Fourth Street RevueEpisode: #1.1 & #1.2
Cavalcade of Stars Episode: Carol Bruce, Josh White, Alice Pearce
1949–1951 The Ed Sullivan Show Episode: Tony Martin, Carol Bruce, #4.5 & The Oscar Hammerstein Story featuring Lena Horne, Wally Cox, Mimi Benzell, Robert Merrill, Charles Winninger
1950 The Silver Theatre Episode: Happy Marriage
1950–1951Showtime, U.S.A.SelfEpisode: #1.5 & #1.38
1951Musical Comedy TimeMaisie DollEpisode: Miss Liberty
Studio One Episode: The King in Yellow
The Sam Levenson ShowSelfEpisode: Carol Bruce and daughter
This Is Show Business Episode: Binnie Barnes, Carol Bruce, Jackie Miles, Teddy Hale
Wonderful Town, U.S.A.Episode: Brooklyn
1952 The Milton Berle Show Episode: #4.35
The Eyes Have ItEpisode: Carol Bruce, Rudy Vallee
Curtain CallEpisode: The Promise
1953 Chance of a Lifetime SelfEpisode: Carol Bruce
1954–1957 Armstrong Circle Theatre Hurricane DianeEpisode: Hit a Blue Note, Lost $2 Billion: The Story of Hurricane Diane & Thief of Diamonds
1959One Night StandSelfEpisode: Lou Holtz
1960Sounds of HomeVidaliaTV Special
1961 The Witness Mildred HallEpisode: Dillinger
1963 General Hospital Jennifer TalbotTV series
Girl TalkSelfEpisode: Carol Bruce, Marilyn Cantor Baker, Helene Hanff
1965 The Merv Griffin Show Episode: Buddy Hackett, Carol Bruce, Jay Kennedy, Dr. Cleo Dawson
1970 Love of Life Amanda RandolphEpisode: Episode dated 13 August 1970
1979–1982 WKRP in Cincinnati Lillian Carlson10 episodes [11]
1980 Charlie's Angels Mrs. PattisonEpisode: Three for the Money
1981 Knots Landing Annette CunninghamEpisode: Squeezeplay, Moving In & The Surprise
1984 Diff'rent Strokes Miss GilbertEpisode: The Wedding
Too Close for Comfort Sally RuthEpisode: Home Is Where the Bart Is
1985 The Twilight Zone Mrs. WhitfordEpisode: Dead Woman's Shoes/Wong's Lost and Found Emporium
1986 Our House Mrs. FindleyEpisode: Home Again
1987 Rags to Riches Episode: Pilot
1987–1988 Perfect Strangers Mrs. 'Muffy' Endicott& MargaretEpisode: Tux for Two & High Society
1988 Marblehead Manor Margaret StonehillEpisode: Pilot
1989 Hooperman Episode: In the Still of My Pants
1990 Doogie Howser, M.D. Mrs. Beatrice PortmeyerEpisode: Academia Nuts
1991 The Golden Girls LucilleEpisode: Older and Wiser
Jake and the Fatman Mrs. ClarkEpisode: It Never Entered My Mind
Equal Justice Mrs. ThomasonEpisode: What Color Are My Eyes?
1991–1992 The New WKRP in Cincinnati Lillian 'Mama' Carlson5 episodes
1992 Archive footage, episode: Donovan, Don't Leave Us
1995 Live Shot ShirleyEpisode: What Price Episode?
Party of Five Sarah's GrandmotherEpisode: Grand Delusions
1997 Diagnosis Murder Constance LockwoodEpisode: The Murder of Mark Sloan
Pacific Palisades Mrs. FitzpatrickEpisode: Desperate Measure
Profiler Petra StraussEpisode: Three Carat Crisis

Short film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1937Koo Koo Korrespondance SkoolSinger
1938Larry Clinton and His OrchestraSelf
1942Swing's the Thing
1946Headline BandsArchive footage

References

  1. 1 2 "Carol Bruce a Tasty Dish Never Studied Singing". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle . January 27, 1946. p. 23. Retrieved February 23, 2016– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 3 4 DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960 . McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 44. ISBN   978-0-7864-2834-2.
  3. ↑ "Carol Bruce". Playbill . Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  4. ↑ Sies, Luther F. (2014). Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960 . Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 120. ISBN   978-0-7864-5149-4.
  5. ↑ Sisario, Ben (May 28, 2009). "Julie Coryell, Jazz-Rock Historian, Dies at 61". The New York Times . p. A23.
  6. ↑ King, Alan (November 1, 2001). Matzo Balls for Breakfast and Other Memories of Growing Up Jewish. Simon and Schuster. pp. 29–30. ISBN   978-1416585466.
  7. ↑ Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers
  8. ↑ Peterson, Alison J. (October 16, 2007). "Carol Bruce, Actress on Film, Stage and TV, Dies at 87". The New York Times. p. C13.
  9. ↑ Wilson, Scott (September 16, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3rd ed.). McFarland. p. 96. ISBN   978-1476625997.
  10. ↑ "Carol Bruce Signed for First Serious Role in New Film". The Salt Lake Tribune . July 10, 1941. p. 9. Retrieved February 23, 2016– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  11. ↑ "Carol Bruce, 87; singer, actress had role in 'WKRP in Cincinnati'". Los Angeles Times . October 14, 2007.
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