Pat Carroll (1927-2022)

[Disney's Divinity]

Pat Carroll passed away from pneumonia on July 31st. She was 95. I thought this Disney Legend deserved her own thread even though it's old news at this point.

I read that she passed away the same day as her son, who died 13 years before; she was survived by two daughters and a granddaughter. She really seemed like a wonderful person, very funny. In her career, she'd won an Emmy, a Grammy, a Drama Desk Award, and three Helen Hayes Awards. Of course she was known for so many things other than Ursula from The Little Mermaid--notably her one-woman show playing Gertrude Stein--but naturally Ursula may end up being what she's best known for by the greatest amount of people. I read this quote from her about that point here:

She provided voices for numerous cartoon characters, most notably the menacing sea witch Ursula in “The Little Mermaid” (1989). That role, she once said, was “the one thing in my life that I’m probably most proud of.”

“I don’t even care if, after I’m gone, the only thing that I’m associated with is Ursula,” she added. “That’s OK with me, because that’s a pretty wonderful character and a pretty marvelous film to be remembered by.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/31/arts ... -dead.html

And she will be remembered. Rest in peace.

[DisneyFan09]

Yeah, I agree. She seemed like a nice, affable and funny person. And it`s a pity that she lost her son. R.I.P. Pat Carroll. May you rest in peace.

[D82]

I also agree she seemed really nice. I didn't know she had lost a son. That must've been difficult for her. It's curious that both passed away on the same day. It's nice to hear she was so proud of her performance as Ursula and The Little Mermaid in general. Rest in peace.

Here's also an article the Los Angeles Times wrote about her:

How Ursula and ‘The Little Mermaid’ changed Disney history — in more ways than one
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-a ... at-carroll

[Disney Duster]

R.I.P. Pat Carroll. I thought I'd make this thread for anyone who wants to say something about it because the forum was down when it happened. She will probably forever be my second favorite Disney villain, from The Little Mermaid, and she made a kind of sympathetic and likeable evil stepsister in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1965):
Pat Carroll dies at 95

I'm so glad she got to live so long and yet now is at peace. I bet she's up in Heaven, if you believe in that, as she did (she was apparently super Catholic). Wherever she is, she's gotta be at peace.

[Disney Duster]

Whoops. Don't know how I missed this thread till now. What a wonderful quote that she loves the idea of being remembered most for Ursula and The Little Mermaid.

[Disney's Divinity]

I agree. A lot of Disney voice actors end up being remembered most for their Disney role--especially if they luck up with a great character like Ursula, which isn't always the case--which is why there have been so many actors who grew up wanting to be in a Disney film back in the day.

I think there are less actors who have it as a dream than back when Walt Disney was alive--Walt was such a big part of the culture, with movies shown every Sunday's and so on, whereas these days there's no one face of the company like then and there are so many animation studios now--but I still think a smart actor would see the value in Disney roles. Family films really give you a fanbase who will grow up to know who you are, and you'll be remembered for a very long time since Disney will go on for ages and ages. A lot of their films are remembered the way films by other studios end up being "forgotten" to a great extent because the company doesn't given them attention or doesn't exist anymore. There were so many actors I grew up loving from a young age because they appeared in a family film here and there (Angela Lansbury, Sally Field, Bette Midler, etc.).

[Disney Duster]

Smart observations, Divinity. I so agree with everything you said, and I never realized that stuff.

[Disney Duster]

I forgot to post about this a lot earlier, but though I am unsure what day it was, if I remember correctly it was New Year's Eve, but on TCM they had an "in memoriam" for passed film-related people, and one of the people they included was Pat Carroll! They just had her name under a snippet of Ursula making the kiss with her lips from putting on lipstick, and a snippet of Pat in some live-action film sticking her head up behind like a car or something, and then ducking her head back down again. I wish I knew what film that was!

[Disney's Divinity]

I saw that, too. I thought it was neat that for Angela Lansbury, they also used Bedknobs & Broomsticks (and the film she was in with Judy Garland where she was a showgirl, I forget the name).

On an unrelated note, since it wasn't an In Memoriam or anything, but I also saw Alan Menken's picture last night during the Golden Globes (not. It was in the background when they were presenting Best Score, I believe.

[carolinakid]

Angela costarred with the legendary Judy Garland in 1946’s The Harvey Girls.

[Disney Duster]

Oh, good, I'm glad you got to see it, Divinity! And yeah, cool they used Bedknobs. And thanks, carolinakid. Now if I just knew that film Pat was in.