{{Short description|English-born comedian and actress (1928–2022)}} {{about|the English-born actress|the American actress|Jean Carson}} {{Use British English|date=February 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox person | name = Jeannie Carson | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Jean Shufflebottom | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1928|05|23}} | birth_place = Pudsey, West Riding of Yorkshire, England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2022|08|01|1928|05|23}} | death_place = | death_cause = | other_names = Jean Carson | occupation = Actress, singer, dancer | years_active = 1948–1970 | spouse = {{plainlist| * William Redmond * {{marriage|Biff McGuire|1960|2021|reason=died}}<ref name=WBM>{{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Mike |title=William "Biff" McGuire, Two-Time Tony-Nominated Actor, Dies at 94 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/william-biff-mcguire-two-time-tony-nominated-actor-dies-at-94 |access-date=9 April 2021 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=3 April 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210409011111/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/william-biff-mcguire-two-time-tony-nominated-actor-dies-at-94 |archive-date=9 April 2021}}</ref> }} |children = 2 }}
'''Jeannie Carson McGuire''' (born '''Jean Shufflebottom'''; 23 May 1928 – 1 August 2022) was a British-born American actress,<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Unsung Heroines|url=http://www.musical-theatre.net/html/unsungheroines/jeancarson.html|title=Jean Carson|access-date=3 February 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006164642/http://www.musical-theatre.net/html/unsungheroines/jeancarson.html|archive-date=6 October 2007}}</ref> singer, and dancer. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
==Early life== Born to show business parents in Pudsey, West Riding of Yorkshire,<ref name=k>{{cite news|last1=Gaver|first1=Jack|title=Vivacious Jeannie Carson Is Waiting for New Musical|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4029677/kingsport_timesnews/|agency=Kingsport Times-News|date=16 September 1962|location=Tennessee, Kingsport|page=30|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = 12 January 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref> Carson was originally named Jean Shufflebottom.<ref name="BFI">{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/19471|title=British Film Institute Film & TV Database|access-date=22 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114123836/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/19471|archive-date=14 January 2009|url-status=dead|website=BFI}}</ref> In her early British films, she performed under the name Jean Carson, but later changed her given name to "Jeannie" to avoid confusion with the American actress Jean Carson.<ref name="BFI"/>
==Career== Carson had an early role in ''A Date with a Dream'' (1948). In 1949 she was a principal boy at the Theatre Royal in Birmingham. She left Birmingham and was cast as the head of the chorus in Noël Coward's ''Ace of Clubs''. In 1951 she went into a musical, ''Latin Quarter'', at London Casino.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/783623564/?terms=%22rank%20film%22%20%22jean%20carson%22&match=1|title=Box Office Lessons|newspaper=Birmingham Gazette|date=29 December 1950|page= 4|first=Brian|last=Harvey}}</ref>
Carson acted in ''Love from Judy'' on stage in London. This debuted in 1951 and ran until 1953; the BBC broadcast a film version. Carson was also in the film ''Love in Pawn'' (1953). After producer Max Liebman saw her in ''Love from Judy'', he signed her to a contract to appear on television in the United States,<ref name=k/> starting with a six-episode color version of the Broadway musical ''Best Foot Forward'' and then in a version of ''Heidi''. In January 1953 she released her first recording on the newly formed Philips label, "Barrels and Barrels of Roses".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.45worlds.com/78rpm/record/pb107|title=78 Record: Jean Carson - Barrels And Barrels Of Roses (1953)|via=www.45worlds.com}}</ref>
Carson was in two films for J. Lee Thompson co-starring Diana Dors, ''As Long as They're Happy'' (1955) and ''An Alligator Named Daisy'' (1955). <ref name="group">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|date=30 May 2025|access-date=30 May 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-studios-group-film-productions|title=Forgotten British Studios: Group Film Productions}}</ref> In October 1956, John Davis, managing director of Rank, announced her as one of the actors under contract to Rank that Davis thought would become an international star.<ref name="davis">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/793929220/?terms=%22john%20davis%22%20%22rank%20film%22&match=1|newspaper=Nottingham Evening Post|date=22 Nov 1956|page= 9|first=Thomas|last=Wiseman|title=Mr Davis Takes on Hollywood}}</ref><ref name="tony">{{cite magazine|date=14 March 2025|access-date=14 March 2025|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=The Weird Non-Stardom of Tony Wright|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/the-weird-non-stardom-of-tony-wright/}}</ref>
In 1956, she starred in her own series ''Hey, Jeannie!'',<ref name=k/> which aired on CBS. The series lasted one season before being cancelled in 1957, although six new episodes with a revamped format were broadcast in syndication in 1958 with the title ''The Jeannie Carson Show'', and reruns of ''Hey, Jeannie!'' were aired in primetime during the summer of 1960, also under the title ''The Jeannie Carson Show''.{{Citation needed |date=March 2021}} In the U.S., Carson guest-starred on episodes of ''What's My Line?'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15QT3r05fpg|title=What's My Line? - Robert Wagner; Jeannie Carson [panel] (Feb 24, 1957)|via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> ''Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre'' ("A Dangerous Thing"), ''Wagon Train'' ("The Annie MacGregor Story" S1 E21 1958) and ''General Electric Theatre'' ("Time to Go Now"). On TV she acted in versions of ''Little Women'', ''Berkeley Square'', and ''A Kiss for Cinderella''.
