# Janet Carroll

Janet Carroll (December 24, 1940 – May 22, 2012) was an American film, stage and television character actress.
Carroll's career spanned more than four decades and included major and supporting roles in Broadway musicals, television and Hollywood films. She is perhaps best-known for her portrayal of the oblivious mother of Joel (Tom Cruise) in the 1983 film Risky Business.

## Early life

Carroll received formal theatrical training and began acting professionally in the late 1960s, appearing in numerous productions in local theaters. She then became a regular at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, where she acted during five seasons.
She began classical training at age 12 with Greta Allum in Chicago. Over the years she continued building and expanding her voice and repertoire in formal study with Douglas Susu-Mago. With a fluent 3½-octave vocal range, she was able to sing everything from opera to jazz and Broadway style to gospel music and Dixieland genre.
Carroll sang as a first soprano with the Canterbury Choral Society at Carnegie Hall and other venues across New York City.

## Career

Carroll then performed in Kansas City and Chicago, assuming significant roles in such musicals as Carousel, Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, Hello, Dolly!, Mame, South Pacific and The Pajama Game, before moving to California, where she continued her stage work, winning a Drama-Logue Award for her performance as Klytemnestra in Ezra Pound's Elektra.
Besides Risky Business, Carroll appeared in more than 20 other films over the next three decades, including Secret Admirer (1985), The Killing Time (1987), Memories of Me (1988), Family Business (1989), Talent for the Game (1991), Destiny Turns on the Radio (1995), Forces of Nature (1999), The Omega Code and Enough (2002), among others. She developed her television career with recurring roles on the series Hill Street Blues (1983, 1986 as Peggy LaRue Nelson), The Bronx Zoo (1987 as Carol Danzig), Murphy Brown (1990–96, as Doris Dial, stoic anchorman Charles Kimbrough's wife), Melrose Place (1993–97, as Marion Shaw, Kimberly's mother), Married... with Children (1994–97, as Gary, Al Bundy's boss), and Still Standing (2002–04, as Helen Michaels).
From 2004 to 2005, she starred on Broadway creating the role of "Aunt March" in the original musical Little Women, which is based in the 1869 novel of the same title written by American author Louisa May Alcott. She promoted brands such as Century 21, Diet Coke, Outback Steakhouse and Holiday Inn, among others, in television advertisement spots.
Since 1982, she had performed as a singer at Jazz Festivals throughout the United States and Canada, being accompanied by her seven-piece format, while interpreting traditional jazz, swing, blues, and classic ballads or the Great American Songbook. She performed in Victoria and Vancouver summer festivals in British Columbia, as well as in Monterey, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Santa Catalina Island, and New Orleans stages, along with concerts at United Service Organizations shows, the Palmer House in Chicago, the Fountainebleu in Miami Beach, the Ritz-Carlton chain, the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables and the San Antonio River Walk. At the Redding Jazz Festival, she was honored with an award for Best Vocalist. In 2004, she was the featured performer at the Porrath Foundation for Cancer Patient Advocacy Event tribute to film star Rhonda Fleming.
After twelve years of formal training Janet Carroll was ordained and licensed at the West Los Angeles' Church of Inner Light. An active participant in social issues, Carroll was a longstanding member of the Screen Actor's Guild and American Federation of Radio Artists and Actors Equity Association. She also served as the Artistic Director of The Jazz Series at Simi Valley's Cultural Arts Center. She was a V.P. on the executive board of directors of the Society of Singers and founder and co-chair of the Victory Ball in Westport, Connecticut.
In 1992, Carroll collaborated as a singer on the album This Joint Is Jumpin' Live! – Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band, a recording project led by dixieland trombonist and actor Conrad Janis. She later released her solo albums Presenting... Janet Carroll and the Hollywood Jazz Cats (1992), I Can't Give You Anything But Love (2000), I'll Be Seeing You (2000) and Lady Be Good (2010).
By 2011, she was preparing the production of her fourth and fifth records titled A Tribute to the Great Ladies of Song! and Scorch Your Shorts Torch Songs!. She was diagnosed with brain cancer later that year and took a leave of absence. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy without success. She had two sons, George and Tom Brown. Tom predeceased her in 1978.

