Pat Carroll, a comedic television mainstay for decades, Emmy-winner for Caesar's Hour and the voice Ursula in The Little Mermaid, has died. She was 95.
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Her daughter Kerry Karsian, a casting agent, said Carroll died at her home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
Carroll was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1927. Her family relocated to Los Angeles when she was five years old.
Her first film role came in 1948 in Hometown Girl but she found her stride in television.
She won an Emmy for her work on the sketch comedy series Caesar's Hour in 1956, was a regular on Make Room for Daddy with Danny Thomas, a guest star on The DuPont Show with June Allyson and a variety show regular stopping by The Danny Kaye Show, The Red Skelton Show and The Carol Burnett Show.
She also played one of the wicked stepsisters in the 1965 television production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella with Lesley Ann Warren.
She also played one of the wicked stepsisters in the 1965 television production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella with Lesley Ann Warren.
She won a Grammy in 1980 for the recording of her one woman show Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein.
A new generation would come to know and love her voice thanks to Disney's The Little Mermaid, which came out in 1989.
She was not the first choice of directors Ron Clements and John Musker or the musical team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, who reportedly wanted Joan Collins or Bea Arthur to voice the sea witch.
Elaine Stritch was even cast originally before Carroll got to audition. Her throaty rendition of Poor Unfortunate Souls would make her one of Disney's most memorable villains.
Carroll would often say Ursula was one of her favourite roles. She said she saw her as an "ex-Shakespearean actress who now sold cars".
Carroll had the chance to reprise the role in several Little Mermaid sequels, spin-offs and even theme park rides.
She was also the voice of Granny in the English-language dub of Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro.
Australian Associated Press
