death_date years_active article_title background birth_date instrument image origin name occupation
14 january 2011 1941 & ndash ; 1946 georgia carroll
 solo_singer 18 november 1919 singing georgia carroll.jpg blooming grove , texas , u.s. georgia carroll big-band singer
georgia carroll

georgia carroll -lrb- november 18 , 1919 -- january 14 , 2011 -rrb- was an american singer , fashion model , and actress , best known for her work with kay kyser 's big band orchestra in the mid-1940s .
born in blooming grove , texas , carroll 's first brush with celebrity was when she was the model for `` the spirit of the centennial '' statue at the 1936 texas centennial exposition at fair park in dallas , texas .
the statue still stands in front of what is now the women 's museum .
she was a 1937 graduate of woodrow wilson high school in dallas and has been inducted into the school 's hall of fame along with many other well-known graduates .
carroll 's acting career began in 1941 when she appeared in several uncredited small roles in films such as `` maisie was a lady '' with lew ayres and ann sothern , `` ziegfeld girl '' with judy garland , as well as `` you 're in the army now '' and `` navy blues '' , in both of which she appeared with the navy blues sextette .
she appeared as betsy ross in the james cagney musical `` yankee doodle dandy '' in 1942 .
she also did modelling during this time , appearing in advertisements for jewelite hairbrushes , among other products .
anne taintor used some of these advertisements featuring carroll to express the voice of the modern woman .
in 1943 , carroll joined kay kyser 's band , known as the `` kollege of musical knowledge '' , as a featured vocalist .
capitalizing on her good looks , she was given the nickname `` gorgeous georgia carroll '' , probably as a joking reference to the professional wrestler george wagner , who used the name `` gorgeous george '' .
as a member of kyser 's band , carroll appeared in three films : `` around the world '' , `` carolina blues '' , and most notably the second world war-era `` morale booster '' `` thousands cheer '' which gave fans a chance to see kyser and his band in technicolor .
kyser 's band has a featured performance near the end of the film , with carroll delivering a key solo interlude of the arthur freed/nacio herb brown standard , `` should i ? ''
in 1945 , carroll married kyser and made no further film appearances , retiring from performing in 1946 ; kyser himself retired from performing in 1951 .
the couple , who had three children , remained married until his death in 1985 .
carroll had been living in chapel hill since retirement .
the university of north carolina at chapel hill is custodian of a large archive of documents and material about kay kyser which was donated by carroll .
georgia carroll died in chapel hill , north carolina on january 14 , 2011 .
