Pat Carroll, Disney villain Ursula's voice in "The Little Mermaid," passes away at 95

Hollywood actor and comedian Pat Carroll who spent decades on television before transitioning to a voiceover career in which she played the evil sea witch Ursula in The Little Mermaid, has passed away. She was 95 years old.

Hollywood actor and comedian Pat Carroll who spent decades on television before transitioning to a voiceover career in which she played the evil sea witch Ursula in The Little Mermaid, has passed away. She was 95 years old. Carroll died Saturday of pneumonia at her home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, her daughter Kerry Karsian told The Hollywood Reporter.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Red Buttons, Jimmy Durante, Mickey Rooney, Steve Allen, and Charley Weaver were among those who used Carroll to make their presentations funnier because of her bubbly nature, screwball humour, and exquisite timing. In 1957, her antics on Caesar's Hour helped her win an Emmy, and the following year, she received a nomination for her contributions to the venerable variety programme. In a 2013 interview with Kliph Nesteroff, Carroll compared the Chicago Cubs' renowned double-play trio of Tinkers, Evers, and Chance to Howard Morris, Carl Reiner, and Sid Caesar on Caesar's Hour.

"I learned so much about comedy from watching those three work together. It was unfailing," Carroll said. "They worked together for so long that they had that innate sense of each other's timing. It was impossible for them to fumble. We did two shows every Saturday night because one was for the West Coast and one was for the East Coast. If they totally abhorred a sketch they did, those three would sit in Sid's dressing room with the writers and write a brand new sketch. Yes, amazing." For the next two decades, the bubbly blonde always seemed to pop up on TV.

Carroll portrayed Bunny Halper, the vivacious wife of nightclub owner Charley Halper (Sid Melton), on The Danny Thomas Show for three seasons in the early 1960s; Hope Stinson, who co-owned a newspaper with Ted Knight's character on Too Close for Comfort's final season (1986-87); and Suzanne Somers on the 1987-89 television series She's the Sheriff. Her TV credits also included Cinderella, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Love, American Style, My Three Sons, Police Woman, Busting Loose, The Love Boat, Trapper John, M.D., Evening Shade, Designing Women and ER.

For her depiction of the author, the actress won a Drama Desk Award, besting competitors Moore, Susan Sarandon, Phyllis Frelich, and Blythe Danner. Carroll and Lee Karsian were married from 1955 until their divorce in 1976. They had three children together: actress Tara, casting director Kerry, and son Sean (he died on the same date as his mom 13 years ago). (ANI)

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