When speaking about what it takes to be a real Disney legend, I often think about the impact the person has made on people of multiple generations. The legacy they carry with them, even after death. When thinking about the Disney villain franchise and the incredible actors and actresses who are a part of it, there’s one legend among all of them that fans from all around the world can commend. Pat Carroll, best known as the voice of Ursula in The Little Mermaid (1989), was a force - and a tragic loss in 2022. Let’s take a look at Pat’s life and accomplishments.

Pat Carroll. Image from: https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/television/pat-carroll-emmy-winner-and-voice-of-ursula-dies-at-95-8063208/

Early Days on Broadway

Pat Carroll was born in May 1927 in Shreveport, Louisiana. At the age of 5, Pat and her family moved to Los Angeles, where she would stay all throughout childhood, high school, and university. During her time in LA, she showed interest in stage productions, with her eccentric personality and passion for entertaining. She was quickly thrust into repertory theatre, or stock theatre, where her and a troupe would learn and perform a new show every 1-2 weeks, performing up to 8 times a week. She once said that she was grateful for her time in theatre, because it gave her the intense training she needed to do television later in life. Pat’s Broadway stage debut was in 1947 at the age of 20, in The Goose and the Gander. For the following years she continued on that path, starring in Come What May (1950), Catch A Star (1955), On The Town (1961), Once Upon A Mattress (1961), and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1963). She received her very first Tony nomination for her singing work in Catch A Star.

“Consequently I was doing eight shows a week, always appearing in front of audiences, and I loved it. So television was right up my alley because there was no difference, there were just cameras there.”

— Pat Carroll

Pat Carroll’s Television Debut and On-Screen Successes

In an interview with the Pioneers of Television, Pat recalled how exciting it was to soak in the excitement that was 1950s New York and Los Angeles. Emerging artists and writers for the new entertainment medium, television, and the opportunities that seemed to be arising. Her very first break into television was on The Red Buttons Show in 1953 and was in 4 episodes. Also in 1953, she appeared on The Saturday Night Revue. One of her more famous roles came after in 1954, as the wife of Howard Morris in Caesar’s Hour. It was a sketch comedy show that would show every Saturday night twice. Many of her comedic acting chops were learned from this experience, and really cemented her into the golden age of television scene. She became a series regular on The Danny Thomas Show as Bunny Halper, the wife of a nightclub manager. Over the next 20 years, she would be a regular and have guest appearances on shows such as Busting Loose, The Red Skeleton Hour, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Getting Together, Too Close For Comfort, She’s The Sheriff, and much more. She hit it big on game shows as well with her big personality, participating in You Don't Say, To Tell the Truth, I've Got a Secret and Password.

Pat Carroll and Sid Melton on The Danny Thomas Show. Image from: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/pat-carroll-emmy-winner-voice-ursula-dies-95-rcna40881

Pat also made her way into the movie industry, starring in a couple every decade. Her very first film debut was in Hometown Girl in 1948. She then played roles in Up Front (1951), The Ballad of Josie (1967), With Six You Get Eggroll (1968), The Brothers O’Toole (1973), Racing With The Moon (1984), and more. In 1965 she combined her love of TV acting and film acting, and played Prunella, one of Cinderella’s wicked stepsisters, in the 1965 TV Movie Cinderella by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

“I think [Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett] made it easier for young women who said “I want to do comedy”, to do it.”

— Pat Carroll

Pat Carroll As Ursula in Disney’s The Little Mermaid

Pat had always been vocal about her love for Disney and desire to be a part of the empire. In The Making of The Little Mermaid, she boasted about how much she wanted to work on a Disney animated film. She hadn’t done much voice acting in her career, aside from a few supporting roles in cartoons such as Yogi’s Treasure Hunt, Pound Puppies, Galaxy High School, Foofur, and A Garfield Christmas. When The Little Mermaid was in development, Pat got a call from her agent, asking if she wanted to audition for the role of the villain. She went through the process of auditioning for Ursula about 6 times, and a year after the initial audition, she got the call saying she got the role.

During the process of creating Ursula’s character and adding the manipulative tone to her voice, Pat looked to Howard Ashman, who wrote the lyrics with composer Alan Menken. Howard had major influence on how the story was to be told, as well as with the character designs, largely for Ursula. It was Howard who made the final decision to go with the character design based off of drag queen Divine. Pat would listen to him demo the villainous song “Poor Unfortunate Souls”, and be entranced by his ability to emote for the character.

“I think Howard loved the character of Ursula, I think he really loved her because she was theatrical.”

— Pat Carroll

Pat ended up being a huge fan of the end product, and would represent Ursula in any capacity she could going forward. She returned to the franchise for the sequel, The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, as Morgana, the younger sister of Ursula. She reprised her role of Ursula for Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse, and Mickey’s House of Villains. Pat also got to play Ursula in The Little Mermaid TV series in 1993-1994, combining both of her loves into one. With the appearances of Ursula in video games, Pat is also credited for being a part of the Kingdom Hearts games. She would make appearances at press conferences, Disney conventions, and even sometimes the Disney parks. Herself and Jodi Benson, the voice actress for Ariel, were a part of the promotion for California Adventure’s newest attraction in 2011: The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.

“It’s a feast for the eye and the ear and I think everybody will enjoy it.”

— Pat Carroll on Ariel's Undersea Adventure

Jodi Benson, Alan Menken, Pat Carroll and Sherie Rene Scott. Image from: https://www.zimbio.com/photos/Pat+Carroll/UDR-isg5kk2/Celebs+Visit+Disney+Parks

Her Legacy Lives On

Her career did not halt after The Little Mermaid, but rather continued to grow. She continued on with featuring in television series and movies all the way up until her death in 2022. Her work with Disney grew as time went on too, and she got to provide additional voices to Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, A Goofy Movie, Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, and The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse. Her work on the movie Freedom Writers (2007) and Songcatcher (2000) also garnered her more popularity.

Pat Carroll passed away on July 30, 2022 at the age of 95 due to pneumonia.