Georgia Carroll

Georgia Carroll

Born: November 18, 1919
Died: January 14, 2011
in Blooming Grove, Texas, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Georgia Carroll (November 18, 1919 – January 14, 2011) was an American singer, fashion model, and actress, best known for her work with Kay Kyser's big band orchestra in the mid-1940s.

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Carroll, she was born in Blooming Grove, Texas, where her father raised sheep. Her family moved to Dallas, Texas, where she graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School.

One of Carroll's early jobs was modeling for a department store in Dallas, Texas. She eventually went to New York City and worked for the John Powers modeling agency. While she worked as a model in New York, she took vocal lessons.

Her acting career began in 1941 when she appeared in several uncredited small roles in films such as Maisie Was a Lady with Lew Ayres and Ann Sothern, Ziegfeld Girl with Judy Garland, as well as You're in the Army Now and Navy Blues, in both of which she appeared with the Navy Blues Sextette. She appeared as Betsy Ross in the James Cagney musical Yankee Doodle Dandy in 1942. In 1943, Carroll joined Kay Kyser's band, known as the "Kollege of Musical Knowledge", as a featured vocalist. Capitalizing on her good looks, she was given the nickname "Gorgeous Georgia Carroll", probably as a joking reference to the professional wrestler George Wagner, who used the name "Gorgeous George". As a member of Kyser's band, Carroll appeared in three films: Around the World, Carolina Blues, and most notably the Second World War-era "morale booster" Thousands Cheer which gave fans a chance to see Kyser and his band in Technicolor. Kyser's band has a featured performance near the end of the film, with Carroll delivering a key solo interlude of the Arthur Freed/Nacio Herb Brown standard, "Should I?"

In 1945, Carroll married Kyser and made no further film appearances, retiring from performing in 1946; Kyser himself retired from performing in 1951. The couple, who had three children, remained married until his death in 1985. Carroll had been living in Chapel Hill since retirement. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is custodian of a large archive of documents and material about Kay Kyser which was donated by Carroll.

Georgia Carroll died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on January 14, 2011.

Movies for Georgia Carroll...

Around the World
Title: Around the World
Character: Georgia Carroll
Released: November 27, 1943
Type: Movie
Bandleader Kay Kyser takes his troupe of nutty musicians, goofball comics and pretty girl singers on a tour around the world to entertain the troops during World War II.
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Du Barry was a Lady
Title: Du Barry was a Lady
Character: Miss January
Released: August 13, 1943
Type: Movie
Hat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is in love with a poor dancer but wants to marry for money. When Louis wins the Irish Sweepstakes, he asks May to marry him and she accepts even though she doesn't love him. Soon after, Louis has an accident and gets knocked on the head, where he dreams that he's King Louis XV pursuing the infamous Madame Du Barry.
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You're in the Army Now
Title: You're in the Army Now
Character: Navy Blues Sextette Member
Released: December 25, 1941
Type: Movie
Incompetent door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesmen become enlisted without their knowledge.
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The Man Who Came to Dinner
Title: The Man Who Came to Dinner
Character: Hollywood Blonde (uncredited)
Released: December 24, 1941
Type: Movie
An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in indefinitely with a Midwestern family.
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Navy Blues
Title: Navy Blues
Character: Navy Blues Sextet Member
Released: September 13, 1941
Type: Movie
On a layover in Hawaii two conniving Navy seamen borrow money to lay down bets that their ship will win the upcoming gunnery practice trophy, having found out that the current gunnery champ has just transferred aboard their ship. What they haven't learned, however, is that the marksman's enlistment is up before the contest is supposed to take place.
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Ziegfeld Girl
Title: Ziegfeld Girl
Character: Ziegfeld Girl (Uncredited)
Released: April 25, 1941
Type: Movie
Discovery by Flo Ziegfeld changes a girl's life but not necessarily for the better, as three beautiful women find out when they join the spectacle on Broadway: Susan, the singer who must leave behind her ageing vaudevillian father; vulnerable Sheila, the working girl pursued both by a millionaire and by her loyal boyfriend from Flatbush; and the mysterious European beauty Sandra, whose concert violinist husband cannot endure the thought of their escaping from poverty by promenading her glamor in skimpy costumes.
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Play Girl
Title: Play Girl
Character: Alice Sawyer (uncredited)
Released: January 29, 1941
Type: Movie
When a gold digger starts to get a little old to ply her trade, she teaches a younger woman all her tricks.
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Maisie Was a Lady
Title: Maisie Was a Lady
Character: House Guest (Uncredited)
Released: January 10, 1941
Type: Movie
Showgirl Maisie Ravier finds herself once again out of work. She meets a wealthy playboy who hires her to be his family's new maid. Maisie soon finds herself trying to mend the family's many problems.
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Screen Snapshots (Series 23, no. 3)
Title: Screen Snapshots (Series 23, no. 3)
Character: Herself
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: Movie
Seeing Hollywood, intimate glimpses of your favorite stars, at home, at work, and at play.