June Carroll
June Carroll (1917 – May 16, 2004) was an American lyricist, singer and actress.
Born June Sillman in Detroit, Michigan. In 1945, she wrote songs for the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans musical Western The Man From Oklahoma as well as was the co-writer for An Angel Comes to Brooklyn, which she also acted in as the character Kay .[1][2] In the following year, Carrol wrote the lyrics as well as co-wrote the book with Robert Duke for the 1946 musical comedy play If the Show Fits.[3][4] Carroll later appeared in the Broadway musical New Faces of 1952, introducing the now-standard "Guess Who I Saw Today", by Elisse Boyd and Murray Grand, as well as two songs that she had written with Arthur Siegel,[5] "Penny Candy" and "Love Is a Simple Thing".[6] The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra recorded "Love Is a Simple Thing", as well as Steve Lawrence having recorded the song for his album ...All About Love (1959). The first verse of the song is the following:[7]
Love is a simple thing
Love is a silver ring
Shiny as a ribbon bow, soft as a quiet snow
Love is a nursery rhyme
Old as the tick of time
She and Siegel also wrote "Monotonous", introduced by Eartha Kitt in the show.[8] For the show, the song was a showstopper (a performance that generates so much applause that the production is temporarily paused).[1]
Personal life
[edit source]She was the sister of the Broadway producer Leonard Sillman, who produced New Faces of 1952, and the wife of Sidney Carroll, the screenwriter. She had four children, including composer Steve Reich from her first marriage, in 1935, as well as Leonard Reich, and Jonathan Carroll and David Carroll, American authors, from her second marriage, in 1940.
Carroll died from complications of Parkinson's disease in Los Angeles at the age of 86.[9]
References
[edit source]- 1 2 "June Carroll - Entertainment News, Obituary, Media - Variety". www.variety.com. Archived from the original on 2012-11-12. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
- ↑ "An Angel Comes to Brooklyn (1945) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- ↑ "If the Shoe Fits". New York Daily News. December 7, 1946. p. 209.
- ↑ "If the Shoe Fits – Broadway Show – Musical | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
- ↑ "ACE Repertory". www.ascap.com. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
- ↑ (Album notes), Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1952, RCA Victor LOC 1008 Song credits from New Faces of 1952
- ↑ Steve Lawrence – Love Is A Simple Thing, retrieved 2026-04-22
- ↑ "June Carroll, 86, singer, lyricist,". Newsday. May 23, 2004. p. 34.
- ↑ "Playbill News: June Carroll, Performer and Lyricist for New Faces and Other Shows, Dead at 86". www.playbill.com. Archived from the original on 2005-02-28. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
External links
[edit source]
- June Carroll at IMDb
- June Carroll at Find a Grave
- June Carroll at the Internet Broadway Database
- June Carroll at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
- 1917 births
- 2004 deaths
- American musical theatre lyricists
- American women lyricists
- American stage actresses
- Jewish American actresses
- Actresses from Detroit
- 20th-century American songwriters
- Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
- 20th-century American women singers
- 20th-century American singers
- 20th-century American Jews
- 21st-century American Jews
- 21st-century American women