# Carol Bruce

Carol Bruce (born Shirley Levy; November 15, 1919 – October 9, 2007) was an American band singer, Broadway star, and film and television actress. She had the recurring part of Mama Lillian Carlson on TV's WKRP in Cincinnati.

## Early years

Bruce was born Shirley Levy in a Jewish family, in Manhattan, to Beatrice and Harry Levy. She had a sister, Marilyn.
Because of her family's moving, she attended Jamaica High School, Girls' High School, and New Utrecht High School before graduating from Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, New York. Although she studied violin for eight years, she never took singing lessons.

## Singing

Bruce began her career as a singer in the late 1930s with Larry Clinton and his band. She sang with Ben Bernie's orchestra in 1940–1941. She recorded several tracks, including "I'll Be Around", "Embraceable You" and "Abraham", with Red Norvo's Oversea Spotlight Band in 1943 for the war effor V-Disc program.

## Stage

Bruce made her Broadway debut in Louisiana Purchase, with songs by Irving Berlin, who discovered her at a nightclub in Newark, New Jersey. She was the first actress to play the role of Julie in a Broadway production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's Show Boat since the 1932 Broadway revival. Bruce played the role onstage in 1946 and garnered favorable comparisons to Helen Morgan, who had originated the role onstage in 1927 and repeated it in both the 1932 revival and the 1936 film.
Her other Broadway credits include New Priorities of 1943, Along Fifth Avenue (1949), Do I Hear a Waltz?, Henry, Sweet Henry, and A Family Affair.

## Radio

Bruce's radio debut came on The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour. She sang on Carton of Pleasure and The Henny Youngman Show.

## Personal life

Bruce's only marriage to Milton Nathanson, which ended in divorce, produced a daughter, Julie, an actress, singer and playwright who married jazz guitarist Larry Coryell. Bruce's grandchildren, Murali and Julian Coryell, are both musicians. Bruce was Jewish.
Bruce was a Democrat who supported Adlai Stevenson's campaign in the 1952 presidential election.

## Death

Bruce died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, aged 87. She was survived by her sister and two grandsons. Upon her death, she was cremated and her ashes given to her cousin.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1941 | This Woman Is Mine | Julie Morgan |
| 1941 | Keep 'Em Flying | Linda Joyce |
| 1942 | Behind the Eight Ball | Joan Barry |
| 1969 | The Girl Who Returned | A voice role |
| 1980 | American Gigolo | Mrs. Solan |
| 1987 | Planes, Trains & Automobiles | Joy |
| 1996 | The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists | Old One (Voice) |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1949 | Jazz Concert | Self | Episode: #1.3 |
| 1949 | The Lamb's Gambol | Self | Episode: #1.5 |
| 1949 | The Fifty-Fourth Street Revue | Self | Episode: #1.1 & #1.2 |
| 1949 | Cavalcade of Stars | Self | Episode: Carol Bruce, Josh White, Alice Pearce |
| 1949–1951 | The Ed Sullivan Show | Self | Episode: Tony Martin, Carol Bruce, #4.5 & The Oscar Hammerstein Story featuring Lena Horne, Wally Cox, Mimi Benzell, Robert Merrill, Charles Winninger |
| 1950 | The Silver Theatre | | Episode: Happy Marriage |
| 1950–1951 | Showtime, U.S.A. | Self | Episode: #1.5 & #1.38 |
| 1951 | Musical Comedy Time | Maisie Doll | Episode: Miss Liberty |
| 1951 | Studio One | | Episode: The King in Yellow |
| 1951 | The Sam Levenson Show | Self | Episode: Carol Bruce and daughter |
| 1951 | This Is Show Business | Self | Episode: Binnie Barnes, Carol Bruce, Jackie Miles, Teddy Hale |
| 1951 | Wonderful Town, U.S.A. | Self | Episode: Brooklyn |
| 1952 | The Milton Berle Show | Self | Episode: #4.35 |
| 1952 | The Eyes Have It | Self | Episode: Carol Bruce, Rudy Vallee |
| 1952 | Curtain Call | | Episode: The Promise |
| 1953 | Chance of a Lifetime | Self | Episode: Carol Bruce |
| 1954–1957 | Armstrong Circle Theatre | Hurricane Diane | Episode: Hit a Blue Note, Lost $2 Billion: The Story of Hurricane Diane & Thief of Diamonds |
| 1959 | One Night Stand | Self | Episode: Lou Holtz |
| 1960 | Sounds of Home | Vidalia | TV Special |
| 1961 | The Witness | Mildred Hall | Episode: Dillinger |
| 1963 | General Hospital | Jennifer Talbot | TV series |
| 1963 | Girl Talk | Self | Episode: Carol Bruce, Marilyn Cantor Baker, Helene Hanff |
| 1965 | The Merv Griffin Show | Self | Episode: Buddy Hackett, Carol Bruce, Jay Kennedy, Dr. Cleo Dawson |
| 1970 | Love of Life | Amanda Randolph | Episode: Episode dated 13 August 1970 |
| 1979–1982 | WKRP in Cincinnati | Lillian Carlson | 10 episodes |
| 1980 | Charlie's Angels | Mrs. Pattison | Episode: Three for the Money |
| 1981 | Knots Landing | Annette Cunningham | Episode: Squeezeplay, Moving In & The Surprise |
| 1984 | Diff'rent Strokes | Miss Gilbert | Episode: The Wedding |
| 1984 | Too Close for Comfort | Sally Ruth | Episode: Home Is Where the Bart Is |
| 1985 | The Twilight Zone | Mrs. Whitford | Episode: Dead Woman's Shoes/Wong's Lost and Found Emporium |
| 1986 | Our House | Mrs. Findley | Episode: Home Again |
| 1987 | Rags to Riches | | Episode: Pilot |
| 1987–1988 | Perfect Strangers | Mrs. 'Muffy' Endicott& Margaret | Episode: Tux for Two & High Society |
| 1988 | Marblehead Manor | Margaret Stonehill | Episode: Pilot |
| 1989 | Hooperman | | Episode: In the Still of My Pants |
| 1990 | Doogie Howser, M.D. | Mrs. Beatrice Portmeyer | Episode: Academia Nuts |
| 1991 | The Golden Girls | Lucille | Episode: Older and Wiser |
| 1991 | Jake and the Fatman | Mrs. Clark | Episode: It Never Entered My Mind |
| 1991 | Equal Justice | Mrs. Thomason | Episode: What Color Are My Eyes? |
| 1991–1992 | The New WKRP in Cincinnati | Lillian 'Mama' Carlson | 5 episodes |
| 1992 | The New WKRP in Cincinnati | Lillian 'Mama' Carlson | Archive footage, episode: Donovan, Don't Leave Us |
| 1995 | Live Shot | Shirley | Episode: What Price Episode? |
| 1995 | Party of Five | Sarah's Grandmother | Episode: Grand Delusions |
| 1997 | Diagnosis Murder | Constance Lockwood | Episode: The Murder of Mark Sloan |
| 1997 | Pacific Palisades | Mrs. Fitzpatrick | Episode: Desperate Measure |
| 1997 | Profiler | Petra Strauss | Episode: Three Carat Crisis |

### Short film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1937 | Koo Koo Korrespondance Skool | Singer | |
| 1938 | Larry Clinton and His Orchestra | Self | |
| 1942 | Swing's the Thing | Self | |
| 1946 | Headline Bands | Self | Archive footage |