15 Facts About Carole Shelley

1.

Carole Shelley won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in The Elephant Man in 1979.

2.

Carole Shelley's father had emigrated to London before World War II.

3.

Carole Shelley made her Broadway debut as Gwendolyn Pigeon in the original 1965 production of The Odd Couple.

4.

Carole Shelley reprised the role for the 1968 film version, and the first season of the subsequent television series.

5.

Carole Shelley received her first Tony Award nomination in 1975 for her performance as "Jane" in Absurd Person Singular.

6.

Carole Shelley won the 1979 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role as Mrs Kendal in The Elephant Man, and was nominated for the Tony Award as Featured Actress in a Play in 1987 for her performance in Stepping Out as "Maxine".

7.

Carole Shelley began appearing in musicals in the late 1990s, with the revivals of Show Boat as Parthy and Cabaret as Fraulein Schneider in 1999.

8.

In 2003, Carole Shelley created the role of Madame Morrible in the original Broadway cast of the musical Wicked, a role which she later reprised in the show's national touring company in 2005 and in 2006 in the Chicago production.

9.

Carole Shelley played the role of Grandma in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot at the Imperial Theatre, beginning performances in October 2008.

10.

Carole Shelley was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 2009.

11.

In 1968 Carole Shelley starred as Gwendolyn Pigeon in the film The Odd Couple.

12.

Carole Shelley was featured as "Aunt Clara" alongside Nicole Kidman and former Wicked co-star Kristin Chenoweth in the 2005 film Bewitched.

13.

Carole Shelley lent her voice to several roles in Disney animated films; notably, Amelia Gabble in The Aristocats, Lady Kluck, Maid Marian's sidekick and lady-in-waiting, in Robin Hood, and Lachesis the Fate in Hercules.

14.

Carole Shelley's final role was a cameo at the beginning of John Mulaney's 2018 comedy special Kid Gorgeous; she played Mulaney's guide around Radio City Music Hall.

15.

Carole Shelley died of cancer on August 31,2018, at the age of 79 in New York City.