Carleton Carpenter is an American movie/television/stage actor, a magician, author and songwriter.

Before signing to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

, Carpenter was a magician and an actor on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

, beginning with David Merrick

David Merrick

David Merrick was a prolific Tony Award-winning American theatrical producer.-Life and career:Born David Lee Margulois to Jewish parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick graduated from Washington University, then studied law at the Jesuit-run Saint Louis University School of Law...

's first production Bright Boy in 1944, followed by co-starring appearances in Three to Make Ready with Ray Bolger

Ray Bolger

Raymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hank in The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...

, John Murray Anderson's Almanac

John Murray Anderson's Almanac

John Murray Anderson's Almanac is a musical revue, featuring the music of the songwriting team of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, as well as other composers...

and Hotel Paradiso with Bert Lahr

Bert Lahr

Bert Lahr was an American actor and comedian. Lahr is remembered today for his roles as the Cowardly Lion and Kansas farmworker Zeke in The Wizard of Oz, but was also well-known for work in burlesque, vaudeville, and on Broadway.-Early life:Lahr was born in New York City, of German-Jewish heritage...

 and Angela Lansbury

Angela Lansbury

Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...

. He was featured in the racial film Lost Boundaries and then signed with MGM, where he had roles in Summer Stock

Summer Stock

For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...

with Judy Garland

Judy Garland

Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...

, Father of the Bride

Father of the Bride

Father of the Bride may refer to the following:*Father of the Bride , starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor*Father of the Bride , remake of the 1950 film, starring Steve Martin, Diane Keaton and Martin Short...

with Spencer Tracy

Spencer Tracy

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...

, Vengeance Valley

Vengeance Valley

Vengeance Valley is a Western film starring Burt Lancaster, based on the novel by Luke Short. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer failed to renew the copyright on this film in 1978, so it is now in the public domain in the United States.-Plot:...

with Burt Lancaster

Burt Lancaster

Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...

, The Whistle at Eaton Falls with Lloyd Bridges

Lloyd Bridges

Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...

, and the war dramas Take The High Ground and Up Periscope

Up Periscope

Up Periscope is a 1959 World War II drama starring James Garner as a Navy frogman fighting the Japanese. The supporting cast includes Edmond O'Brien, Andra Martin, and Alan Hale, Jr.. The film was written by Richard H. Landau and Robb White from White's novel, produced by Aubrey Schenk, and...

.

He was teamed with Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...

 in the musicals Three Little Words

Three Little Words

"Three Little Words" can refer to:*"Three Little Words" , a 1930 song by Burt Kalmar and Harry Ruby*Three Little Words , a 1950 movie about Kalmar and Ruby*Three Little Words , a British TV game show of the 1970s...

and Two Weeks With Love

Two Weeks with Love

Two Weeks with Love is a 1950 romantic musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Roy Rowland, based on story by John Larkin who co-wrote the screenplay with Dorothy Kingsley.Set in the early 1900s, the film focuses on the Robinson family...

, which featured their million-selling recordings of "Aba Daba Honeymoon

Aba Daba Honeymoon

Aba Daba Honeymoon is a popular song that was written and published by Arthur Fields and Walter Donovan in 1914. Known through its chorus, "Aba daba daba daba daba daba dab, Said the chimpie to the monk; Baba daba daba daba daba daba dab, Said the monkey to the chimp," the first recording of Aba...

" and "Row, Row, Row." His starring roles included Fearless Fagan

Fearless Fagan

Fearless Fagan is a 1952 film directed by Stanley Donen and stars Janet Leigh and Carleton Carpenter. It is about a clown who is drafted into the military and tries to sneak his pet lion into the service....

with Janet Leigh

Janet Leigh

Janet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....

 and Sky Full of Moon with Jan Sterling

Jan Sterling

Jan Sterling was an American actress.Most active in films during the 1950s, Sterling received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The High and the Mighty , and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the same performance...

.

He composed such songs as "Christmas Eve," which was recorded by Billy Eckstine

Billy Eckstine

William Clarence Eckstine was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular...

, "Cabin in the Woods" and "Ev'ry Other Day," which he recorded for MGM Records. In 1943 he authored the words and melody of a song titled "Can we forget." He guest-starred on numerous radio and TV shows. Along with Eva Marie Saint

Eva Marie Saint

Eva Marie Saint is an American actress who has starred in films, on Broadway, and on television in a career spanning seven decades. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama film On the Waterfront , and later starred in the thriller film North by...

, he was one of the featured players on the very early television program "Campus Hoopla" which was produced by NBC (via WNBT-NYC) and which aired from 1946-47.

In addition to his many successful movies during this time, Carpenter is remembered in the 1970s and 1980s as a best-selling mystery novelist. One of his books, Deadhead, was turned into a Broadway musical production. Other books included Games Murderers Play, Cat Got Your Tongue? Only Her Hairdresser Knew, Sleight of Deadly Hand, The Peabody Experience and Stumped. He also had short stories published in the Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen mystery magazines.

Other stage appearances include Hello, Dolly!

Hello, Dolly! (musical)

Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....

, opposite Mary Martin

Mary Martin

Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...

 (which toured Vietnam during the war), The Boys in the Band

The Boys in the Band (play)

The Boys in the Band is a play by Mart Crowley. The off-Broadway production, directed by Robert Moore, opened on April 14, 1968 at Theater Four, where it ran for 1,001 performances, an extremely healthy run for both an off-Broadway production, and one not geared to a mainstream audience...

, Crazy for You

Crazy for You

Crazy for You is a musical with a book by Ken Ludwig, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. Billed as "The New Gershwin Musical Comedy", it is largely based on the songwriting team’s 1930 musical, Girl Crazy, but interpolates songs from several other productions as well...

, and a revival of Kander and Ebb

Kander and Ebb

Kander and Ebb were a highly successful songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb . Known primarily for their stage musicals, Kander and Ebb also scored several movies including their most famous song, the theme song from Martin Scorsese's New York, New York...

's 70 Girls 70.

External links