Joan Carroll

Joan Carroll (January 18, 1931 – November 16, 2016) was an American child actress who appeared in films until retiring in 1945.

For the American soprano, see Joan Carroll (soprano).

Joan Carroll
Carroll in Laddie (1940) with Tim Holt.
Born	Joan Marie Felt (1931-01-18)January 18, 1931 Elizabeth, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	November 16, 2016(2016-11-16) (aged 85) Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Years active	1936, 1938–69
Spouse(s)	James Joseph Krack ​ ( m. 1951; div. 1969)
Children	4

Childhood career

Lobby card for Laddie (1940). L-R: Sammy McKim, Martha O'Driscoll, Joan Leslie,
Spring Byington, Joan Carroll and Tim Holt.

Carroll was born Joan Marie Felt to Wright and Freida Felt on January 18, 1931.[1] Her father was a government electrical engineer, and her mother was a club and stage pianist. Carroll took dramatic lessons when she was very young and was performing locally by age 4. Her family moved to California in 1936, where she received a bit part in The First Baby (1936; billed as Mary Joan Felt).

Carroll developed into an excellent singer and tap dancer at the Fanchon and Marco Dancing School in Hollywood,[2] and became an accomplished child actress. Her stage name was changed to Carol and then Carroll.[3]

Between 1937 and 1940 she appeared in supporting roles in several movies. Her big break came the 1940 film, Primrose Path, as Ginger Rogers's younger sister, for which she won a Critics Award. The same year she became the first child star to be summoned from Hollywood in order to appear in the leading role in a Broadway musical, Panama Hattie, which ran from October 30, 1940 to January 3, 1942.[4]

Carroll became RKO Radio Pictures' resident juvenile personality in both "A" and "B" pictures. RKO starred Carroll in the leading role with Ruth Warrick in two zany comedy vehicles, Obliging Young Lady (1941) and Petticoat Larceny (1943). She continued to work in films as an adolescent, but less frequently. Two of her best-remembered pictures came from this period: Meet Me In St. Louis (1944) as Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien's sister, and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), in which she played a troubled teenager.[5]

Later life

After The Bells of St. Mary's in 1945, Carroll retired. She married in 1951 to James Joseph Krack; the couple had four children.[5]

She and her brother donated a historic family lamp to the Nevada State Museum on July 7, 2011.[6] The lamp was originally given to her father, Wright Felt, who was the Public Works Administrator for Nevada at the time the Hoover Dam was built. The lamp was created out of materials used in the construction of the 155-mile, $900,000 power line to the Hoover Dam, and was presented to him by the Lincoln County Power District No. 1 on September 25, 1937, for his assistance with the project.

Carroll died on November 16, 2016 near her home in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, aged 85. She was survived by her four children and extended family.[1]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1936	The First Baby
1937	One Mile from Heaven	Sunny
1938	Walking Down Broadway	Sunny Martin
1938	Gateway	Child	Uncredited
1938	Two Sisters	Sally, as a child
1939	Mr. Moto's Last Warning	Mary Delacour
1939	Tower of London	Lady Mowbray	Uncredited
1939	A Child Is Born	Little Girl	Uncredited
1939	Barricade	Winifred Ward
1940	Laddie	Sister Stanton
1940	Primrose Path	Honeybell
1940	Anne of Windy Poplars	Betty Grayson
1942	Obliging Young Lady	Bridget Potter
1943	Petticoat Larceny	Joan Mitchell / Small Change
1944	Meet Me In St. Louis	Agnes Smith
1944	Tomorrow the World	Pat Frame
1945	The Clock	Man in Penn Station	Uncredited
1945	The Bells of St. Mary's	Patricia 'Patsy' Gallagher
1950	Second Chance	Nurse Eva

Bibliography

• Best, Marc. Those Endearing Young Charms: Child Performers of the Screen. South Brunswick and New York: Barnes & Co., 1971, pp. 20–24; ISBN 0498077292 / ISBN 9780498077296

References

1. Barnes, Mike (2012-12-11). "Joan Carroll, Child Actress in 'Meet Me in St. Louis' and 'The Bells of St. Mary's,' Dies at 85". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
2. Best, Marc. Those Endearing Young Charms, p. 20.
3. Harrison, Paul (1941-08-02). "Joan Carroll No Longer Looks and Acts Like Shirley Temple—Result is Stardom". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
4. Joan Carroll at the Internet Broadway Database
5. Joan Carroll on IMDb
6. "Nevada State Museum to Receive Donation of a 1937 Lamp | Carson City Nevada News". Carson Now. Retrieved 2016-12-25.

External links

• Joan Carroll on IMDb
• Joan Carroll at the Internet Broadway Database