American actress and singer (1919–2007)
Carol Bruce
Born Shirley Levy
(1919-11-15 ) November 15, 1919Died October 9, 2007(2007-10-09) (aged 87) Occupation(s) Actress, singer Years active 1937–2000 Spouse
Milton Nathanson
(
m. 1945;
div. 1963)
Children 1
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 .
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]
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
Television
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1949
Jazz Concert
Self
Episode: #1.3
The Lamb's Gambol
Episode: #1.5
The Fifty-Fourth Street Revue
Episode: #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
1950–1951
Showtime, U.S.A.
Self
Episode: #1.5 & #1.38
1951
Musical Comedy Time
Maisie Doll
Episode: Miss Liberty
Studio One
Episode: The King in Yellow
The Sam Levenson Show
Self
Episode: 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 It
Episode: Carol Bruce, Rudy Vallee
Curtain Call
Episode: The Promise
1953
Chance of a Lifetime
Self
Episode: Carol Bruce
1954–1957
Armstrong Circle Theatre
Hurricane Diane
Episode: Hit a Blue Note, Lost $2 Billion: The Story of Hurricane Diane & Thief of Diamonds
1959
One Night Stand
Self
Episode: Lou Holtz
1960
Sounds of Home
Vidalia
TV Special
1961
The Witness
Mildred Hall
Episode: Dillinger
1963
General Hospital
Jennifer Talbot
TV series
Girl Talk
Self
Episode: 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 Randolph
Episode: Episode dated 13 August 1970
1979–1982
WKRP in Cincinnati
Lillian Carlson
10 episodes[ 11]
1980
Charlie's Angels
Mrs. Pattison
Episode: Three for the Money
1981
Knots Landing
Annette Cunningham
Episode: Squeezeplay, Moving In & The Surprise
1984
Diff'rent Strokes
Miss Gilbert
Episode: The Wedding
Too Close for Comfort
Sally Ruth
Episode: Home Is Where the Bart Is
1985
The Twilight Zone
Mrs. Whitford
Episode: Dead Woman's Shoes/Wong's Lost and Found Emporium
1986
Our House
Mrs. Findley
Episode: Home Again
1987
Rags to Riches
Episode: Pilot
1987–1988
Perfect Strangers
Mrs. 'Muffy' Endicott& Margaret
Episode: Tux for Two & High Society
1988
Marblehead Manor
Margaret Stonehill
Episode: Pilot
1989
Hooperman
Episode: In the Still of My Pants
1990
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Mrs. Beatrice Portmeyer
Episode: Academia Nuts
1991
The Golden Girls
Lucille
Episode: Older and Wiser
Jake and the Fatman
Mrs. Clark
Episode: It Never Entered My Mind
Equal Justice
Mrs. Thomason
Episode: What Color Are My Eyes?
1991–1992
The New WKRP in Cincinnati
Lillian 'Mama' Carlson
5 episodes
1992
Archive footage , episode: Donovan, Don't Leave Us
1995
Live Shot
Shirley
Episode: What Price Episode?
Party of Five
Sarah's Grandmother
Episode: Grand Delusions
1997
Diagnosis Murder
Constance Lockwood
Episode: The Murder of Mark Sloan
Pacific Palisades
Mrs. Fitzpatrick
Episode: Desperate Measure
Profiler
Petra Strauss
Episode: Three Carat Crisis
Short film
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1937
Koo Koo Korrespondance Skool
Singer
1938
Larry Clinton and His Orchestra
Self
1942
Swing's the Thing
1946
Headline Bands
Archive footage
References
^ a b "Carol Bruce a Tasty Dish Never Studied Singing" . The Brooklyn Daily Eagle . January 27, 1946. p. 23. Retrieved February 23, 2016 – via Newspapers.com .
^ a b c d 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 .
^ "Carol Bruce" . Playbill . Retrieved February 24, 2016 .
^ 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 .
^ Sisario, Ben (May 28, 2009). "Julie Coryell, Jazz-Rock Historian, Dies at 61" . The New York Times . p. A23.
^ 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 .
^ Motion Picture and Television Magazine , November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers
^ Peterson, Alison J. (October 16, 2007). "Carol Bruce, Actress on Film, Stage and TV, Dies at 87" . The New York Times . p. C13.
^ 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 .
^ "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.
^ "Carol Bruce, 87; singer, actress had role in 'WKRP in Cincinnati' " . Los Angeles Times . October 14, 2007.
External links
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