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IMDbPro

Karen Carpenter(1950-1983)

  • Actress
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Karen Carpenter
A documentary about legendary songwriter and 70's icon Paul Williams.
Play trailer2:12
Paul Williams: Still Alive (2011)
3 Videos
18 Photos
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Karen Carpenter moved with her family to Downey, California, in 1963. Karen's older brother, Richard Carpenter, decided to put together an instrumental trio with him on the piano, Karen on the drums and their friend Wes Jacobs on the bass and tuba. In a battle of the bands at the Hollywood Bowl in 1966, the group won first place and landed a contract with RCA Records. However, RCA did not see a future in jazz tuba, and the contract was short-lived.

Karen and Richard formed another band, Spectrum, with four other fellow students from California State University at Long Beach that played several gigs before disbanding. In 1969, Karen and Richard made several demo music tapes and shopped them around to different record companies; they were eventually offered a contract with A&M Records. Their first hit was a reworking of The Beatles hit "Ticket to Ride", followed by a re-recorded version of Burt Bacharach's "Close to You", which sold a million copies.

Soon Richard and Karen became one of the most successful groups of the early 1970s, with Karen on the drums and lead vocals and Richard on the piano with backup vocals. They won three Grammy Awards, embarked on a world tour, and landed their own TV variety series in 1971, titled Make Your Own Kind of Music! (1971).

In 1975 the story came out when The Carpenters were forced to cancel a European tour because the gaunt Karen was too weak to perform. Nobody knew that Karen was at the time suffering from anorexia nervosa, a mental illness characterized by obsessive dieting to a point of starvation. In 1976 she moved out of her parents' house to a condo of her own.

While her brother Richard was recovering from his Quaalude addiction, Karen decided to record a solo album in New York City in 1979 with producer Phil Ramone. Encouraged by the positive reaction to it in New York, Karen was eager to show it to Richard and the record company in California, who were nonplussed. The album was shelved.

In 1980, she married real estate developer Thomas J. Burris. However, the unhappy marriage really only lasted a year before they separated. (Karen was to sign the divorce papers the day she died).

Shortly afterward, she and brother Richard were back in the recording studio, where they recorded their hit single "Touch Me When We're Dancing". However, Karen was unable to shake her depression as well as her eating disorder, and after realizing she needed help, she spent most of 1982 in New York City undergoing treatment. By 1983, Karen was starting to take control of her life and planning to return to the recording studio and to make public appearances again. In February of 1983, she went to her parents' house to sort through some old clothes she kept there when she collapsed in a walk-in closet from cardiac arrest. She was only 32. Doctors revealed that her long battle with anorexia nervosa had stressed her heart to the breaking point.
BornMarch 2, 1950
DiedFebruary 4, 1983(32)
BornMarch 2, 1950
DiedFebruary 4, 1983(32)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank

Photos18

Herb Alpert, Karen Carpenter, Richard Carpenter, and The Carpenters
Karen Carpenter, Richard Carpenter, and The Carpenters
Karen Carpenter, Richard Carpenter, and The Carpenters
Karen Carpenter, Richard Carpenter, and The Carpenters
Karen Carpenter, Richard Carpenter, and The Carpenters
Carpenters, The Karen and Richard Sept. 1976
Carpenters, The Karen and Richard Sept. 1976
Carpenters, The Karen and Richard Sept. 1976
Carpenters, The Karen and Richard Sept. 1976
Carpenters, The Karen and Richard Sept. 1976
Carpenters, The Karen and Richard Sept. 1976
Carpenters, The Karen and Richard Sept. 1976

Known for

Paul Williams: Still Alive (2011)
Paul Williams: Still Alive
6.9
  • Soundtrack("We've Only Just Begun" )
  • 2011
The Carpenters: Little Girl Blue
Music Video
  • Karen Carpenter
  • 1979
The Carpenters: When I Fall in Love
Music Video
  • Karen Carpenter
  • 1980
The Carpenters: Those Good Old Dreams
Music Video
  • Karen Carpenter
  • 1981

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • The Carpenters: Beechwood 4-5789
  • The Carpenters: Those Good Old Dreams
  • The Carpenters: Touch Me When We're Dancing
  • The Carpenters: When I Fall in Love
  • The Carpenters: Little Girl Blue
  • The Carpenters: Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (Version 2)
  • The Carpenters: Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft
  • The Carpenters: All You Get from Love Is a Love Song
  • The Carpenters: Goofus
  • The Carpenters: Only Yesterday
  • The Carpenters: Please Mr. Postman
  • The Carpenters: Top of the World
  • The Carpenters: Hurting Each Other
  • The Carpenters: Superstar
  • The Carpenters: Rainy Days and Mondays (1971)
    The Carpenters: Rainy Days and Mondays

Soundtrack

  • Paul Williams: Still Alive (2011)
    Paul Williams: Still Alive
  • The Carpenters: Music, Music, Music
  • Olivia Newton-John: Hollywood Nights (1980)
    Olivia Newton-John: Hollywood Nights
  • Perry Como in The Perry Como Christmas Show (1974)
    The Perry Como Christmas Show

Videos3

Paul Williams Still Alive
Clip 1:22
Paul Williams Still Alive
Paul Williams Still Alive
Clip 1:04
Paul Williams Still Alive
Theatrical Version
Trailer 2:12
Theatrical Version

Personal details

Edit
    • Official Carpenters Fan Site
    • March 2, 1950
    • New Haven, Connecticut, USA
    • February 4, 1983
    • Downey, California, USA(heart failure caused by chronic anorexia)
    • August 31, 1980 - February 4, 1983 (her death)
    • Harold Carpenter
    • (No Children)
  • Other works
    A Kind Of Hush (audio recording) - June 11, 1976
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Biographical Movies
    • 8 Print Biographies
    • 2 Portrayals
    • 6 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Died a married woman. She was planning to officially sign divorce papers on the day she died.
  • Quotes
    We spent an awful lot of time trying to achieve perfection as close as we can come. It's the foremost thing in both of our minds, at all times.
    • Contralto singing vocals

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