Pat Carroll, voice of Ursula in The Little Mermaid, has died aged 95
(Picture: ES Composite)Pat Carroll, who voiced the character Ursula in Disney’s The Little Mermaid has died, at the age of 95.
The American actress was most recognised for bringing the role of the evil octopus to life in the 1989 animated film, and had a strong comedic presence on television for decades, having won an Emmy for classic sitcom Caesar’s Hour.
Carrol’s daughter Kerry Karsian confirmed she died at her home in Cape Cod on Saturday. EW reported that Carroll died from complications of pneumonia.
The star’s second daughter Tara Karsian, who is also an actress, gave tribute along with her sister to their late mother on Instagram. Posting a black-and-white photo of Carroll laughing, Tara wrote beside it: “It is with a heavy heart that I write that my mother, Pat Carroll, has passed away at the grand old age of 95.
“We ask that you honor her by having a raucous laugh at absolutely anything today (and everyday forward) because besides her brilliant talent and love, she leaves my sister Kerry and I with the greatest gift of all, imbuing us with humor and the ability to laugh…even in the saddest of times.
“Someone (apologies as I’ve forgotten who) sent me this meme a while ago. Truer words were never written and this is how we’ll always remember her. See less — with Kerry Karsian.”
Carroll was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1927. At age five, she moved with her family to Los Angeles where she pursued a career in acting. Carroll worked as a civilian actress technician in the US Army in the 1940s, before she enrolled in the Catholic University of America.
Carroll bagged her first movie role in 1948 for Hometown Girl, before she found her feet in televison, starring in several sketch shows in the 1950s and 1960s. The actress showed the true extent of her talents in 1980 one-woman show Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, for which she won a Grammy.
A whole new generation came to know Carroll years later, as she played Ursula in The Little Mermaid. Carroll was in fact not directors Ron Clements and John Musker’s first choice, as they initially wished for Joan Collins or Bea Arthur to take on the role.
Carroll described the character as “fascinating” to play, as she said in an interview: “‘She’s a mean old thing! I think people are fascinated by mean characters.
“There’s a fatal kind of distraction about the horrible mean characters of the world because we don’t meet too many of them in real life. So when we have a chance, theatrically, to see one and this one, she’s a biggie, it’s kind of fascinating for us.”
