About June Carroll
June Carroll was a notable figure. Carroll died in 2004 at the age of 87.
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60 Seconds Life Story
June Carroll was a multi-talented American lyricist, singer, and actress whose career spanned decades of stage
June Carroll
d. 2004
60 Seconds: June Carroll's Life Story
A look at the life and career of American lyricist, singer, and actress June Carroll.
Transcript
June Carroll was a multi-talented American lyricist, singer, and actress whose career spanned decades of stage and film. Born June Sillman in Detroit, she began her creative journey contributing songs to 1940s westerns and musical comedies. By 1952, she rose to prominence in the Broadway musical New Faces of 1952, where she showcased both her acting and songwriting skills. She famously introduced the song "Guess Who I Saw Today" and co-wrote hits like "Love Is a Simple Thing" and "Monotonous." Beyond her professional achievements, she was a mother to four children, including composer Steve Reich and authors Jonathan and David Carroll. After a prolific life in the arts, she passed away in Los Angeles in 2004 from complications of Parkinson's disease at the age of 87.
Play the illustrated life story above, or read the full biography on this page.
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Full Biography
|June Carroll (1917 – May 16, 2004) was an American lyricist, singer and actress.
Born June Sillman in Detroit, Michigan. In 1945, she wrote songs for the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans musical Western The Man From Oklahoma as well as was the co-writer for An Angel Comes to Brooklyn, which she also acted in as the character Kay . In the following year, Carrol wrote the lyrics as well as co-wrote the book with Robert Duke for the 1946 musical comedy play If the Show Fits. Carroll later appeared in the Broadway musical New Faces of 1952, introducing the now-standard "Guess Who I Saw Today", by Elisse Boyd and Murray Grand, as well as two songs that she had written with Arthur Siegel, "Penny Candy" and "Love Is a Simple Thing". The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra recorded "Love Is a Simple Thing", as well as Steve Lawrence having recorded the song for his album ...All About Love (1959). The first verse of the song is the following:
Love is a simple thing
Love is a silver ring
Shiny as a ribbon bow, soft as a quiet snow
Love is a nursery rhyme
Old as the tick of time
She and Siegel also wrote "Monotonous", introduced by Eartha Kitt in the show. For the show, the song was a showstopper (a performance that generates so much applause that the production is temporarily paused).
Personal life
She was the sister of the Broadway producer Leonard Sillman, who produced New Faces of 1952, and the wife of Sidney Carroll, the screenwriter. She had four children, including composer Steve Reich from her first marriage, in 1935, as well as Leonard Reich, and Jonathan Carroll and David Carroll, American authors, from her second marriage, in 1940.
Carroll died from complications of Parkinson's disease in Los Angeles at the age of 86.
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Sources
- Wikipedia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Carroll
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sep 26, 2026
- View article
- Sep 26, 2026
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