Carol Lawrence born 5 September 1932

Carol Lawrence (born September 5, 1932) is an American actress, most often associated with musical theatre, but who has also appeared extensively on television. 
 

Born as Carol Maria Laraia in Melrose Park, Illinois, her parents were of Italian ancestry. Her father was born in Trivigno, province of Potenza and her maternal family came from the same town. She spent one year at Northwestern University and then left to pursue her career. 

Lawrence made her Broadway debut in 1952, in Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1952. She achieved success in the role of Maria in the original Broadway production of West Side Story in 1957, and received a nomination for Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for this role. She played the role for two years, and after an appearance in the short-lived show Saratoga in 1959 she returned to West Side Story for its 1960 season. However, that success would not parlay into film stardom for Carol as established star Natalie Wood, in spite of the fact that she would need to be vocally dubbed by Marni Nixon, had the requisite clout to play Maria in the classic 1961 film version. 

 

 

Carol, however, endured as a celebrity and marched on from Broadway stage to Broadway stage to the tune of "Subways Are for Sleeping," "Saratoga," "I Do! I Do!" and "Kiss of the Spiderwoman." The dark, vivid beauty also stayed alive in clubs, cabarets, concerts and summer stock stages opposite then-husband, singer Robert Goulet, as a highly popular couple in the 60s 

She played several roles at The Muny in St. Louis, the largest outdoor theatre in the U.S., including Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (1975), Charity in Sweet Charity (1977), and Lucille Early in No, No, Nanette (1990). Among her other musical theatre parts are the title role in Mame (2000 at the Helen Hayes Center for Performing Arts in Nyack, New York) Guenevere in Camelot (opposite husband Robert Goulet), Do I Hear a Waltz at the Pasadena Playhouse (2001) and Follies at the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles in 2002. 

Her television performances include guest roles in Breaking Point (as Evelyn Denner in the 1963 episode entitled "There Are the Hip, and There Are the Square"), Rawhide, Combat!, Wagon Train, The Fugitive, Hawaii 5-0, Marcus Welby, M.D., Medical Center, Kung Fu, Mannix, Murder She Wrote, Saved by the Bell, and Sex and the City. 

In 1992-93, she played the role of matriarch Angela Eckart on General Hospital. She hosted five shows of Chef du Jour for the Food Network, cooking from her own cookbook, I Remember Pasta, and setting a record for cookbook sales on the Home Shopping Network. 

In 1999, she appeared in the television movie remake of Jason Miller's That Championship Season in a cameo role as "Claire' mother" (Vincent D'Onofrio's mother-in-law), a role written into the film specifically for her.

 

Into her 70s, Lawrence remained active as a concert and club performer and a stage actress, including a dramatic turn as a British theatre icon in David Hare’s “Amy’s View,” and a turn opposite fellow Broadway star Donna McKechnie in “Girl’s Room.” 

Lawrence has written her autobiography, with Phyllis Hobe, in a book titled Carol Lawrence: the backstage story, published in 1990. It, recounts her life during her career including her three broken marriages. Her second marriage to actor Robert Goulet produced two sons, Christopher and Michael.

In 2013, she appeared Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre ownstairs in Jason Odell Williams's play, Handle with Care.

Carol has received both Tony and Grammy Award nominations, as well as numerous humanitarian awards including City of Hope's "Woman of the Year" and "The Spirit of Life Award". Her award-winning television commercials for General Foods' International Coffees are classic examples that the name Carol Lawrence is synonymous with good taste. I Remember Pasta, Carol Lawrence's cookbook and an exercise video, Broadway Body Workout are also among Carol Lawrence's many accomplishments. In 2015 she received the Profession Dancer's Society Award.

(Info edited mainly from Wikipedia & IMDB)