Jean Carson

Jean Carson
Born	(1923-02-28)February 28, 1923 Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.
Died	Palm Springs, California, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Leonard S. Smith, Jr. (1955–1968) (divorced) 1 child ? Parlan (? – ?) (divorced) 1 child
Website	http://www.hellodoll.com

Jean Carson (February 28, 1923 – November 2, 2005) was an American stage, film and television actress best known for her work on the classic 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show as one of the "fun girls".

Biography

Born to Alexander W. Carson and Sadie (nėe Leete; a descendant of William Leete, first governor of the Colony of Connecticut), Jean Carson first became interested in show business as a child, playing a "bad little Indian girl". At the age of twelve, she got her first acting job, five dollars for a small part in a production of Carmen that traveled through her hometown of Charleston, West Virginia.

In high school she was voted Girl Most Likely to Succeed as an Actress. Carson told her mother she was going to be on Broadway and in 1948, after studies at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carson made her Broadway debut in George S. Kaufman's Bravo. Other Broadway work included Anniversary Waltz with Macdonald Carey, Two Blind Mice with Melvyn Douglas, and Bird Cage, which garnered her a Tony Award nomination.

Carson went on to appear in many pioneering television series, including Studio One, NBC Presents, The Twilight Zone (as Paula in "A Most Unusual Camera", a part written especially for her by Rod Serling) and The Ford Theatre Hour. She continued to make guest starring appearances throughout the 1950s, as well as a regular role on 1959's The Betty Hutton Show (Carson described Hutton as a "foulmouthed old biddy" and said that was the only acting experience she did not enjoy) and roles in films such as 1955's The Phenix City Story and 1958's I Married a Monster from Outer Space. Carson felt she was typecast by some of these roles ("I'm what you call a 'second woman' or 'second tomato.' They never get the man.") and that they helped her get work on The Andy Griffith Show.

Carson had a brief role as Naomi in a 1962 episode, but her most popular role was Daphne, one of the "fun girls", who appeared with Joyce Jameson on a recurring basis from 1962 to 1965. Daphne was a notorious flirt who greeted her objects of affection with a throaty "Hello Doll".

Carson earned fourth billing in the 1968 Peter Sellers comedy The Party, perhaps her best known film. For the first half of the 1970s Carson had a drinking problem which limited her acting career. Her last film role was 1977's Fun with Dick and Jane. She retired early in the next decade, save for some plays in the Palm Springs area (where she had moved to be close to her children), graciously mentoring community theater actors. She was active with Alcoholics Anonymous. She associated herself with The Andy Griffith Show for many years, attending cast performances, conventions, and other meetings and writing back to fans personally until she suffered a severe stroke which left her incapacitated in September 2005. On November 2, 2005, Carson died from complications of the stroke; she was 82 years old.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
1949	NBC Presents		TV, 1 episode
	The Philco Television Playhouse		TV, 1 episode
1949–1952	Studio One	Mary Warren	TV, 3 episodes
1950	The Ford Theatre Hour		TV, 1 episode
	The Trap		TV, 1 episode
	Robert Montgomery Presents		TV, 1 episode
1951	The Adventures of Ellery Queen		TV, 2 episodes
1952	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Model	TV, 1 episode
1953	Eye Witness		TV, 1 episode
1954	Inner Sanctum	Vera Craig	TV, 1 episode
	The Mask		TV, 1 episode
	The Man Behind the Badge		TV, 1 episode
1955	The Phenix City Story	Cassie
1957	The 20th Century Fox Hour	Ethel Marzack	TV, 1 episode
	The Gale Storm Show	Josephine	TV, 1 episode
	The Court of Last Resort	Myra North	TV, 1 episode
	M Squad	Doris Colby	TV, 1 episode
1958	Sugarfoot	Lilly	TV, 1 episode
	Bachelor Father		TV, 1 episode
	The Phil Silvers Show	Bidgett Hepperwhite	TV, 1 episode
	I Married a Monster from Outer Space	Helen Alexander Benson
	Death Valley Days		TV, 1 episode
	Peter Gunn	Pearl	TV, 1 episode
1959	Frontier Doctor	Flo Warren	TV, 1 episode
	The Sound and the Fury	Mary Ellen	Uncredited
	General Electric Theater	Dorris Krosky	TV, 1 episode
	Here Come the Jets	Jean
	The Walter Winchell File	Florrie	TV, 1 episode
	The Millionaire	Marie	TV, 1 episode
1959–1960	The Betty Hutton Show	Rosemary	TV, unknown episodes
1960	The Chevy Mystery Show	Donna	TV, 1 episode
	Lock-Up		TV, 1 episode
	The Twilight Zone	Paula Diedrich	TV, 1 episode
1961	Ripcord	Blanche Telford	TV, 1 episode
	Dante	Ginny Kane	TV, 1 episodes
	Sanctuary	Norma
	The Tom Ewell Show	Diane	TV, 1 episodes
	COronado 9	Lois Dixon	TV, 1 episode
	The Untouchables	Sylvia Orkins	TV, 1 episode
1962	The Joey Bishop Show		TV, 1 episode
	Stoney Burke	Merle	TV, 1 episode
1963	77 Sunset Strip	Viola Dorn	TV, 1 episode
1962–1965	The Andy Griffith Show	Daphne	TV, 4 episodes
1964	Perry Mason	Mrs. Mitchell	TV, 1 episode
	One Man's Way	Woman Who Shoots Husband
	Burke's Law	Eagle Eye	TV, 1 episode
	Wendy and Me	Mrs. Talbot	TV, 1 episode
1966	Chamber of Horrors		Uncredited
1967	Warning Shot	Cocktail Waitress	Unredited
	Gunn	Waitress	Uncredited
1968	The Party	Nanny
	The Outsider	Mary Potter	TV, 1 episode
1969	Anatomy of a Crime	Mary Potter	Television movie
1977	Fun with Dick and Jane	Paula

External links

• "Hello Doll" - Official website
• Jean Carson at the Internet Movie Database
• 2003 Jean Carson interview at Christian Activities
• Jean Carson at Find a Grave