Victoria Carroll (or Victoria Carrol-Bell; born Mary Carol Lee Ford on January 21, 1941) is an American actress, dancer and artist.[1][2] Best known as Marie Massey in Alice (1978-1984).
Early life
Born Mary Carol Lee Ford on January 21, 1941[1][2] in Los Angeles, California, the third child of Oscar Ford, a vaudeville actor turned publicity agent and Lillian Ford, an actress. During the late 1940s, the whole family (along with her two older brothers) performed together on stage with their daughter as "The World's Youngest Mind Reader".[2]
Career
Early career
Shortly after finishing high school, she began supporting herself as a painter with an art scholarship but also took several dance classes. This led to an audition for Don Arden, who hired her to dance in his play. Mary Carol Lee started working professionally as a dancer in Broadway shows.
Film career
By 1964, her dancing career had plunged into films. George Cukor had been so impressed by her that, apart from her dancing part in My Fair Lady,[1] he gave her a minor role as a Magpie in the race scene with Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn. She acquired an agent and also changed her name to Victoria Carroll because there already were actresses named Mary Ford and Carol Lee Ford registered in the SAG.
Carroll has made appearances on TV shows from 1960s-present. In 1964, she played a nurse on McHale's Navy. In 1965 she appeared on The Jack Benny Program as Miss Collins. In 1967, she had a small role on The Beverly Hillbillies. In 1968–1970, she appeared as six different characters on six episodes of Hogan's Heroes.[4] Carroll played Nina Sue on an episode of The Waltons in 1981. In 1982, she played Dottie in an episode of Dynasty, and in 1982–83, she made several appearances on Gimme a Break[5] and more.
She was Mel's girlfriend, Marie Massey on Alice (1978–1984). She also played "The Newlywed Wife" on "Death of A Few Salesmen" on "Sledge Hammer."
The Groundlings
In 1974, Victoria Carroll became one of the first actors to join The Groundlings (formerly known as "The Gary Austin Workshop"), a newly formed acting/comedy troupe [6][4]
Up until that point of her career she hadn't really shown her comedic skills. Very soon that changed as she played a variety of characters in her seven years with the improv team, such as blond bimbo author Lureen Sue Franchot. She recalls "I just really concentrated on doing comedy. [...] For me, my career began with The Groundlings. When I am asked about all this early stuff, my memory is sort of hazy."[2]
Voice work
Carroll has also worked extensively as a voice actress. Among her voice-over roles in cartoons are:
^"TV listings". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. 17 November 1983. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
^The Groundglins - At The Beginning "Early members were "unknown" Craig T. Nelson, Laraine Newman, Edie McClurg, Cassandra Peterson (Elvira), Mary Edith Burrell and Paul Reubens. Tim Matheson, Anne Ruyman, Pat Morita, Jack Soo, Steve Bluestein, Adriane Barbeau, Jaye P. Morgan, Jeannie Berlin and Victoria Carroll had established themselves career wise."
