Carol Lawrence

Tony-award nominee Carol Lawrence earned recognition for her spirited and vigorous work across stage and screen. Her skills in dance and vocals linked her to performers including Mickey Katz and Larry Kert, and she appeared in productions on Broadway, in film, and on television.

Born Carolina Maria Laraia in Chicago, she entered Broadway in Borscht Capades alongside Mickey Katz and Phil Foster as part of the ensemble. During the 1950s she advanced to prominence through dance and song in New Faces of 1952, Plain and Fancy, and the City Center staging of South Pacific. Her defining portrayal came in the 1957 classic West Side Story, where she played Maria opposite leading man Larry Kert. Afterward she joined the ensemble of The Ziegfeld Follies, which starred Beatrice Lillie. Carol Lawrence maintained that observing established performers offered valuable lessons and frequently watched Beatrice Lillie from the wings. In 1960 she took part in the television play The Dybbuk under Sidney Lumet’s direction, a project she later cited as a career peak.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s she focused on acting for both stage and television, taking leading roles in the television movies The Centerfold Murders, Stranger in Our House, and Valley of the Dolls. In 1988 she appeared for four nights at New York’s Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse in Puttin’ on the Ritz: The Irving Berlin Songbook, reviving numbers from her West Side Story role as Maria while also performing Irving Berlin standards such as “Stepping Out With My Baby,” “Let Yourself Go,” “Always,” and “God Bless America”; the shows drew sustained ovations. In 1993 she returned to Broadway, substituting for vacationing colleague Chita Rivera in Kiss of the Spider Woman.

More recently Carol Lawrence has divided her time among varied pursuits. She contributes to the international relief organization World Vision, continues to present her singing and dancing act in nightclubs, aboard cruise ships, and with multiple orchestras, and has made guest appearances on General Hospital and Murder One. Her autobiography, The Backstage Story, details her professional life and three failed marriages; her second marriage, to actor Robert Goulet, produced sons Christopher and Michael. Additional projects include the cookbook I Remember Pasta and the exercise video Broadway Body Workout.