## Death

Carroll died on May 22, 2012, from brain cancer at her home in Manhattan, aged 71.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1983 | Risky Business | Joel's Mother | |
| 1985 | Secret Admirer | Toni's Mother | |
| 1987 | The Killing Time | Lila Daggett | |
| 1988 | Memories of Me | Dorothy Davis | |
| 1989 | Family Business | Margie | |
| 1990 | The Platinum Triangle | Lt. Smith | |
| 1991 | Talent for the Game | Rachel Bodeen | |
| 1995 | Born to Be Wild | Judge Billings | |
| 1995 | Destiny Turns on the Radio | Escabel | |
| 1995 | Timemaster | Miss Spinell | |
| 1999 | Forces of Nature | Barbara | |
| 1999 | The Omega Code | Dorothy Thompson | |
| 2001 | All You Need | Jane Sabistan | |
| 2002 | Changing Hearts | Mrs. Lane | |
| 2002 | Enough | Mrs. Hiller | |
| 2002 | The Marriage Undone | Judge Dunbar | |
| 2005 | Confession | Mother Superior | |
| 2005 | Living 'til the End | Constance Whilton | |
| 2007 | Beyond the Quest | Julia Baron | |
| 2009 | (Untitled) | Helen Finkelstein | |
| 2009 | The Art of War III: Retribution | Secretary General Barnes | |
| 2011 | What Happens Next | Gloria | |
| 2015 | College Debts | Grandma Clare | Posthumous Release |
| 2016 | Crosser | Julia Barron | Final Film Role, Posthumous Release |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1983 | Knight Rider | Denise Merritt | Episode: "Soul Survivor" |
| 1983, 1986 | Hill Street Blues | Peg / Peggy | 2 episodes |
| 1984 | Getting Physical | Myra Gibley | Television film |
| 1984 | E/R | Beth | Episode: "Son of Sheinfeld" |
| 1984 | Son of Sheinfeld | Assistant | Television film |
| 1984, 1985 | Spencer | Donna | 2 episodes |
| 1985 | Alice | Dr. Rose Goodwin | Episode: "Kiss the Grill Goodbye" |
| 1985 | Cagney & Lacey | Helene Ledding | Episode: "Con Games" |
| 1985 | Double Dare | Lt. Samantha Warner | 6 episodes |
| 1986 | Mary | Rachel | Episode: "The Death Threat" |
| 1986 | The Right of the People | Marjorie | Television film |
| 1986 | The Twilight Zone | Marilyn Cavendish | Episode: "Cold Reading" |
| 1986 | Samaritan: The Mitch Snyder Story | Susan Baker | Television film |
| 1986 | You Again? | Stacey Wendell | Episode: "Marry Me A |
| 1987 | The Golden Girls | Phyllis Hammerow | Episode: "The Actor" |
| 1987 | Silver Spoons | Arlene | Episode: "Hero Worship" |
| 1987 | Designing Women | Sissy Tate | Episode: "Seams from a Marriage" |
| 1987 | Bluffing It | Margaret Duggan | Television film |
| 1987 | A Year in the Life | Joanne | 2 episodes |
| 1987 | 227 | Emily Mortimer | Episode: "The Facade" |
| 1987–1988 | The Bronx Zoo | Carol Danzig | 8 episodes |
| 1988 | 21 Jump Street | Mrs. Poolish | Episode: "A Big Disease with a Little Name" |
| 1988 | L.A. Law | Judge Geraldine Parker | Episode: "Hey, Lick Me Over" |
| 1988–1989 | The Boys | Marjorie | 4 episodes |
| 1989 | Jake and the Fatman | Joan Thompson | Episode: "I'll Never Smile Again" |
| 1989 | Quantum Leap | Janie Wilson | Episode: "Camikazi Kid" |
