Carleton Carpenter

Carleton Upham Carpenter Jr. (July 10, 1926 – January 31, 2022) was an American actor, magician, songwriter, and novelist whose career spanned stage, film, television, and radio across more than seven decades. Born in Bennington, Vermont, where he attended Bennington High School, he was the son of Carleton Upham Carpenter Sr. During World War II, Carpenter served as a Seabee in the U.S. Navy, a posting that placed him among the personnel who constructed the airstrip from which the Enola Gay departed on its mission to bomb Hiroshima. He later lived in Warwick, New York, where he died on January 31, 2022, at the age of 95.

Carpenter's performing career began with magic and stage work, and his Broadway debut came in 1944 with Bright Boy, which was also the first production mounted by David Merrick. Subsequent Broadway appearances included Career Angel, The Magic Touch, and Three to Make Ready, in which he co-starred alongside Ray Bolger. He also appeared in John Murray Anderson's Almanac and the farce Hotel Paradiso, and his stage work continued as late as 1993, encompassing productions such as Hello, Dolly! opposite Mary Martin — a production that toured Vietnam during the war and was filmed as a one-hour NBC-TV special — as well as The Boys in the Band, Dylan, Crazy for You, and the City Center revival of Kander and Ebb's 70, Girls, 70. He was still taking stage roles as recently as 2015.

Before his Broadway career was fully established, Carpenter appeared as a featured player on the early NBC television program Campus Hoopla, broadcast via WNBT in New York City from 1946 to 1947. His transition to film came in 1949, when independent producer Louis de Rochemont brought him to Hollywood to play the boyfriend in Lost Boundaries. De Rochemont cast him again two years later in The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951). In 1950, Carpenter signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he made eight films over three years: Father of the Bride, Three Little Words, Summer Stock, Two Weeks with Love, Vengeance Valley, Fearless Fagan, Sky Full of Moon, and Take the High Ground. Fearless Fagan and Sky Full of Moon were his two leading roles at the studio. His collaborations with Debbie Reynolds during this period brought him particular public recognition. In Three Little Words, the two performed "I Wanna Be Loved by You" in a guest sequence as vaudeville players Dan Healy and Helen Kane, with Reynolds dubbed by Kane herself. Their duet "Aba Daba Honeymoon" from Two Weeks with Love became the first soundtrack recording to reach the top of the charts as a gold record, peaking at number three on the Billboard chart. Carpenter departed MGM after 1953, redirecting his focus to stage, television, and radio. He returned to film in 1959 with Up Periscope for Warner Brothers, and later appeared in the independent productions Cauliflower Cupids (1970) and Some of My Best Friends Are... (1971), in which he played the character Miss Untouchable.

His television work included a 1954 production of Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark alongside Ann Sothern, which he also recorded for RCA Victor Records. In 1957 he portrayed George "Tecumseh" McGuire in an episode of Men of Annapolis, and in 1959 he played Gilbert Burton, the recipient of one million dollars, in an episode of The Millionaire. A 1963 appearance on Perry Mason cast him as defendant Peter Brent in "The Case of the Lover's Leap."

As a songwriter, Carpenter composed "Christmas Eve," recorded by Billy Eckstine, as well as "Cabin in the Woods" and "Ev'ry Other Day," the latter of which he recorded for MGM Records and performed on screen in The Whistle at Eaton Falls. In 1943 he wrote both the words and melody for "Can We Forget," and his additional compositions include "I Wouldn't Mind," "A Little Love," and "Come Away." He also wrote the musical Northern Boulevard, which was produced in New York City by actress Rosetta LeNoire. Beyond songwriting, Carpenter wrote material for Debbie Reynolds, Kaye Ballard, Marlene Dietrich, and Hermione Gingold, and contributed scripts for film and television productions.

Carpenter was also a published mystery novelist, producing a series of books during the 1970s and 1980s that included Deadhead, Games Murderers Play, Cat Got Your Tongue?, Only Her Hairdresser Knew, Sleight of Deadly Hand, The Peabody Experience, and Stumped. His memoir, The Absolute Joy of Work, was published in 2016. In 2012, the Hollywood film organization Cinecon presented him with a lifetime achievement award, which was delivered in person by Debbie Reynolds.