Sue Carol (born Evelyn Jean Lederer, October 30, 1906 – February 4, 1982) was an American actress and

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sport ...

. Carol's film career lasted from the late 1920s into the 1930s; when it ended, she became a talent agent. The last of her four marriages was to one of her clients,

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake ...

, from 1942 until his death in 1964.

Early life and career

Carol was born Evelyn Jean Lederer in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to Samuel and Caroline Lederer,

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish emigrants from Austria and Germany, respectively. While Carol was in Hollywood on vacation, a director offered her a screen test that resulted in a contract with Fox. She took it and began playing minor parts. One of the

WAMPAS Baby Stars The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers, which honored 13 (15 in 1932) young actresses each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. ...

, she performed in

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s from 1927 until 1937. Among the movies in which she appeared are ''

Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 ''Fox Movietone Follies of 1929'', also known as ''Movietone Follies of 1929'' and ''The William Fox Movietone Follies of 1929'', is an American black-and-white and color film, color pre-Code musical film released by Fox Film Corporation. Plot ...

'' and '' Girls Gone Wild'' (both 1929). Her films were made in association with producer

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cinem ...

and

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. After retiring from acting in the late 1930s, Carol established her own talent agency, the Sue Carol Agency.

Personal life

As a young woman, Carol married Allen H. Keefer, a buyer for a Chicago stock yard firm, divorcing in early 1929. In July 1929, Carol became engaged to actor

Nick Stuart Nick Stuart (April 10, 1904 – April 7, 1973) was an Austro-Hungarian-born American actor and bandleader. His career spanned five decades, during which he appeared in over 50 films, more than half of them features, as well as film shorts, ser ...

, and the couple married that November. They had a daughter, actress Carol Lee Ladd (born 1932), who was briefly married to actor

Richard Anderson Richard Norman Anderson (August 8, 1926 – August 31, 2017) was an American film and television actor. Among his best-known roles was his portrayal of Oscar Goldman, the boss of Steve Austin (Lee Majors) and Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) in b ...

. In 1933, Sue Carol was cleared in a case involving the disappearance of a baby from a

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, family. The family had complained that the baby had been taken for adoption in November 1932 by a woman who said she was acting on behalf of Carol. The Stuarts divorced in 1934. On Oct. 30, 1936 in Los Angeles, Carol married for the third time to fellow actor William Harold Wilson. That marriage also ended in divorce. She married actor

on March 15, 1942, in Mexico. They had a son,

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, and a daughter, Alana Ladd Jackson (married to radio commentator

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

). Carol was also the stepmother of Alan Ladd, Jr. She was Alan Ladd's manager until his death.

Death

Carol died on February 4, 1982 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

and is interred next to Alan Ladd in the

Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries is an American corporation that owns and operates a chain of cemeteries and mortuaries in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties in Southern California. History The company was founded by a group o ...

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, in 1982, Carol has a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

at 1639 N. Vine Street. In 1998, a Golden Palm Star on the

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

, Walk of Stars was dedicated to her.Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated

Filmography

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', "Sue Carol To Wed Nick Stuart", July 23, 1929, Page 32. * ''The New York Times'', "Sue Carol Secretly Wed", November 29, 1929, Page 27. * ''The New York Times'', "Sue Carol Cleared In Baby Case", February 8, 1933, Page 17. * ''The New York Times'', "Sue Carol Ladd, Ex-Actress And Widow of Alan Ladd, 72", February 6, 1982, Page 16.

External links

* *
Photographs and literature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carol, Sue 1906 births 1982 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Chicago American film actresses American people of Austrian-Jewish descent American people of German-Jewish descent American silent film actresses American talent agents Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Jewish American actresses 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen Ladd family (show business) WAMPAS Baby Stars 20th-century American Jews