Jeannie Carson | |
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| Born | Jean Shufflebottom 23 May 1928 Pudsey, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Jean Carson |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, singer, dancer |
| Years active | 1948–1970 |
| Spouses | |
Jeannie Carson (born Jean Shufflebottom; 23 May 1928) is a British-born retired comedian, actress, [2] singer, and dancer. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Born to show business parents, [3] Carson was born as Jean Shufflebottom in Pudsey, West Riding of Yorkshire. [4] In her early British films, she performed under the name Jean Carson, but later changed her given name to "Jeannie" to avoid confusion with the similarly named American actress Jean Carson. [4]
Carson had an early role in A Date with a Dream (1948). In 1949 she was a principal boy at the Theatre Royal in Birmingham. She left Birmingham and was cast as the head of the chorus in Noel Coward's Ace of Clubs. In 1951 she went into a musical, Latin Quarter at London casino. [5]
Carson acted in Love from Judy on stage in London. This debuted in 1951 and ran until 1953; the BBC broadcast a film version. Carson was also in the film Love in Pawn (1953). After producer Max Liebman saw her in Love from Judy, he signed her to a contract to appear on television in the United States, [3] starting with a six-episode color version of the Broadway musical Best Foot Forward and then in a version of Heidi. In January 1953 she released her first recording on the newly formed Philips label "Barrels and Barrels of Roses". [6]
Carson was in two films for J. Lee Thompson co-starring Diana Dors, As Long as They're Happy (1955) and An Alligator Named Daisy (1955). In October 1956, John Davis, managing director of Rank, announced her as one of the actors under contract to Rank that Davis thought would become an international star. [7]
In 1956, she starred in her own series Hey, Jeannie! , [3] which aired on CBS. The series lasted one season before being cancelled in 1957, although six new episodes with a revamped format were broadcast in syndication in 1958 with the title The Jeannie Carson Show, and reruns of Hey, Jeannie! were aired in primetime during the summer of 1960, also under the title The Jeannie Carson Show.[ citation needed ] She appeared as a guest panelist on the February 24, 1957 telecast of What's My Line? . [8] In the US Carson guest starred on episodes of Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre ("A Dangerous Thing"), Wagon Train ("The Annie MacGregor Story" S1 E21 1958) and General Electric Theatre ("Time to Go Now"). On TV she did versions of Little Women, Berkeley Square, and A Kiss for Cinderella.
In Britain, Carson was the female lead in Rockets Galore (1958). In 1960 she was in a short lived revival of Finian's Rainbow on Broadway. Carson appeared in the film Seven Keys (1961) and on TV starred in versions of Quillow and the Gian, What Every Woman Knows, and The Rivals. In 1962 she took over the role of Maria in The Sound of Music on Broadway. In 1969, she appeared as Marcy Vincente on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow . Oscar-winning actress Anne Revere played her mother and Anthony George played her husband. In 1970 she was in Blood Red Roses on Broadway.
 | This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification .(July 2020) |
In 1960, Carson married her second husband, actor Biff McGuire, [4] while both were starring in the Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow . They toured together in 1961 in Camelot , with McGuire as King Arthur and Carson as Guenevere. Later, they performed at the Seattle Repertory for fifteen years, often together.[ citation needed ]
Edward Vincent Bracken was an American actor. Bracken came to Hollywood prominence for his comedic lead performances in the films Hail the Conquering Hero and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek both from 1944, both of which have been preserved by the National Film Registry. During this era, he also had success on Broadway, with performances in plays like Too Many Girls (1940).
Finian's Rainbow is a musical with a book by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane, produced by Lee Sabinson. The original 1947 Broadway production ran for 725 performances, while a film version was released in 1968 and several revivals have followed.
Miyoshi Umeki was a Japanese-American singer and actress. Umeki was nominated for the Tony Award and Golden Globe Award and was the first East Asia-born woman to win an Academy Award for acting.
Burton Lane was an American composer and lyricist primarily known for his theatre and film scores. His most popular and successful works include Finian's Rainbow in 1947 and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever in 1965.
Onna White was a Canadian choreographer and dancer, nominated for eight Tony Awards.
Shani Wallis is an English actress and singer, who has worked in theatre, film, and television in both her native United Kingdom and in the United States. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she is known for her roles in the West End and for the role of Nancy in the 1968 Oscar-winning film musical Oliver!
Charles Robert William "Bobby" Howes was a British entertainer who was a leading musical comedy performer in London's West End theatres in the 1930s and 1940s.
David Wayne was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years.
Kathryn Crosby is a retired American actress and singer who performed in films under the stage names Kathryn Grant and Kathryn Grandstaff.
"If This Isn't Love" is a popular 1946 song composed by Burton Lane with lyrics written by E. Y. Harburg. The song was published in 1946 and introduced by Ella Logan and Donald Richards the following year in the Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow.
Finian's Rainbow is a 1968 musical fantasy film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Fred Astaire and Petula Clark. The screenplay by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy is based on their 1947 stage musical of the same name. An international co-production of Ireland and the United States, the film follows an Irishman and his daughter who steal a leprechaun's magic pot of gold and emigrate to the U.S., where they become involved in a dispute between rural landowners and a greedy, racist U.S. senator.
Janet Blair was an American big-band singer who later became a popular film and television actress.
Fred Saidy was an American playwright and screenwriter.
William "Biff" McGuire was an American actor, best known as Inspector Kramer in Nero Wolfe (1979).
"Old Devil Moon" is a popular song composed by Burton Lane with lyrics by Yip Harburg for the 1947 musical Finian's Rainbow. It was introduced by Ella Logan and Donald Richards in the Broadway show. The song takes its title from a phrase in "Fun to Be Fooled", a song that Harburg wrote with Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin for the 1934 musical Life Begins at 8:40.
An Alligator Named Daisy is a 1955 British comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Donald Sinden, Jeannie Carson, James Robertson Justice, Diana Dors, Roland Culver and Stanley Holloway. It was based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Charles Terrot.
Sandra Church is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her performance as the original Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy (1959), for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She also co-starred with Marlon Brando in The Ugly American (1963).
Sheila Guyse, was an American singer and actress, who performing on stage and screen during the 1940s and 1950s.
Virginia Bosler, known to friends by her childhood nickname "Winkie", was an American actress born in Newton, Massachusetts. She was known for acting in Broadway musicals.
Hey, Jeannie!, retitled The Jeannie Carson Show during its second season and also during later prime-time reruns, is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS during the 1956-1957 television season and in first-run syndication during 1958. The series stars Jeannie Carson as a naïve young Scottish woman who emigrates to New York City.
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