Carleton Carpenter, an actor whose lanky, aw-shucks cornpone good looks made him a familiar supporting presence opposite such leading ladies as Debbie Reynolds, Judy Garland and Elizabeth Taylor throughout the 1950s, died today in Warwick, New York, following years of declining health. He was 95.
His death was announced by spokesperson Kevin McAnarney.
Born Carleton Upham Carpenter in Bennington, Vermont, Carpenter served as a Seabee in the U.S. Navy during World War II, helping to build the airstrip from which the Enola Gay would later take off for its flight to Hiroshima. By the time of the 1945 atomic bombing, Carpenter had started his Broadway career with a role in David Merrick’s 1944 production Bright Boy.
Other Broadway roles would arrive in quick succession: Carpenter appeared in Three to Make Ready with Ray Bolger (1944), The Magic Touch (1947), John Murray Anderson’s Almanac (1953) and Hotel Paradiso (1957).
Carpenter’s TV and film credits developed alongside his stage career. He was a featured player on NBC’s Campus Hoopla (1946-47), and was brought to Hollywood by independent producer Louis de Rochemont in 1949 for a supporting role in the controversial drama Lost Boundaries. The following year, Carpenter would appear in three films after signing with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: Father of the Bride, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Spencer Tracy, and Summer Stock, starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.
Also in 1950, Carpenter gained his greatest fame teaming with Debbie Reynolds in two films: Three Little Words and Two Weeks with Love. It was in the latter film that the duo sang, in rapid-fire tongue-twister mode, “Abba Dabba Honeymoon,” a novelty song (“Baba daba daba daba daba daba dab, said the monkey to the chimp”) that would hit #3 on the Billboard charts and become a signature tune for Reynolds.
Eventually Carpenter would move from film to focus primarily on stage, television and radio, with TV roles in The Millionaire and, in 1954, a TV production of Kurt Weill’s Lady in the Dark starring Ann Sothern. In 1963, he played defendant Peter Brent in the Perry Mason episode “The Case of the Lover’s Leap.”
Later stage appearances include Hello, Dolly!, opposite Mary Martin (which toured Vietnam during the war and was filmed as a one-hour NBC-TV special), The Boys in the Band, Dylan, Crazy For You, and the City Center Encores! revival of Kander and Ebb’s 70, Girls, 70.
Carpenter also had a long career as a writer and song composer. He wrote stage material for his old friend Reynolds, as well as Kaye Ballard, Marlene Dietrich and Hermione Gingold, as well as scripts for films and television. In the 1970s and 1980s, he wrote such mystery novels as Deadhead, Games Murderers Play, Cat Got Your Tongue?, Stumped, Only Her Hairdresser Knew, and others. His memoir, The Absolute Joy of Work, was published in 2016.
Among the songs Carpenter composed were “Christmas Eve,” recorded by Billy Eckstine, “Cabin in the Woods” and “Ev’ry Other Day,” which he recorded for MGM Records and sang in the 1951 film The Whistle at Eaton Falls. He also wrote the musical Northern Boulevard, produced by actress Rosetta LeNoire.
In 2012, Carpenter received a lifetime achievement award from the Hollywood film organization Cinecon, presented to him by Debbie Reynolds.
Carpenter leaves no known survivors. A memorial will be announced later.
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