Carol Locatell

Carol Locatell (December 13, 1940 – April 11, 2023) was an American actress born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in San Mateo, California. She attended San Francisco State University before leaving to join a touring production of The Odd Couple, a decision that launched a career spanning stage, film, and television across more than five decades. She was married to musician, songwriter, and composer Gregory Prestopino, and the couple divided their time between New York City and Thousand Oaks, California. Locatell died of cancer on April 11, 2023, at her Sherman Oaks home at the age of 82, survived by her husband.

Theater was Locatell's preferred medium, and her stage work ranged from regional productions to a Broadway career that extended from 1967 to 1995. Her Los Angeles appearance in The Gin Game in 1976 was among her most notable theatrical engagements outside of New York. On Broadway, her credits included The Odd Couple, Broadway Bound in 1986, The Shadow Box in 1994, The Rose Tattoo in 1995, and the play Broadway Boy.

Locatell's film career began with a role in the 1973 film Coffy. She went on to appear in three Burt Reynolds films — Paternity, Best Friends, and Sharky's Machine — and became widely recognized for her portrayal of the foul-mouthed Ethel Hubbard in the 1985 slasher film Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. Her television work included guest appearances on Bonanza, M*A*S*H, ER, The Practice, 7th Heaven, Touched by an Angel, Without a Trace, and Grey's Anatomy. In 2014, she appeared in the sixth episode of the fourth season of Scandal, the Shonda Rhimes political drama series, playing former First Lady Bitsy Cooper.