Carol Lawrence facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Carol Lawrence
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| Born |
Carolina Maria Laraia
September 5, 1932 Melrose Park, Illinois, U.S.
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| Occupation | Actress, singer |
| Years active | 1952–2018 |
| Spouse(s) |
Cosmo Allegretti
(m. 1956; div. 1959)John Gregory Guydus
(m. 1982; div. 1983) |
| Children | 2 |
Carol Lawrence (born Carolina Maria Laraia on September 5, 1932) is an American actress and singer. She is famous for playing the role of Maria in the original Broadway musical West Side Story in 1957. For this role, she was nominated for a Tony Award, which is a very important award for theatre actors.
Carol Lawrence has also appeared in many other musicals and television shows. She performed in musicals like Funny Girl and appeared on TV shows such as Rawhide and Murder, She Wrote. She was married to the well-known singer and actor Robert Goulet.
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About Carol Lawrence
Her Early Life
Carol Lawrence was born Carolina Maria Laraia on September 5, 1932. Her hometown was Melrose Park, Illinois. Her parents came from Italy. Her father's family was from a town called Trivigno.
Carol went to Proviso Township High School in Illinois. After high school, she studied at Northwestern University for a year. Then, she decided to leave college to focus on her acting career.
Her Acting Career
Carol Lawrence started her Broadway career in 1951. She was a dancer in a show called Borscht Capades. Her big break came in 1957 when she played Maria in West Side Story. This role made her very famous. Even though it was a main role, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress. She played Maria for two years.
After West Side Story, Carol appeared in other Broadway shows. These included Subways Are for Sleeping and Kiss of the Spider Woman. Later, she was a standby for Lauren Bacall in the play Waiting in the Wings in 1999.
Carol also recorded several music albums. These albums featured popular songs and tunes from musicals. She sang studio versions of "Tonight" and "Something's Coming" from West Side Story.
She performed in many musicals at The Muny in St. Louis, Missouri. This is a very large outdoor theater. Some of her roles there included Fanny Brice in Funny Girl and Charity in Sweet Charity. She also played the main role in Mame and Guenevere in Camelot.
On television, Carol Lawrence appeared in many popular shows. She was a guest star on Rawhide, Hawaii 5-0, and Murder, She Wrote. From 1991 to 1993, she played Angela Eckart on the soap opera General Hospital.
Carol also hosted five cooking shows for the Food Network. She cooked recipes from her own cookbook, I Remember Pasta. In 2013, she performed in an Off-Broadway play called Handle with Care. She also wrote a book about her life called Carol Lawrence: The Backstage Story.
Awards and Recognition
Carol Lawrence has received several awards for her work:
- She won The Theatre World Award in 1958 for being a "Most Promising Newcomer" in West Side Story.
- In 1960, she received the Harvard Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Award.
- She has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Her Personal Life
Carol Lawrence has been married three times:
- She married Cosmo Allegretti from 1956 to 1959.
- She married actor Robert Goulet in 1963. They had two sons, Christopher (born 1964) and Michael (born 1966). They divorced in 1981.
- She married Greg Guydus from 1982 to 1984.
Carol and Robert Goulet were both big stars on Broadway when they married. Their relationship was often talked about in the news.
Carol Lawrence is a member of the Democratic Party, a major political group in the U.S. She met with President John F. Kennedy at The White House on November 20, 1963. This was just two days before his passing. She is also a member of the Bel Air Presbyterian Church.
