Carleton Carpenter
{{Short description|American actor (1926–2022)}}
{{more citations needed|biography|date=January 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Carleton Carpenter
|image = Carleton Carpenter, 1962.jpg
|caption = Carpenter in 1962
|birth_name = Carleton Upham Carpenter Jr.
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1926|7|10}}
|birth_place = Bennington, Vermont, U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|2022|1|31|1926|7|10}}
|death_place = Warwick, New York, U.S.
|occupation = {{flatlist|
- Actor
- magician
- dancer
- songwriter
}}
|years_active = 1944–1983
}}
Carleton Upham Carpenter Jr. (July 10, 1926 – January 31, 2022) was an American film, television and stage actor, magician, songwriter, and novelist.{{cite book| title=International Motion Picture Almanac| first=Eileen S.| last=Quigley| location=New York| publisher=Quigley Publishing| year=1986| isbn=978-0-9006-1082-0}}{{cite book| first=David| last=Ragan| year=1992| title=Who's Who in Hollywood: The largest cast of international film personalities ever assembled| location=New York| publisher=Facts on File| isbn=978-0-8160-2009-6| volume=1}}
Early and personal life
Carpenter was born in Bennington, Vermont,{{cite book| last1=Monush| first1=Barry|title=Screen World Presents the Encyclopaedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the silent era to 1965| year=2003| publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation| isbn=978-1-5578-3551-2| page=114| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=toTIb1Ek2WwC&q=%22Carleton+Carpenter%22&pg=PA114|access-date=September 20, 2017| language=en}} where he attended Bennington High School. He was the son of Carleton Upham Carpenter Sr.{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1YiXDwAAQBAJ&dq=Marjorie+Main+Carleton+Upham+Carpenter&pg=PT8| title=The Absolute Joy of Work: From Vermont to Broadway, Hollywood, and Damn Near 'Round the World| last1=Carpenter| first1=Carleton| publisher=BearManor Media| year=2016| isbn=978-1-6293-3082-2}} He was bisexual.[http://www.boyculture.com/boy_culture/2017/02/debbie-reynolds-carpenter-book-gay-gossip-obituary-movies.html Interview at BoyCulture] with Carleton Carpenter
Carpenter lived in Warwick, New York, where he died on January 31, 2022, at the age of 95.{{cite news| url=https://variety.com/2022/film/people-news/carelton-carpenter-dead-father-of-the-bride-1235167965/| title=Carleton Carpenter, MGM and Broadway Actor Who Starred Alongside Debbie Reynolds, Dies at 95| last=Urban| first=Sasha| date=January 31, 2022| accessdate=January 31, 2022| magazine=Variety}}
Military service
Carpenter served as a Seabee in the U.S. Navy during World War II and helped to build the airstrip from which the Enola Gay took off for its flight to bomb Hiroshima.{{cite news| last1=Fantle| first1=David| last2=Johnson| first2=Tom| title=Talking Up To Carleton Carpenter| url=http://www.moderntimesmagazine.com/page15/150526-Nation-Real-Reel-Capenter/150526-Nation-Real-Reel-Capenter.php| access-date=September 21, 2017| work=Modern Times Magazine| date=May 26, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921212126/http://www.moderntimesmagazine.com/page15/150526-Nation-Real-Reel-Capenter/150526-Nation-Real-Reel-Capenter.php| archive-date=September 21, 2017}}
Acting career
File:Debbie Reynolds in Two Weeks With Love (2).png in Two Weeks with Love (1950)]]
Carpenter began his performing career as a magician and an actor on Broadway, beginning with David Merrick's first production, Bright Boy, in 1944, followed by co-starring appearances in Three to Make Ready with Ray Bolger, John Murray Anderson's Almanac, and Hotel Paradiso.{{cite web| title=("Carleton Carpenter" search results)| url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/carleton-carpenter-77190| website=Internet Broadway Database| access-date=September 21, 2017| archive-url=https://archive.today/20170921205733/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/carleton-carpenter-77190| archive-date=September 21, 2017|url-status=live}} He was a featured player on the early television program Campus Hoopla, which was produced by NBC, via WNBT in New York City, and which aired from 1946 to 1947.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}} Carpenter was brought to Hollywood in 1949 by independent producer Louis de Rochemont to play the boyfriend in Lost Boundaries. De Rochemont later cast him again, in The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951).
Carpenter signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1950, where he made eight films in three years: Father of the Bride, Three Little Words, Summer Stock, Two Weeks With Love, Vengeance Valley, Fearless Fagan (his one-of-two leading roles there), Sky Full of Moon (his other leading role there) and Take the High Ground!. He gained fame in 1950 when he teamed up with Debbie Reynolds in Three Little Words and Two Weeks with Love. In a guest sequence in Three Little Words, they perform "I Wanna Be Loved by You" as vaudeville players Dan Healy and Helen Kane, with Reynolds dubbed by Kane. In Two Weeks with Love, where they have featured roles, their duet "Aba Daba Honeymoon" was the first soundtrack recording to become a top-of-the-chart gold record, reaching number three on the Billboard chart.
