An Emmy-winning actor and Ursula voice actor, Pat Carroll, has passed away at the age of 95

He was an Emmy winner for "Caesar's Hour" and the voice of Ursula in "The Little Mermaid." Carroll had been a comedian on television for decades. She was 95 years old. A casting agent, Kerry Karsian, told AP that Carroll died on Saturday at her home on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. As Tara Karsian wrote on Instagram, her family and friends want people to "honor her by laughing out loud at anything today ." In addition to her brilliant talent and love, she leaves her sister Kerry and me with the gift of humor and the ability to laugh despite our sadness. The year Carroll was born was 1927 in Shreveport, Louisiana. Since she was 5 years old, her family has lived in Los Angeles.

She landed her first acting role in 1948 with "Hometown Girl" but found her calling in television. Her appearances on "Caesar's Hour", "Make Room for Daddy" with Danny Thomas, "The DuPont Show with June Allyson," and "The Carol Burnett Show" earned her an Emmy in 1956. In 1965, she co-starred with Lesley Ann Warren as a wicked stepsister in "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella."

As well as playing one of the wicked stepsisters in "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella," she appeared in television production with Lesley Ann Warren in 1965. She also received a Grammy for the recording of “Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein” in 1980. The 1989 Disney movie "The Little Mermaid" introduced her voice to a whole new generation. According to Ron Clements and John Musker, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken didn't pick her as the sea witch because they wanted Joan Collins or Bea Arthur to voice her. The original casting for Elaine Stritch was done before Carroll got the chance to audition.

As a villain, she became one of Disney's most memorable due to her throaty rendition of "Poor Unfortunate Souls." She would often say that Ursula was one of her favorite roles. In her opinion, she was an "ex-Shakespeare actress turned car salesperson." The old thing is to mean! Mean characters fascinate people, Carroll said in an interview. The horrible mean characters of the world distract us from real life in a fatal way since we don't often encounter them. We love seeing one, and this one is a biggie, so it's interesting for us to see it on the big screen." Several sequels, spinoffs, and even theme park rides were filmed featuring her in the role of "Little Mermaid." He also voiced Granny in the English-language dub of Hayao Miyazaki's "My Neighbor Totoro."

source:abcnews