Carol-Jean Duvall (née Reihmer; January 10, 1926 – July 31, 2023) was an American television personality known for hosting

arts and crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

-themed programming. After beginning her career on local television in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, she gradually rose to national prominence. From 1994 to 2005, she hosted ''

The Carol Duvall Show ''The Carol Duvall Show'' is an arts and crafts show which aired on the HGTV cable channel from 1994 to 2005 hosted by Carol Duvall. It was also broadcast on the DIY Network from 2005 until late-2009. Recordings of segments from the show can b ...

'', which aired on

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. HGTV Dream Home is an ...

and later on the

DIY Network Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery in partnership with Chip and Joanna Gaines, the founders of lifestyle company Magnolia. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related to topics ...

Early life

Carol-Jean Reihmer was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

on January 10, 1926, and raised in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. She married Carl Duvall in 1945; they had two sons and later divorced. Duvall graduated from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

Career

Duvall's television career began on a children's show in Grand Rapids in 1951. A local radio station bought a television station and she and a friend decided to go and audition. The station liked what they had to offer and Duvall was hired. By the end of the first year, she was doing seventeen live shows a week. Interview on Girlfriendology
In 1962 the manager of the station moved to

WWJ-TV WWJ-TV (channel 62) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division, alongside WKBD-TV (channel 50), an affiliate of The CW. The two ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and hired Duvall to work there. She spent 18 years in a variety of positions, ranging from news anchor to co-producer and host of her first craft-oriented program, "Here's Carol Duvall". One day she received a call from a man she had met when he was still an intern in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. He was putting together a new show called the '' Home Show'' and they needed a craft person. The show was picked up by

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

and ran for six years. When the Home Show came to an end in 1994, the host

Robb Weller Robb Weller (born September 27, 1949) is an American game show host and television personality and producer (Weller/Grossman Productions). He hosted ''Entertainment Tonight'' from 1984 to 1986, and ''Entertainment This Week'' from 1984 to 1989, ...

formed a production company with Gary Grossman which developed ''The Carol Duvall Show''. The program ran on HGTV from 1994 until 2005, then on DIY Network from 2005 until the end of 2009.

Death

Duvall died at a retirement home in

Traverse City, Michigan Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, Michigan, Grand Traverse County, although it partly extends into Leelanau County, Michigan, Leelanau County. The city's population was 15, ...

, on July 31, 2023, at the age of 97.HGTV Host Carol Duvall Dies at 97
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Publications

* ''Wanna Make Something Out of It?'' (1972), Nash Publishing * ''Paper Crafting with Carol Duvall'' (2007), DRG Publishing * ''Art Unscripted'', An artist retreat hosted by Carol Duvall (2008) DVD, directed by Suzanne Lamar

Filmography

* ''Home'' (1988–1993) * ''The Carol Duvall Show'' (1994–2005) * ''Carol Duvall's Holiday Workshop'' (2001)

References

External links

HGTV showsInterview with Carol Duvall at Girlfriendology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duvall, Carol 1926 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers American women television personalities American women non-fiction writers Michigan State University alumni Mass media people from Grand Rapids, Michigan Television personalities from Michigan