A platinum-blonde beauty in the vein of Marilyn Monroe, Carol Wayne became extremely popular acting the bubble-headed ditz. But what made Wayne special was that she instilled a charming wide-eyed innocence into her characters making them lovable and endearing rather than just the typical daffy buxom bimbo with an eye popping figure.
Carol Wayne made her television debut on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. followed by her made her film debut playing a very minor part of a sexy blind date in Blake Edwards’ Gunn (1967) the big screen version of his popular TV series, Peter Gunn, starring Craig Stevens as the super cool gumshoe. Edwards cast Wayne again in his comedy The Party (1967) starring Peter Sellers as a bungling Indian actor who is mistakenly invited to a big time movie producer’s A-list soiree. Wayne portrayed one of the guests—a Hollywood sexpot clad in a pink mini-dress with a plunging neckline that accentuated her 39-24-25 figure quite nicely. Though she doesn’t utter a line of dialog for the first 20 minutes she is on screen, audiences could not help but notice the platinum blonde in the background with the kewpie doll looks, bountiful bosom, and curvy body. For unknown reasons, movies didn’t beckon much for Wayne but she remained very active on television. She popped up on I Spy and I Dream of Jeannie among others.
Carol is best remembered for her 101 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson beginning in 1971 playing the dippy but dazzling Matinee Lady to Carson’s lecherous host Art Fern in the “Tea Time Movie” skits. Wayne wasn’t the first actress to essay the role but once she did the part was hers to keep. Its success was partly due to Wayne’s caught-in-the headlights stare as she appeared not to understand Carson’s bawdy jokes and double-entendres. She usually joined the guests on the couch after the skits and one of her most hilarious lines came when comedian Don Rickles mentioned to Johnny that his mother just moved to Miami. Wayne cooed in her little girl voice, “Oooh, Miami Beach. That’s God’s little waiting room.” Daytime fans were treated to Wayne’s brand of humor as she appeared regularly on the women’s talk show Mantrap in 1971, and the game shows Celebrity Sweepstakes and The Hollywood Squares. But acting roles were few and far between for Carol as she was becoming known for being more of a personality than actress. She had a supporting role in the forgettable battle-of-the-sexes TV-movie Every Man Needs One (1972) starring Ken Berry and Connie Stevens and landed dramatic guest star roles on The Bold Ones: The Lawyers, Mannix, and Emergency! In between she played various roles including distracting secretaries and love-starved women in six episodes of Love, American Style. When The Tonight Show was shortened to an hour in 1980 most of Carson’s skits were jettisoned including the one with Carol Wayne.
he returned to the big screen playing cameo roles in the comedy Savenger Hunt (1979) and the obscure drama Gypsy Angels (1980) starring a pre-Wheel of Fortune Vanna White as a stripper for falls for an amnesiac stunt pilot. Marriage to husband number three, Burt Sugerman, producer of the rock music TV show The Midnight Special, kept Wayne employed making a few appearances on the late night staple. During this time she let her natural hair color grow out and posed semi-nude in Playboy at age forty-two. Wayne won the best reviews of her career and proved she had acting talent when she was cast as an artist’s kinky model complete with garter belts and leather accessories in Heartbreakers (1984) starring Peter Coyote and Nick Mancuso as two men in their thirties who have to finally face growing up. Wayne gave the film’s most poignant performance when after agreeing to a manage a trios with artist Coyote and his pal Mancuso she touchingly reveals her feelings about herself—from what she thinks of her body to her dreams that have passed her by. Unfortunately, Carol Wayne was never able to capitalize on the raves she received from Heartbreakers. The newly divorced actress drowned while on vacation with a companion in Mexico on January 13, 1985 shortly after the movie was released. To this day, her death remains a mystery and foul play has long been suspected. She was survived by her sister Nina and son Alex from her second marriage to photographer Barry Feinstein.
https://youtu.be/-TbejGnVRLs
Happy Birthday also to the late Jody McCrea! Tall, strapping, square-jawed Jody McCrea became a favorite of the teenage audience for his amusing performances as Deadhead in Beach Party (1963) and its sequels Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach, Pajama Party (as Big Lunk), Beach Blanket Bingo, and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini. As the dumb surfer in the bunch, Deadhead could be counted on to say something idiotic in his slow drawl. Though McCrea was always assured a laugh based on how the role was written, it is to his credit that Deadhead came off as sweetly naïve rather than a complete moron.
Read more about Carol Wayne in my book Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood and my interview with Jody McCrea in Hollywood Beach and Surf Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969.