Carol Wayne

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Carol Wayne
Carol Wayne.jpg
Born
Carol Marie Wayne

(1942-09-06)September 6, 1942
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJanuary 13, 1985(1985-01-13) (aged 42)
Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico
OccupationActress
Years active1966–1985
Spouse(s)
Loreto Cera
​
​
(m. 1965; div. 1967)​

​
​
(m. 1969; div. 1974)​

​
​
(m. 1975; div. 1980)​
Children1
RelativesNina Wayne (sister)

Carol Marie Wayne (September 6, 1942 – January 13, 1985) was an American television and film actress. She made numerous appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as the Matinee Lady in the Art Fern's Tea Time Movie sketches.

Early life[]

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Wayne began her show business career as a teenage figure skater in the Ice Capades along with her younger sister, Nina Wayne.[1] The Wayne Sisters later became showgirls of the Folies Bergère at the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Carol followed Nina to Hollywood in the mid-1960s, and the sisters began appearing in TV shows of the era.

Career[]

Wayne did television guest shots on I Spy (as the title character in the episode "Trouble with Temple"), Bewitched (as a rabbit turned into a cocktail bunny), I Dream of Jeannie (as dim-witted starlet Bootsie Nightingale), Love American Style, Emergency! and The Fall Guy, and appeared in many sketches on The Red Skelton Show.

Wayne said she was "discovered" at a Hollywood party and auditioned for The Tonight Show after appearances as a Las Vegas chorine.[2][3]

She gained her greatest fame for appearances (1967–1984) on The Tonight Show[citation needed] including 100-plus appearances (1971–1984) as the buxom Matinée Lady on The Tonight Show in Johnny Carson's popular Art Fern's Tea Time Movie sketches, which were filled with sexual double entendres. After her death, Carson kept the Art Fern character off the air for most of the next year. He eventually hired Danuta Wesley and later Teresa Ganzel to be his new Matinée Lady.

Wayne made appearances on several game shows during the 1970s including Mantrap and Hollywood Squares. She was a regular panelist on Celebrity Sweepstakes. She landed roles in several films, including Gunn, The Party (both directed by Blake Edwards), Scavenger Hunt, Savannah Smiles and Surf II. Her final onscreen appearance came in the 1984 drama Heartbreakers.

In February 1984, Wayne appeared nude in a pictorial for Playboy magazine.[2] The same year, she filed for bankruptcy.[4][5][6]

Personal life[]

Wayne was married three times. She married her first husband Loreto “Larry” Cera on May 1, 1965; they divorced in June 1967. In 1969, Wayne married her second husband, rock-music photographer Barry Feinstein, with whom she had a son, Alex Feinstein (b. 1970).[3][citation needed] The couple divorced in 1974. A year later, in 1975, she married television and film producer Burt Sugarman, who served as producer on Celebrity Sweepstakes.[7] They divorced in 1980.[8]

Wayne told Johnny Carson in an April 30, 1974, interview that she enjoyed gardening and growing bonsai trees.

Death[]

In January 1985, Wayne and companion David E. Durston[9][5][10] were vacationing at the Las Hadas Resort in Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico. After they had an argument, Wayne reportedly took a walk on the beach. Three days later, a local fisherman found Wayne's body in the shallow bay. An autopsy performed in Mexico revealed no signs of alcohol or other drugs in her body. Her death was ruled "accidental."[11][6]

Filmography[]

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1967 Gunn Ernestine
1968 The Party June Warren
1979 Scavenger Hunt Nurse
1980 Gypsy Angels Waitress
1982 Savannah Smiles Doreen
1984 Surf II Mrs. O'Finlay Alternative title: Surf II: The End of the Trilogy
1984 Heartbreakers Candy
1984 E. Nick: A Legend in His Own Mind Regine
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1966 The Man from U.N.C.L.E Ginger LaVeer Episode: "The Super-Colossal Affair"
1966 The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Shelia Episode: "The Faustus Affair"
1967 I Spy Temple Episode: "The Trouble with Temple"
1967 Occasional Wife Miss Orange Grove Episode: "The New Secretary"
1967 I Dream of Jeannie Bootsie Nightingale Episode: "Here Comes Bootsie Nightingale"
1969 Bewitched Bunny Episode: "A Bunny for Tabitha"
1970 The Red Skelton Show NBC Soundstage Tour Guide
Chambermaid 		Episodes: "The Magic Act"
"The Private Detective"
1970–1972 Love, American Style Various 6 episodes
1971 Sarge Receptionist Episode: "Psst! Wanna Buy a Dirty Picture?"
1971 The Bold Ones: The Lawyers Christie Mullins Episode: "The Letter of the Law"
1971–1984 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Art Fern's Tea-Time Movie Lady[12] Multiple episodes
1972 Mannix Bobbi Episode: "A Puzzle for One"
1972 Every Man Needs One Nancy Television movie
1973 The Girl with Something Extra Mimi Episode: "John & Sally & Fred & Linda"
1974 Medical Center Blanche Episode: "Adults Only"
1974 Emergency! Renee, Miss October Episode: "The Screenwriter"
1974-1976 Celebrity Sweepstakes Herself (regular panelist)[13][14] Television game show
1979 Heaven on Earth Television movie
1981 The Big Black Pill Allegra Farrenpour Television movie
1981 The Fall Guy Rose Episodes: "The Meek Shall Inherit Rhonda"
"The Japanese Connection"

References[]

  1. ^ "Carol Wayne". Rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Playboy Magazine February 1984 vol.31, no.2". Vintageplayboymags.co.uk. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Carol Wayne, Sexy Blonde on Carson Show, Drowns". Los Angeles Times. January 14, 1985. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  4. ^ Austin, John (November 1, 1993). hollywood's greatest mysteries. SP Books. ISBN 9781561712588. Retrieved July 16, 2018 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Austin, John (July 16, 1994). Hollywood's Babylon Women. SP Books. p. 93. Retrieved July 16, 2018 – via Internet Archive. Wayne.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "Carol Wayne / Mysterious Death of Carol Wayne". Tvparty.com. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  7. ^ Beale, Lauren (August 2, 2011). "Mary Hart, Burt Sugarman buy unit at Ritz-Carlton Residences". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  8. ^ "Carol Wayne, TV Comedienne, Dies". Los Angeles Times. January 15, 1985. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  9. ^ Austin, John (July 16, 1991). More of Hollywood's Unsolved Mysteries. SP Books. ISBN 9780944007730. Retrieved July 16, 2018 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ Fleming, E. J. (October 2, 2015). Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites: Seventeen Driving Tours with Directions and the Full Story, 2d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9781476618500. Retrieved July 16, 2018 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ Austin, John (1991). More of Hollywood's Unsolved Mysteries. SP Books. p. 98. ISBN 0-944007-73-2.
  12. ^ Panama Red (December 20, 2013). "Carol Wayne on the Tonight Show wearing a Knotted Shirt". YouTube. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  13. ^ The Museum of Classic Chicago Television (www.FuzzyMemories.TV) (January 31, 2015). "WAVE Channel 3 - Celebrity Sweepstakes (Opening, 1975)". YouTube. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  14. ^ "Celebrity Sweepstakes--Alan Sues demonstrates comical irony". YouTube. January 1, 2010. Retrieved July 16, 2018.

External links[]

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