Carole Shelley
1939-2018
British born actress Carole Shelley died last Friday at the age of 79. Shelley was best known as half of the Pigeon Sisters in Neil Simon's classic comedy, "The Odd Couple". She played Gwendolyn Pigeon who lived with her sister Cecily (played by Monica Evans) in an apartment upstairs from Oscar and Felix. They originated the roles in 1965 when the play debuted on Broadway, went on to reprise the roles in the 1968 film adaptation, and even appeared in four episodes of the TV series in its first season.
Shelley may be best known as Gwendolyn Pigeon, but her Broadway career was a full one. She won a Tony Award in 1979 for her role in "The Elephant Man", and was nominated for Tonys on three other occasions. She was an original cast member of the long running musical "Wicked", she played Madame Morrible, and she appeared most recently on Broadway in 2013 in "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder". She has 49 movie and TV acting credits listed in IMDB, including the outstanding "Quiz Show" (1995) and several voice over roles in Disney animated films.
I remember seeing a play at the Pittsburgh Public Theater in 2006 called "The Secret Letters of Jackie and Marilyn". It was essentially a two woman play with actresses portraying Jackie Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. However, there was a third woman in the play who served as sort of Narrator/Greek Chorus, and I recall that her voice sounded SO familiar as I was watching the play. When I checked the Program at intermission I learned that it was Carole Shelley, most famously known as one-half of Neil Simon's Pigeon Sisters. I thought that that was very cool to see her in a play in Pittsburgh forty years after first seeing her in the movie version of "The Odd Couple". And it was only today, after reading her obituary, that I realized what a full and active career she had.
RIP Carole Shelley.
The Pigeon Sisters
Carole Shelley and Monica Evans
They remained close friends all of their lives.
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