Georgia Carroll

Georgia Carroll (November 18, 1919 – January 14, 2011) was an American singer, model, and actress whose career spanned Broadway, Hollywood, and the big band era. Born in Blooming Grove, Texas, to Roger Carroll and his wife, she grew up in a household where her father raised sheep before the family relocated to Dallas. There she attended Woodrow Wilson High School, graduating in 1937, and has since been inducted into the school's Hall of Fame.

Carroll's early professional life centered on modeling. One of her first positions was with a Dallas department store, and she later moved to New York City, where she signed with the John Powers modeling agency. During her time in New York she also pursued vocal training. A notable early distinction came in 1936, when she served as the model for "The Spirit of the Centennial" statue at the Texas Centennial Exposition at Fair Park in Dallas, a sculpture that remains standing in front of what is now The Women's Museum. Her New York period also brought her to Broadway, where she appeared in the 1940 musical Louisiana Purchase.

Carroll subsequently came to Hollywood after producers sought her for the role of Daisy Mae in a planned film adaptation of Li'l Abner. Her height ultimately disqualified her from the part, as she was taller than the actor cast in the title role. Her screen career began in 1941 with a series of uncredited appearances, including Maisie Was a Lady alongside Lew Ayres and Ann Sothern, Ziegfeld Girl with Judy Garland, and both You're in the Army Now and Navy Blues, in which she appeared with the Navy Blues Sextette. In 1942 she portrayed Betsy Ross in the James Cagney musical Yankee Doodle Dandy. During this period she also continued modeling, appearing in advertisements for products including Jewelite hairbrushes; some of those advertisements were later used by Anne Taintor in works expressing the voice of the modern woman.

In 1943, Carroll joined Kay Kyser's orchestra, Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge, as a featured vocalist. She was given the nickname "Gorgeous Georgia Carroll," a reference widely understood as a joking nod to the professional wrestler George Wagner, who performed under the name Gorgeous George. As a member of Kyser's band she appeared in three films: Around the World, Carolina Blues, and Thousands Cheer, a World War II morale-boosting production filmed in Technicolor. In Thousands Cheer, Carroll delivered a featured solo interlude of the Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown standard "Should I?" during the band's prominent sequence near the film's conclusion.

Carroll married Kyser in 1944 and retired from performing in 1946; Kyser himself retired from performing in 1951. The couple had three children and remained married until his death in 1985. Following retirement, Carroll settled in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She later donated a substantial archive of documents and materials related to Kyser's career to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where the collection is held in the Southern Historical Collection. Carroll died on January 14, 2011.