| Carleton Carpenter | |
|---|---|
| Born | Carleton Upham Carpenter, Jr. July 10, 1926 Bennington, Vermont, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, magician, dancer, songwriter |
Carleton Carpenter (born Carleton Upham Carpenter, Jr.; July 10, 1926) is an American movie/television/stage actor, a magician, author and songwriter.[1][2]
Before signing to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Carpenter was a magician and an actor on Broadway, beginning with David Merrick's first production Bright Boy in 1944, followed by co-starring appearances in Three to Make Ready with Ray Bolger, John Murray Anderson's Almanac and Hotel Paradiso with Bert Lahr and Angela Lansbury. He was featured in the racial film Lost Boundaries and then signed with MGM, where he had roles in Summer Stock with Judy Garland, Father of the Bride with Spencer Tracy, Vengeance Valley with Burt Lancaster, The Whistle at Eaton Falls with Lloyd Bridges, and the war dramas Take The High Ground and Up Periscope.
Actor, songwriter, composer and author, went to Bennington High School. He appeared on Broadway, in "Bright Boy", "Three to Make Ready", and "John Murray Anderson's Almanac" and appeared on television, and made many records. He wrote material for Debbie Reynolds, Kaye Ballard, Marlene Dietrich and Hermione Gingold, and also scripts for films and television. His other popular-song compositions include "I Wouldn't Mind", "Ev'ry Other Day", "Cabin In the Woods", "A Little Love" and "Come Away".
He was teamed with Debbie Reynolds in the musicals Three Little Words and Two Weeks With Love, which featured their million-selling recordings of "Aba Daba Honeymoon" and "Row, Row, Row." His starring roles included Fearless Fagan with Janet Leigh and Sky Full of Moon with Jan Sterling.
He composed such songs as "Christmas Eve," which was recorded by Billy Eckstine, "Cabin in the Woods" and "Ev'ry Other Day," which he recorded for MGM Records. In 1943 he authored the words and melody of a song titled "Can we forget."[3] He guest-starred on numerous radio and TV shows. Along with Eva Marie Saint, he was one of the featured players on the very early television program "Campus Hoopla" which was produced by NBC (via WNBT-NYC) and which aired from 1946-47.
In addition to his many successful movies during this time, Carpenter is remembered in the 1970s and 1980s as a best-selling mystery novelist. One of his books, Deadhead, was turned into a Broadway musical production. Other books included Games Murderers Play, Cat Got Your Tongue? Only Her Hairdresser Knew, Sleight of Deadly Hand, The Peabody Experience and Stumped. He also had short stories published in the Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen mystery magazines.
Other stage appearances include Hello, Dolly!, opposite Mary Martin (which toured Vietnam during the war), The Boys in the Band, Crazy for You, and a revival of Kander and Ebb's 70 Girls 70.