Adriana Elena Loretta Caselotti came into the world on May 6, 1916, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with an opera house practically built into her blood. Her father taught music, her mother sang in the Royal Opera Theatre of Rome, and her older sister trained her voice so fiercely that even Maria Callas once sat across from … Read More “Adriana Caselotti — the girl who gave her voice away” »
Lynne Carver came into the world as Virginia Reid Sampson on September 13, 1918, in Lexington, Kentucky, a place where old Southern dignity clung to the curtains even as the century howled forward. Her family name carried weight—her grandfather had been Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court during the Civil War—but none of that … Read More “Lynne Carver — the ingénue who kept smiling while the studio lights burned out” »
Veronica Cartwright came into the world on April 20, 1949, in Bristol, England, but Hollywood claimed her early—just as it had claimed her younger sister, Angela. The family crossed the Atlantic while the girls were still small, settling in Los Angeles, a place where the business of pretending became their family trade. Veronica slipped into … Read More “Veronica Cartwright — the scream, the stare, the survivor” »
Angela Margaret Cartwright was born September 9, 1952, in Altrincham, Cheshire, England, but Hollywood claimed her early. Her family relocated to Los Angeles when she was barely a year old, and by three she was already sharing scenes with Paul Newman in Somebody Up There Likes Me and appearing with Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier … Read More “Angela Cartwright — the child star who grew into a lifelong artist of screen and image” »
Kayli Carter has the kind of screen presence that sneaks up on you. Born July 8, 1993, she grew up in Oviedo and Chuluota, Florida, the daughter of a construction-worker father and a therapist mother—a combination that perhaps explains her work ethic as well as her razor-sharp emotional awareness. She wasn’t one of those kids … Read More “Kayli Carter — the Florida-raised chameleon with a knack for lived-in, quietly explosive performances” »
Janis Carter never intended to be a Hollywood knockout. She wanted to be an opera singer, the kind who could fill a hall without a microphone and make an audience lean forward on a high note alone. Born Janis Elinore Dremann on October 10, 1913, in Cleveland, she grew up with proper musical training, the … Read More “Janis Carter – the Cleveland contralto who traded opera dreams for femme-fatale fire” »
Dixie Virginia Carter came into the world on May 25, 1939, in McLemoresville, Tennessee, a place so small you could drive through it in the time it takes to finish a hymn. She grew up in the South the way Southern heroines always do in the stories—surrounded by church light, strict manners, and the soft … Read More “Dixie Carter – the steel-magnolia songbird who never once apologized for the fire in her voice” »
Sofia Carson arrived in Fort Lauderdale on April 10, 1993, with a name too long for Hollywood marquees and a family history full of ocean crossings, Barranquilla heat, and the kind of ambition that makes people move countries just to see what happens next. She was born Sofia Lauren Daccarett Char, a name with rhythm … Read More “Sofia Carson – a glass-voiced dreamer in high heels who kept turning fairy tales into exit routes” »
Jean Carson came into the world on February 28, 1923, in Charleston, West Virginia—a town made of river fog, mill grit, and people who could spot a performer the way a bloodhound spots a trail. She grew up in that half-lit Appalachia and still somehow walked onto Broadway like she’d been rehearsing for it since … Read More “Jean Carson – the fun girl with the smoky laugh who never quite left the stage” »
Victoria Carroll entered the world under a different name—Mary Carol Lee Ford—on January 21, 1941, in Los Angeles. Third child of two vaudevillians who never really left the stage even when they left the theater, she grew up with greasepaint in her pores and timing in her blood. Her father, Oscar Ford, danced his way … Read More “Victoria Carroll – the dancer who painted, joked, voiced, and hustled her way through Hollywood” »