Tuesday, September 27, 2011

From Kenny Dodd #6

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6 comments:

Mike Naughton said...

Norman and Shirley Carroll? They were the west coast press agents.

Ole Whitey said...

"Anonymous" didn't get this one- it's Norman and Shirley Carroll.

Buckles said...

Parley Baer once told me that Mr. Carroll was his early tutor in the Press Agentry business.

Jack Ryan said...

Buckles,

Got to know Shirley very well after her circus days when she handled press for Universal Studios Hollywood, the Magic Castle etc.

She was an excellent publicist who taught me many things too.

Jack

Mike Naughton said...

Obit of Shirley who died in January 2011, from BACKSTAGE.COM

After enjoying a vibrant career as a Hollywood publicist, Shirley Carroll O'Connor died in Laguna Hills, California, on Dec. 16. She was 93.

Born in Cleveland, O'Connor moved to the Los Angeles area when she was 17 to attend college. Soon after marrying Norman Carroll O'Connor, a circus ringmaster, in 1945, she became the first female press agent under the big top of the Clyde Beatty, Cole Bros. and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circuses. While serving in that position, O'Connor famously lost eight elephants on Hollywood Boulevard.

During the 1970s, she handled the advertising for many early London and Broadway shows in Los Angeles, such as "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "The Rocky Horror Show." O'Connor also founded and was president of The Carrolls Agency, one of Hollywood's top advertising and public relations firms before it closed in 1980.

She is survived by her son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren.
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Shirley's book LIFE IS A CIRCUS is available at Amazon.com

JACKIE said...

Sincerely I did not recognize Norman and Shirley. I did not meet them until I was doing PR for Ringling in California in 1963. They were some what older then. They handled the PR for Ringling. Very devoted and hard working and wonderful at what they did. Working together Bobby Kay and I never had a problem with them. They had a way of doing things that just got one really involed and devoted too. Jackie