Carol Richards

Carol Richards, born Carol June Vosburgh on June 6, 1922, in Harvard, Illinois, was an American singer, actress, and Broadway performer who built a career spanning radio, television, film, recording, and the stage. The daughter of George and Martha Vosburgh, she grew up with three siblings; her father was employed by the Northwestern Railroad. She began performing at age four, though her mother halted her appearances for several years, allowing her to return to the stage only at age eleven. Richards adopted her stage name in honor of her favorite nephew.

Her professional career took shape first in radio, where she worked as an actress at an Indianapolis station before being offered a position as a vocalist — a transition that, by her own account, defined the rest of her professional life. In her early twenties she won a Bob Hope talent contest, relocated to Hollywood, and quickly established herself across multiple entertainment platforms. She appeared on television programs including I Love Lucy, Name That Tune, and The Saturday Night Revue, as well as variety programs hosted by Dennis Day, Edgar Bergen, and Ezio Pinza. She held recurring roles on The Pinky Lee Show from April to November 1950, on The Ralph Edwards Show from January to May 1952, and on The Bob Crosby Show from 1953 to 1957, where she both sang and performed in dramatic capacities.

Richards signed with Decca Records in 1949, making her debut on the label with "I Wish I Had a Wishbone," accompanied by Sonny Burke and his orchestra. In 1950 she and Bing Crosby recorded "Sunshine Cake" for Decca, backed by Victor Young's orchestra and Jeff Alexander's chorus, and the two later recorded "Silver Bells," the duet for which Richards became particularly well known. In 1956 she recorded "Intrigue," the theme from the film Foreign Intrigue, for RCA Victor.

Her work in film was largely as a vocal double. In The Petty Girl (1950) she supplied the singing voices for both Joan Caulfield and Movita Castaneda. She served as the voice double for Vera-Ellen in Call Me Madam (1953), for Betta St. John in The Robe (1953), and for Cyd Charisse in Brigadoon (1954), Deep in My Heart (1954), It's Always Fair Weather (1955), and Silk Stockings (1957). Her voice also appeared on the soundtrack album from The Robe, which led to a $400,000 lawsuit she filed against Decca Records and M.C.A. Artists, alleging that her recording had been used beyond the scope she had authorized.

In personal appearances Richards worked frequently alongside Danny Kaye, Jerry Lewis, and Bob Hope, and performed with the Russ Morgan and Desi Arnaz Bands. In December 1951 she joined ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and accordionist Domenick Frontiere on a ten-day tour of fourteen military hospitals under the name "Operation Santa Claus," during which 10,000 pounds of donated gifts were distributed to patients. She also performed at venues including Ciro's and the Shamrock Hotel. After relocating to Chicago in the 1960s, Richards appeared regularly on Don McNeill's radio program The Breakfast Club and continued an active schedule of club engagements.

Her Broadway career extended from 1963 to 1982 and included productions such as Here's Love, Half a Sixpence, Mame, Company, and Cats, among others.

Richards married five times. Her first marriage, to Bayard Lutzhoff, took place in 1938 when she was sixteen and ended in divorce in 1948. She married Carl Altman in 1950; that marriage ended in 1952. During a 1957 Chicago engagement she met dentist Andrew Mitran, whom she married; they had two children together before Mitran died of a brain tumor in 1961. In 1962 she married Howard Kamin, with whom she had one child and moved to Boston; they divorced in 1967. She subsequently married Edward Swiedler, and the two remained together for forty years. Richards had five children, nineteen grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. After marrying Swiedler she stepped away from performing and pursued visual art, completing sculptures, pastels, and oil paintings, and co-authored a book, Letters from the Cosmos, with her husband.

Richards died of kidney failure on March 16, 2007, at Indian River Memorial Hospital in Vero Beach, Florida. She was eighty-four years old.