Victoria Carroll

{{Short description|American actress, dancer and artist (born 1941)}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Victoria Carroll | image =  | alt =  | caption = | birth_name = Mary Carol Lee Ford | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1941|1|21}} | birth_place = | other_names = {{flatlist| *Victoria Carrol-Bell *Victoria Bell }} | occupation = {{hlist|Actress|dancer|artist}} | years_active = 1964–2013, 2018 | spouse = {{marriage|Michael Bell|1984}} | children = Ashley Bell }} '''Victoria Carroll''' (born '''Mary Carol Lee Ford'''; January 21, 1941), also known as '''Victoria Carrol-Bell''', is an American retired actress, dancer and artist. She is best known as Marie Massey in ''Alice'' (1978–1984).

==Early life== Carroll was born Mary Carol Lee Ford on January 21, 1941.<ref name="From Actress to Artist">{{cite web|url=http://kougarmagazine.com/webissue/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92:victoria-carroll-bell-from-actress-to-artist&catid=15:celebrity-interviews&Itemid=42|title=VICTORIA CARROLL BELL: From Actress to Artist|first=Paula|last=Ficara|website=kougarmagazine.com|access-date=2 August 2017|archive-date=3 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803005122/http://kougarmagazine.com/webissue/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92:victoria-carroll-bell-from-actress-to-artist&catid=15:celebrity-interviews&Itemid=42|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name = "GGSH">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CCUSa_GmDo8C&pg=PA29|title=Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood: Seventy-Five Profiles|first=Tom|last=Lisanti|date=25 September 2007|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786431724|access-date=2 August 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref> During the late 1940s, her whole family performed together on stage as "The World's Youngest Mind Reader".<ref name="GGSH" />

==Career==

===Early career=== In 1941, her parents took 12-day old Victoria to audition for the role of Greer Garson's baby daughter in MGM's ''Blossoms in the Dust''.<ref>[https://groundlings.com/people/victoria-carroll Victoria Carroll Bell profile on the Groudlings website]</ref>

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'',<ref name="From Actress to Artist" /> 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.

Despite her part in a highly praised and successful film, Carroll had small roles in films throughout the 1960s: a part in the chorus in ''Robin and the 7 Hoods'', the dance girl playing Lady Godiva in ''The Art of Love'', the shoeshine girl in ''How to Stuff a Wild Bikini'', the woman presenting Elvis Presley's character with his trophy in ''Spinout'', the girl who is mistaken for a spy by Marty Allen's character in ''The Last of the Secret Agents?'', dance hall girl in ''The Fastest Guitar Alive'', and crime boss Earl Veasey's girlfriend in ''The Road Hustlers''.<ref name="GGSH" /> In 1969, she played the go-go dancer Carissa in the horror film ''Nightmare in Wax''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0fjQNEA8A14C|title=The Horror film: a guide to more than 700 films on videocassette|first=James J.|last=Mulay|date=1 April 1989|publisher=CineBooks|isbn=9780933997233|access-date=2 August 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Her film work briefly continued in the mid-1970s with roles in ''Gemini Affair'', ''Hustle'', ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'', ''The Billion Dollar Hobo'', ''The Lucifer Complex'', and ''Pandemonium''.

===Television career=== 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''.<ref name = "hoganherald">{{cite web|url=http://www.hogansheroesfanclub.com/documents/hogansHeroesHerald/newsletterHogansHeroesHeraldIssue9Fall1998.pdf|title=Hogansheroesfanclub.com|website=www.hogansheroesfanclub.com|access-date=2 August 2017}}</ref> 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''<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com.au/newspapers?id=koofAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4NIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1623,782975&dq=victoria-carroll+hogan%27s-heroes&hl=en|title=TV listings|work=Daytona Beach Morning Journal|publisher=17 November 1983|access-date=3 April 2010}}</ref> 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 <ref>[http://www.groundlings.com/history/beginning.aspx The Groundglins - At The Beginning] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806081239/http://www.groundlings.com/history/beginning.aspx |date=2013-08-06 }} "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."</ref><ref name = "hoganherald"/>

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."<ref name="GGSH" />

===Voice work=== Carroll has also worked extensively as a voice actress. Among her voice-over roles in cartoons are: {{Cast listing| * ''A Pup Named Scooby-Doo'' as Scooby's Mom (in the ep. ''Curse of the Collar'' and ''The Were-Doo of Doo Manor'') * ''The Incredible Hulk'' as the She-Hulk * ''Darkwing Duck'' as Doctor Beatrice Brute * ''Batman: The Animated Series'' as Matron * ''Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers'' as Sadie-Mae Scroggins * ''The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo'' as Kangaroo Waitress * ''Pound Puppies'' as Doc West * ''Wildfire'' as Mrs. Ashworth * ''The Mask: The Animated Series'' as Doctor Amelia Chronos * ''The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'' as Dog Show Judge * ''Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers'' as Bossy, Alice and Pomona * ''DuckTales'' as The Three Witches * ''TaleSpin'' as Princess Grace * ''Timeless Tales from Hallmark'' as the Woman * ''The Smurfs'' * ''Shirt Tales'' * ''Richie Rich''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.voicechasers.com/database/showactor.php?actorid=1155|title=Victoria Carroll|website=Voice Chasers|access-date=2 August 2017|archive-date=January 4, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104155614/http://voicechasers.com/database/showactor.php?actorid=1155|url-status=dead}}</ref> * ''Camp Candy'' * ''The Story of Santa Claus'' * ''Izzy's Quest for Olympic Gold'' as Fortius * ''What-a-Mess'' * ''Paddington Bear'' * ''The Jetsons'' }}

==Artist== She is also an accomplished artist under the pen name '''Victoria K. Bell'''. Carroll specializes in paintings covering the "Nostalgic Era".

In 2010, her work was featured as part of the Diverse Expression at The Universal Art Gallery. It was met with an overwhelmingly positive response.<ref name="From Actress to Artist" />

==Personal life== Carroll married fellow voice actor Michael Bell in 1984.<ref name="GGSH" /> They have a daughter, Ashley Bell, who is also an actress.<ref name="GGSH" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|0141028}} *[http://www.colonytheatre.org/bios/carrollVictorial.html Victoria Carroll at The Colony Theatre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217061329/https://colonytheatre.org/bios/carrollVictorial.html |date=2019-12-17 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Victoria}} Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:Actresses from Los Angeles Category:American film actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:American television actresses Category:American voice actresses Category:20th-century American actresses Category:21st-century American actresses Category:20th-century American women artists Category:21st-century American women artists