After 1953, Carpenter exited films for stage, television, and radio work. Among his television appearances, he played Gilbert Burton, the recipient of $1,000,000 in a 1959 episode of The Millionaire and co-starred with Ann Sothern in the 1954 TV production of Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark, which he also recorded for RCA Victor Records. In 1957, he played the role of George "Tecumseh" McGuire in an episode of the television series "Men of Annapolis." In 1963, he played defendant Peter Brent in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Lover's Leap".
He returned to film in 1959 for Up Periscope for Warner Brothers and, much later, the independent films Cauliflower Cupids (1970) and Some of My Best Friends Are... (1971), as the character "Miss Untouchable".
Carpenter's later stage appearances included Hello, Dolly!, opposite Mary Martin (which toured Vietnam during the war and was filmed as a one-hour NBC-TV special), The Boys in the Band, Dylan, Crazy For You, and the City Center revival of Kander and Ebb's 70, Girls, 70. He was still working occasionally as a stage actor in 2015.[http://www.mywebtimes.com/life/tinseltown-talks-carleton-carpenter-actor-author-lion-tamer/article_33c86e96-bd3f-597c-a561-07a64486b2d4.html Carleton Carpenter at MyWebTimes]{{Dead link|date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}, Interview from 2015
Songwriting
Carpenter composed the songs "Christmas Eve", recorded by Billy Eckstine, "Cabin in the Woods", and "Ev'ry Other Day", which he recorded for MGM Records and sang on screen in The Whistle at Eaton Falls. In 1943 he wrote the words and melody of the song "Can We Forget".The Library of Congress Copyright Office: Catalog of Copyright Entries Published by Authority of the Acts of Congress of March 3, 1891, of June 30, 1906, and of March 4, 1909. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1943, Part 3, Musical Compositions, New Series, Vol. 38, Pt. 1, #1, pg. 9 His other song compositions include "I Wouldn't Mind", "A Little Love", and "Come Away". He also wrote the musical Northern Boulevard, produced in New York City by actress Rosetta LeNoire.
Writing
Carpenter wrote material for Debbie Reynolds, Kaye Ballard, Marlene Dietrich, and Hermione Gingold, and also scripts for films and television.
Carpenter was a successful mystery novelist in the 1970s and 1980s. His books include Deadhead, Games Murderers Play, Cat Got Your Tongue?, Only Her Hairdresser Knew, Sleight of Deadly Hand, The Peabody Experience, and Stumped.{{cite news| url=https://www.therecordlive.com/story/2015/02/09/news/carleton-carpenter-actor-author-and-lion-tamer/18951.html| title=Carleton Carpenter: Actor, author and lion tamer| first=Nick| last=Thomas| date=February 9, 2015| newspaper=The County Record| location=Beaumont, Texas| access-date=December 26, 2022}}
His memoir, The Absolute Joy of Work, was published in 2016.
Awards and honors
In 2012, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Hollywood film organization Cinecon, which was presented to him in person by his once often co-star Debbie Reynolds.[http://www.cinecon.org/cinecon48_pictures_hilights.html Cinecon highlights], cinecon.org; accessed January 31, 2016. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212100041/http://www.cinecon.org/cinecon48_pictures_hilights.html |date=February 12, 2022 }}
Filmography
| class="wikitable" |
| style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Year
!style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Title !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Role |
|---|
| rowspan=1|1949
|Andy |
| rowspan=4|1950
|Usher at wedding |
| Three Little Words
|Dan Healy |
| Summer Stock
|Artie |
| Two Weeks With Love
|Billy Finlay |
| rowspan=2|1951
|Hewie |
| The Whistle at Eaton Falls
|Eddie Talbot |
| rowspan=2|1952
|Pvt. Floyd Hilston |
| Sky Full of Moon
|Harley 'Tumbleweeds' Williams |
| rowspan=1|1953
|Merton 'Tex' Tolliver |
| rowspan=1|1959
|Lt. Phil Carney |
| rowspan=1|1970
|Cauliflower Cupids |Christopher |
| rowspan=1|1971
|Some of My Best Friends Are... |Miss Untouchable |
| rowspan=1|1981
|1945 M.C |
| rowspan=1|1983
|The American Snitch |Arthur |
See also
{{Portal|Biography|Film|Television|Theater}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Carleton Carpenter}}
- {{AFI person | 27050-Carleton-Carpenter }}
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{iobdb name}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJHJAkhacGU Carleton Carpenter and Debbie Reynolds sing "Abba Dabba Honeymoon" in this clip from YouTube]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Carleton}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
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Category:LGBTQ people from Vermont
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Category:People from Bennington, Vermont
Category:People from Warwick, New York
Category:Screenwriters from Vermont