Joan Carroll (born January 18, 1931, Elizabeth, New Jersey) was a successful child star in movies between 1938 and 1948.Carroll was born Joan Felt in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to Wright L. and Freda B Felt. Her father was a government electrical engineer, and her mother was a club and stage pianist. Carroll was performing locally by age 4. Her family moved to California in 1936, and her stage name was changed to Carol and then Carroll.Carroll became an accomplished child actress, scoring personal successes on Broadway in the hit musical Panama Hattie, and the 1940 film, Primrose Path, as Ginger Rogers's younger sister. Carroll became RKO Radio Pictures' resident juvenile personality in both "A" and "B" pictures. RKO starred Carroll in two zany comedy vehicles, Obliging Young Lady and Petticoat Larceny.She continued to work in films as an adolescent, but less frequently. Two of her best-remembered pictures came from this period: Meet Me In St. Louis (1944) as Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien's sister, and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), in which she played a troubled teenager with an estranged father.Currently residing in the American Southwest, Joan and her brother donated a historic family lamp to the Nevada State Museum on July 7, 2011. The lamp was originally given to her father, Wright Lafayette Felt, who was the Public Works Administrator for Nevada at the time the Hoover Dam was built. The lamp was created out of materials used in the construction of the 155-mile, $900,000 power line to the Hoover Dam, and was presented to him by the Lincoln County Power District No. 1 on Sept. 25, 1937, for his assistance with the project.
When she wasn't acting, she was either ice-skating or playing the piano. She once captured fifth prize in a West Coast (USA) ice-skating competition in 1939 and played the piano in the footsteps of her mother, who appeared in concerts and on radio in her time.
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Up until 1940 she was the only child star to be summoned from Hollywood in order to appear in the leading role of a Broadway musical.
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Around 1940 she chose the name "Carroll" because she said it sounded musical.
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Des Broadways liebstes Kind
1969
TV Mini-Series
The Bells of St. Mary's
1945
Patricia 'Patsy' Gallagher
The Clock
1945
Man in Penn Station (uncredited)
Tomorrow, the World!
1944
Pat Frame
Meet Me in St. Louis
1944
Agnes Smith
Petticoat Larceny
1943
Joan Mitchell / Small Change
Obliging Young Lady
1942
Bridget Potter
Anne of Windy Poplars
1940
Betty Grayson
Primrose Path
1940
Honeybell
Laddie
1940
Sister Stanton
Barricade
1939
Winifred Ward (as Joan Carol)
A Child Is Born
1939
Little Girl (uncredited)
Tower of London
1939
Lady Mowbray (uncredited)
Mr. Moto's Last Warning
1939
Mary Delacour (as Joan Carol)
Two Sisters
1938
Sally, as a child
Gateway
1938
Child (uncredited)
Walking Down Broadway
1938
Sunny Martin (as Joan Carol)
One Mile from Heaven
1937
Sunny (as Joan Carol)
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1951
TV Series
Herself
Cavalcade of Stars
1951
TV Series
Herself - Guest Actress
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 4
1942
Documentary short
Herself
Picture People No. 4: Stars Day Off
1941
Documentary short
Herself
Picture People No. 1: Stars in Defense
1941
Short
Herself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Ingrid
1984
Documentary
Herself, clip from 'Bells of St. Mary's' (uncredited)