The English actress Carole Shelley, known for her prolific work on the stages and screens of America, died aged 79 at her home in New York City after a battle with cancer.
Best known in recent years for originating the role of Madame Morrible in the Broadway production of Wicked, Shelley earned four Tony Award nominations, winning in 1979 for her performance as Mrs Kendal in The Elephant Man. A highly skilled actress with a multitude of talents, she made her last Broadway appearance in 2015 in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. She was still performing in readings and workshops a few months before her death.
Carole Augusta Shelley was born in London, the only child of composer Curtis Shelley and opera singer Deborah née Bloomstein. She grew up in St John’s Wood from where the family attended the Westminster Synagogue in Knightsbridge.
As a child, Shelley aspired to be a ballerina. But after a foot injury ended her dance career at the age of 15, she turned her attention to acting. At 16, she attended the preparatory school for RADA, but chose not to proceed to the Academy itself. She did a course in theatre design and millinery at the Regent Street Polytechnic and then, at 18 years old, she struck out on her own. While working to establish a career in the theatre, she supported herself by making hats for London millinery shop Mitzi Lorenz.
Over the next few years, Carole honed her comedic skills with English farceur Brian Rix and toured the country in musical revues. In the West End, she appeared in John Cranko’s revue New Cranks and the original production of Boeing-Boeing. In 1964, she replaced Maggie Smith in Jean Kerr’s play Mary, Mary.
And then her fate took a storybook turn. Playwright Neil Simon went to London in 1964 to cast the two English actresses he needed for his next Broadway play: The Odd Couple. After several auditions, Simon and director Mike Nichols chose their Pigeon sisters: Monica Evans and Carole Shelley. Shelley arrived in New York on Boxing Day, 1964 and never looked back.
After playing Gwendolyn Pigeon for two years in The Odd Couple on Broadway, Shelley went on with Evans, to reprise her role in the 1968 film adaptation and in four episodes of the TV series. The two actresses also appeared together twice as the voices of Disney characters Amelia and Abigail Gabble in The Aristocats, and Lady Kluck (Shelley) and Maid Marian (Evans) in Robin Hood.
In the early 1970s, Shelley decided to hone her dramatic acting skills in repertory theatre, performing at the Stratford Festival and Shaw Festival in Canada and at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut. Roles such as Rosalind in As You Like It and Regan in King Lear sharpened her focus, increased her confidence and plumbed her emotional depths. “It was very hard work,” she said, “but it was wonderful.”
Highlights of Shelley’s Broadway career included a Tony Award for her star turn in The Elephant Man in 1979, and Tony nominations for Absurd Person Singular in 1974, Stepping Out in 1987 and Billy Elliot in 2009. In the 1990s Shelley began performing in musicals, playing character roles such as Parthy Ann Hawks in Showboat and Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret. She returned to the London theatre only twice, replacing Maggie Smith again in 1989’s Lettice and Lovage, and reprising her Showboat role in the West End in 1998. She also appeared in Off-Broadway and regional productions.
In 2003, Shelley originated the role of villainous headmistress Madame Morrible in the hit Broadway musical Wicked. That memorable performance was followed in 2008 by her heart-breaking and darkly funny portrayal of Grandma in the musical Billy Elliot, in which she performed for three years.
Shelley’s television work included an Emmy-winning episode of Frasier, as well as Law & Order: SVU and The Cosby Show. Film appearances included Aunt Clara in Bewitched (2005) as well as roles in Quiz Show, The Whoopee Boys, and Disney’s Hercules.
In her personal life, Shelley was known to be generous, bright, charming, deeply thoughtful, and devastatingly funny. She cultivated a close-knit family of friends which included artists and non-artists alike. All who knew her admired her quick wit, her enduring kindness, her perpetual grace, and her brave, resilient spirit. She was much beloved of many, especially those who knew her well.
Shelley was married to American maître d’hôtel Albert G Woods from 1967 until his death in 1971. The couple had no children. She is survived by her godson Mark Holden-Hindley and her cousins Sheila, Morton, Bobbie, Daniel, Adrienne, Susan, and Raymond.
Barrie Kreinik
Carole Shelley: born: August 16, 1939. Died August 31, 2018
