Carol Lawrence

Carol Lawrence
Lawrence in a scene of General Electric Theater
Born	Carolina Maria Laraia (1932-09-05) September 5, 1932 (age 84) Melrose Park, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	1952-present
Spouse(s)	Cosmo Allegretti (m. 1956; div. 1959) Robert Goulet (m. 1963; div. 1981) John Gregory Guydus (m. 1982; div. 1983)
Children	2

Carol Lawrence (born September 5, 1932) is an American actress, most often associated with musical theatre, but who has also appeared extensively on television.

Born Carolina Maria Laraia in Melrose Park, Illinois, her parents were of Italian ancestry. Her father was born in Trivigno, province of Potenza and her maternal family came from the same town. She spent one year at Northwestern University and then left to pursue her career.

Lawrence made her Broadway debut in 1952, in Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1952. She achieved success in the role of Maria in the original Broadway production of West Side Story in 1957, and received a nomination for Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for this role. She played the role for two years, and after an appearance in the short-lived show Saratoga in 1959 she returned to West Side Story for its 1960 season. Among her other Broadway successes were I Do! I Do! (replacement "She/Agnes", 1967) and Kiss of the Spider Woman (1992-93, replacement Spider Woman/Aurora).

She played several roles at The Muny in St. Louis, the largest outdoor theater in the U.S., including Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (1975), Charity in Sweet Charity (1977), and Lucille Early in No, No, Nanette (1990). Among her other musical theatre parts are the title role in Mame (2000 at the Helen Hayes Center for Performing Arts in Nyack, New York) Guenevere in Camelot (opposite husband Robert Goulet),Do I Hear a Waltz at the Pasadena Playhouse (2001) and Follies at the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles in 2002.