Carol’s daughter, Keri Karsian, told The Hollywood Reporter that her mother died of pneumonia at her home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
Tara Karsian, Carol’s other daughter, praised the star in an Instagram post on Sunday, asking fans to “honor her by laughing loudly at anything at all today (and every day forward) because along with her incredible talent and love, she’s leaving my country. Me and sister Keri. With the greatest gift ever, we are imbued with a sense of humor and the ability to laugh…even in the toughest times.”
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1927, Carol landed her first major role in the 1948 film Homeland Girl.
Over the next seven decades, she went on to appear on television shows including “The Danny Thomas Show”, “The Red Skelton Show”, “Busting Loose” and “ER” and also starred on “The DuPont Show” with John Alison.
In 1956, she received an Emmy Award for her work on the sitcom Mister Caesar’s “Caesar’s Hour”.
In 1981, she won a Grammy for Best Spoken Speech, Documentary or Drama for the recording of her solo show Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein.
Carol got her first voiceover gig in 1966, for the animated TV series “The Super 6.” In 1988, she voiced the role of a grandmother in the English version of the classic Japanese cartoon “My Neighbor Totoro”. But it was her performance a year later as one of Disney’s most memorable villains, in The Little Mermaid, that catapulted her to international fame. She also provided vocals for the Witch’s signature song, “Poor Unfortunate Souls”.
She later described Ursula’s character as one of her favorites and reprized the role in many of the “Little Mermaid” sequels, spin-offs, video games, and even amusement park rides.
She added that she was “overjoyed when she received a call from Disney to play the role after a year of auditioning six times and preparing her by pretending that Ursula was a former Shakespearean actress who sold used cars.”
“I’ve never enjoyed anything so much in my life and I still get fan mail from kids around the world.”