Carol Bruce

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.

Carol Bruce
Bruce in Keep 'Em Flying (1941)
Born	Shirley Levy (1919-11-15)November 15, 1919 New York City, U.S.
Died	October 9, 2007(2007-10-09) (aged 87) Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer
Years active	1937–2000
Spouse	Milton Nathanson ​ ​ (m. 1945; div. 1963)​
Children	1

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

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1941	This Woman Is Mine	Julie Morgan	[10]
	Keep 'Em Flying	Linda Joyce	[2]
1942	Behind the Eight Ball	Joan Barry
1969	The Girl Who Returned	A voice role
1980	American Gigolo	Mrs. Solan
1987	Planes, Trains & Automobiles	Joy
1996	The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists	Old One (Voice)

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

1. "Carol Bruce a Tasty Dish Never Studied Singing". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 27, 1946. p. 23. Retrieved February 23, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
2. 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.
3. "Carol Bruce". Playbill. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
4. 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.
5. Sisario, Ben (May 28, 2009). "Julie Coryell, Jazz-Rock Historian, Dies at 61". The New York Times. p. A23.
6. 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.
7. Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers
8. Peterson, Alison J. (October 16, 2007). "Carol Bruce, Actress on Film, Stage and TV, Dies at 87". The New York Times. p. C13.
9. 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.
10. "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.
11. "Carol Bruce, 87; singer, actress had role in 'WKRP in Cincinnati'". Los Angeles Times. October 14, 2007.

External links

• Biography portal

• Carol Bruce at IMDb
• Carol Bruce at the Internet Broadway Database
• Carol Bruce at AllMovie