| 1989 | When He's Not a Stranger | Counselor | Television film |
| 1990 | Mancuso, F.B.I. | Corinne | Episode: "Shiva Me Timbers" |
| 1990 | Glory Days | Mrs Lovejoy | Episode: "The Kids Are Allright" |
| 1990 | Life Goes On | Elaine Oslot | Episode: "Corky and the Dolphins" |
| 1990 | Empty Nest | Leah | Episode: "There's No Accounting" |
| 1990 | The Famous Teddy Z | Fay Parr | Episode: "Teddy's Big Date" |
| 1990–1996 | Murphy Brown | Doris Dial | 10 episodes |
| 1991 | Daughters of Privilege | Gail Brody | Television film |
| 1991 | Pacific Station | Judy Epstein | Episode: "Waiting for the Other Gumshoe to Drop" |
| 1992 | Reasonable Doubts | Tori Slade | Episode: "The Shadow of Death" |
| 1992–1993 | The Hat Squad | Kitty | 6 episodes |
| 1993–1997 | Melrose Place | Marion Shaw | 7 episodes |
| 1994 | The Mommies | Cindy the Clown | Episode: "A Day in the Life" |
| 1994 | Boy Meets World | Nurse Jill | Episode: "I Dream of Feeny" |
| 1994–1997 | Married... with Children | Gary | 7 episodes |
| 1995 | Betrayed: A Story of Three Women | Patty | Television film |
| 1995 | Matlock | Anita Montrose | Episode: "The Heist" |
| 1995, 1996 | Bonnie | Diane Fulton | 2 episodes |
| 1996 | Coach | Loretta | Episode: "Somebody's Baby" |
| 1996 | Pacific Blue | Dorothy | Episode: "All Jammed Up" |
| 1996 | Touched by an Angel | Diana Abernathy | Episode: "Something Blue" |
| 1997 | The Jeff Foxworthy Show | Esme Channing | Episode: "Jeff, You the Man" |
| 1998 | The Closer | Maude Bertram | Episode: "Dobbs Takes a Holiday" |
| 1998 | Living in Captivity | Nancy | Episode: "The Unkindest Cut" |
| 1998 | Maggie | Eleanor | 2 episodes |
| 1998 | Cupid | Dr. Darcy Wyatt | Episode: "End of an Eros" |
| 1999 | 7th Heaven | Betty Tomlin | Episode: "Yak Sada" |
| 1999 | Time of Your Life | Georgia Halloway | Episode: "The Time Sarah Got Her Shih-Tzu Together" |
| 1999 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Mrs. Runquist | Episode: "Dial M for Dick" |
| 1999 | The Norm Show | Martha | Episode: "Norm vs. Norm" |
| 1999 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Patsy Regan | Episode: "Family Tree" |
| 1999 | Frank Leaves for the Orient | Frank's Mom | 2 episodes |
| 2001 | Dead Last | Lucy Vard | Episode: "He Who Smelt It" |
| 2002 | Ally McBeal | Ellen Fish | Episode: "What I'll Never Do for Love Again" |
| 2002 | Pasadena | Phyllis Cameron | Episode: "The Body" |
| 2002, 2004 | Still Standing | Helen Michaels | 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Judging Amy | Atty. Marx | Episode: "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" |
| 2006 | Scrubs | Mrs. Cooke | Episode: "My Own Personal Hell" |
| 2006 | Brothers & Sisters | Sloane Dodelson | Episode: "Family Portrait" |
| 2008 | The Clown Project | Boob's Mother | Episode: "Boob Visits His Parents!" |
| 2010 | Law & Order: SVU | Brenda Fairchild | Episode: "Bullseye" |
| 2011 | Christmas Spirit | Betty | Television film |