Carole Shelley

Carole Augusta Shelley (16 August 1939 – 31 August 2018)Bartlett, Rhett
"Carole Shelley, One of the Pigeon Sisters From 'The Odd Couple,' Dies at 79"
''The Hollywood Reporter'', 1 September 2018"Carole Shelley Passes Away at 79"
broadwayworld.com, 1 September 2018 was an English actress who made her career in the United States and United Kingdom. Her many stage roles included originating the roles of Gwendolyn Pigeon in '' The Odd Couple'' and Madame Morrible in '' Wicked''. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in ''The Elephant Man'' (1979) and received additional nominations for her work on '' Absurd Person Singular'' (1975), '' Stepping Out'' (1987), and '' Billy
Elliot'' (2009).

Early life

Shelley was born in London, England, the daughter of Deborah (' Bloomstein), an opera singer of Russian Jewish descent, and Curtis Shelley, a composer of German Jewish origin."Carole Shelley Biography"
tcm.com. Retrieved 6 April 2013 Her father had emigrated to London before World War II.

Career

Stage career

Shelley made her Broadway debut as Gwendolyn Pigeon in the original 1965 production of '' The Odd Couple'' (starring Art Carney and Walter Matthau)."Carole Shelley Stage"
Playbill Vault, retrieved 1 September 2018 She reprised the role for the 1968 film version (with Jack Lemmon replacing Carney), and the first season of the subsequent television series (starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman)."Carole Shelley, From All Movie Guide"
''The New York Times''. Retrieved 5 April 2013 She and Monica Evans, who co-starred as her sister Cecily Pigeon, were the only two performers to appear in the original play ''The Odd Couple'' and both the film and original television adaptation—and in the same roles.

In the 1970s, Shelley wanted to extend her range, feeling she was not using all her capabilities as an actor. She told ''The New York Times'' in a 1979 interview that she had "months of the most intensive deep-water swimming — more than I’d ever been called upon to do in my life" when she played Rosalind in ''As You Like It'' at the 1972 Stratford Festival in Ontario. She received her first Tony Award nomination in 1975 for her performance as "Jane" in '' Absurd Person Singular''. Shelley won the 1979 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role as Mrs. Kendal in ''The Elephant Man'', and was nominated for the Tony Award as Featured Actress in a Play in 1987 for her performance in '' Stepping Out'' as "Maxine". In 1982 she won an Obie Award for her performance '' Twelve Dreams''. Shelley also began appearing in musicals in the late 1990s, with the revivals of ''Show Boat'' as Parthy and ''Cabaret'' as Fraulein Schneider in 1999.

In 2003, Shelley debuted the role of Madame Morrible in the original Broadway cast of '' Wicked'', a role which she later reprised in the show's first national touring company in 2005, in the 2006 Chicago production, and in a return Broadway engagement in 2007.

Shelley played the role of Grandma in the Broadway production of ''Billy Elliot'' at the Imperial Theatre, beginning performances in October 2008. She was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 2009. In 2014, she succeeded Jane Carr as Miss Shingle in '' A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder'', which would mark her final Broadway appearance.

Film and television career

Shelley's early career included roles in British films such as '' It's Great to Be Young'' (1956), ''Carry On Regardless'' (1961), '' No My Darling Daughter'' (1961), '' The Cool Mikado'' (1962) and '' Carry On Cabby'' (1963). In 1968 Shelley starred as Gwendolyn Pigeon in the film '' The Odd Couple''. Thereafter she took on numerous roles in television and films such as '' The Boston Strangler'' (1968),"Carole Shelley Film Credits"
afi.com, retrieved 2 September 2018 '' Some Kind of a Nut'' (1969), '' The Whoopee Boys'' (1986), '' Little Noises'' (1992), '' The Road to Wellville'' (1994), and she played Helen Moskowitz in the Emmy-winning 1998 ''Frasier'' episode " Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz".

She was featured as "Aunt Clara" alongside Nicole Kidman and former ''Wicked'' co-star Kristin Chenoweth in the 2005 film '' Bewitched''. She lent her voice to several roles in Disney animated films; notably, Amelia Gabble (the Goose) in ''The Aristocats'' (1970), Lady Kluck, Maid Marian's sidekick and lady-in-waiting, in ''Robin Hood'' (1973), and Lachesis the Fate in ''Hercules''.'Hercules' Cast
''The New York Times''. Retrieved 5 April 2013 Shelley's "sister" co-star in all three versions of ''The Odd Couple'', Monica Evans, also played her "goose" sister in ''The Aristocats'', Abigail Gabble, and Maid Marian in ''Robin Hood'' as a nod to their roles as Pigeon Sisters.

Her final role was a cameo at the beginning of John Mulaney’s 2018 comedy special ''Kid Gorgeous''; she played Mulaney’s guide around Radio City Music Hall.

Personal life

In 1967, she was married to Albert G. Woods, who died in 1971.

Death

Shelley died of cancer on August 31, 2018, at the age of 79 in Manhattan, New York.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelley, Carole
1939 births
2018 deaths
Actresses from London
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
Drama Desk Award winners
English expatriate actresses in the United States
English film actresses
English musical theatre actresses
English stage actresses
English television actresses
English voice actresses
Jewish English actresses
People educated at St Mary's Town and Country School
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Tony Award winners
20th-century British businesspeople
21st-century British women
20th-century English actresses
21st-century English actresses