Carol Ann Abrams ( Kelvin; September 23, 1942 – June 3, 2012) was an American television and film producer. She and her husband, television producer Gerald W. Abrams, are the parents of film director and producer

J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as ''Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' For ...

and screenwriter Tracy Rosen.

Early life

Born Carol Ann Kelvin in New York City to Lee (1915–2008) and Harry Kelvin (1911–1986), she earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

with honors from

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

. After marrying Gerald Abrams and having two children, Abrams obtained a real estate license, specializing in properties in

West Los Angeles West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by di ...

and nearby Bel Air. She entered Whittier Law School when she was 39 years old and graduated

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

of her class. Her professors included lawyer-turned-celebrity journalist and

TMZ TMZ is a tabloid news website owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, originally as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. On September 13, 202 ...

founder, Harvey Levin. She worked as a professor at Whittier College for five years before entering the

entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have dev ...

Career

She developed and executive produced ''

The Ernest Green Story ''The Ernest Green Story'' is a 1993 American made-for-television biographical film which follows the true story of Ernest Green (Morris Chestnut) and eight other African-American high-school students (dubbed the "Little Rock Nine") as they emba ...

'', a 1993 television film which aired on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

. The film following the true story of

Ernest Green Ernest Gideon Green (born September 22, 1941) is one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who, in 1957, were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Gre ...

, played in the film by actor Morris Chestnut, one of the Little Rock Nine during the 1957 forced

integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...

of Little Rock Central High School. The film premiered at Little Rock Central High School with an introduction by

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, who was the

President-Elect of the United States The president-elect of the United States is the candidate who has presumptively won the United States presidential election and is awaiting inauguration to become the president. There is no explicit indication in the U.S. Constitution as to when ...

at the time. It aired on the Disney Channel in January 1993 and won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

. She produced two television movies for CBS, ''Second Honeymoon'' in 2001, and ''Two Against Time'' in 2002. She later began a writing career, authoring two books, ''Grandparents & Grandchildren'' and ''Teen Knitting Club''.

Death

Abrams died from cancer on June 3, 2012, aged 69, at her home 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' ...

. She was surrounded by her husband, children, a sister and five grandchildren.

References

External links

*
Listing with the California Bar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abrams, Carol Ann 1942 births 2012 deaths American women film producers American film producers American women television producers California lawyers Deaths from cancer in California Jewish American academics Whittier College faculty Whittier Law School alumni Pennsylvania State University alumni Television producers from New York City J. J. Abrams Film producers from New York (state)