|
Although not a household name among filmgoers, Laurie Carroll had a respectable career that included Hollywood and Broadway. She was born as Lois Cohen in Cambridge, Massachusetts to Archie and Celia Cohen. After graduating from Fairfax High School, she flew to New York City to audition for Plain and Fancy, which she starred in for several months. She had ambitions to be an operatic singer, but gave it up to pursue a career as an actress. She was discovered by Arthur Godfrey, the host of the long-running television series Talent Scouts. He arranged her first nationally-broadcasted performance on July 18, 1955 to rave reviews. She got steady work in Hollywood, appearing on The Johnny Carson Show where Samuel Katzman saw her performance and subsequently cast her as Della in Rumble on the Docks (1956). It would be her only starring role to date. One of the columnists on set, Bynner Martin, described Laurie as serious and professional.
|
|
It's strange that an operatic singer from the east would do westerns, but that's exactly what happened. She did several westerns actually that included Maverick, State Trooper, 26 Men, Tales of Wells Fargo, Death Valley Days, Shotgun Slade, and Tales of the Texas Ranger. Those die-hard westerners would know her as a frequent, yet low-key guest star who was usually cast as the love interest. She later met Edwin Watson, a writer and advertising executive. They married on November 10, 1957. They had a daughter named Wendy on May 31, 1962. On November 7, 1970, she married Sidney Fallender and became a well-respected socialite. It was a disastrous marriage though according to her stepdaughter Deborah Fallender, who said "I begged my father not to marry her. I'm thankful that they didn't have any children together." As the years progressed, she lost touch with her co-stars in Hollywood and moved east to retire. She lives peacefully in the suburbs of Craven County, North Carolina. She is a lover of animals.
|