In Britain, Carson was the female lead in ''Rockets Galore'' (1958).<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=21 June 2025|access-date=21 June 2025|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-studios-the-rank-organisation-films-of-1958/|title=Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation Films of 1958}}</ref> In 1960 she was in a short-lived revival of ''Finian's Rainbow'' on Broadway. Carson appeared in the British film ''Seven Keys'' (1961) and on TV starred in versions of ''Quillow and the Giant'', ''What Every Woman Knows'', and ''The Rivals''. She took over the role of Maria in ''The Sound of Music'' on Broadway in 1962. In 1969, she appeared as Marcy Vincente on the soap opera ''Search for Tomorrow''. Oscar-winning actress Anne Revere played her mother, and Anthony George played her husband. The following year, Carson was in ''Blood Red Roses'' on Broadway.
==Personal life and death== In 1960, Carson married her second husband, actor Biff McGuire,<ref name="BFI"/> while both were starring in the Broadway revival of ''Finian's Rainbow''. The couple had two children. They toured together in 1961 in ''Camelot'', with McGuire as King Arthur and Carson as Guenevere. Later, they performed at the Seattle Repertory for fifteen years, often together.<ref name=WBM/><ref>{{cite web |title=Interview with William McGuire and Jeannie Carson - #2 |url=https://archive.org/details/spl_ds_mcguirecarson_01_02 |website=Internet Archive |access-date=June 18, 2024}}</ref>
She became a naturalized United States citizen on 24 May 1965, the day after her 37th birthday.<ref>Alien Registration #10 102 730. Certificate of Naturalization #8677836.</ref>
Her death on 1 August 2022 at the age of 94 went unreported, but her will completed probate in 2023 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.<ref>[https://unicourt.com/case/ca-la23-mcguire-jeannie-carson-decedent-923414 MCGUIRE, JEANNIE CARSON - DECEDENT], unicourt.com. Accessed 4 June 2025.</ref>
==Filmography== * 1948 – ''A Date with a Dream'' * 1953 – ''Love in Pawn'' * 1955 – ''As Long as They're Happy'' * 1955 – ''An Alligator Named Daisy'' * 1957 – ''Rockets Galore!'' (US title: ''Mad Little Island'') * 1958 – ''Little Women''<ref name="Margaret O'Brien">{{cite book|first=Allan R.|last=Ellenberger|year=2000|chapter=Television|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jreJCgAAQBAJ&q=florence-henderson+-wikipedia+%22steel+hour%22&pg=PA205|title=Margaret O'Brien: A Career Chronicle and Biography|publisher=McFarland & Company|page=205|isbn=0-7864-2155-X|access-date=26 November 2016|via=Google Books}}</ref> (CBS Musical) (portraying Jo March) * 1961 – ''Seven Keys'' * 1964 – ''My Fair Lady'' (bit part)
==Broadway appearances== * 1959–63 – ''The Sound of Music''<ref name=pv>[https://www.playbill.com/person/jeannie-carson-vault-0000086777 Profile], playbill.com; accessed 16 March 2022.</ref> * 1960 – ''Finian's Rainbow''<ref name=pv/> * 1970 – ''Blood Red Roses''<ref name=pv/>
== West End appearances ==
* 1952 – Love from Judy * 1966 – Strike a Light!<ref>{{Cite web |title=Production of Strike a Light {{!}} Theatricalia |url=https://theatricalia.com/play/dbq/strike-a-light/production/tad |access-date=2025-12-21 |website=theatricalia.com}}</ref>
== Seattle Repertory Theatre ==
* 1974 – Life with Father * 1984 – The Merry Wives of Windsor<ref>{{Cite web |title=Remembering Biff McGuire {{!}} Seattle Rep |url=https://www.seattlerep.org/about-us/inside-seattle-rep/remembering-biff-mcguire |access-date=2025-12-21 |website=www.seattlerep.org |language=en}}</ref> * 1991 – Inspecting Carol<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seattle Rep Revive Their Inspecting Carol Nov. 19-Dec. 30 {{!}} Playbill |url=https://www.playbill.com/article/seattle-rep-revive-their-inspecting-carol-nov-19-dec-30-com-99836 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615111429/https://www.playbill.com/article/seattle-rep-revive-their-inspecting-carol-nov-19-dec-30-com-99836 |archive-date=15 June 2021 |access-date=2025-12-21 |website=Playbill |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> * 1993 – A Flaw in the Ointment<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seattle Rep's costume sale is all sorts of wicked style {{!}} Queen Anne & Magnolia News |url=https://queenannenews.com/news/2014/mar/03/seattle-reps-costume-sale-is-all-sorts-of-wicked-s/ |access-date=2025-12-21 |website=queenannenews.com}}</ref> * 1995 – The Stoops to Conquer<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stars Of '95 -- Theater {{!}} The Seattle Times |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19951231/2160288/stars-of-95----theater |access-date=2025-12-21 |website=archive.seattletimes.com}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0141257}} * {{IBDB name}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Jeannie}} Category:1928 births Category:2022 deaths Category:British women comedians Category:British expatriate actresses in the United States Category:British musical theatre actresses Category:British film actresses Category:British television actresses Category:People from Pudsey Category:Actresses from West Yorkshire Category:Comedians from West Yorkshire Category:Actors from the City of Leeds Category:American women comedians Category:American musical theatre actresses Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States