Jean Leete Carson[citation needed] (February 28, 1923 – November 2, 2005) was an American stage, film and television actress best known for her work on the classic 1960s sitcomThe Andy Griffith Show as one of the "fun girls".
Carson's early theatrical work included acting in productions of the Kanawha Players.[2] She made her Broadway debut in George S. Kaufman's Bravo (1948), which garnered her a Theater World Award.[1] Her other Broadway work included The Bird Cage (1950) and Anniversary Waltz (1954).[3]
Television
Carson went on to appear in many pioneering television series, including Studio One, NBC Presents, The Twilight Zone (as Paula in "A Most Unusual Camera", a part written especially for her by Rod Serling)[citation needed] and The Ford Theatre Hour. She continued to make guest starring appearances throughout the 1950s, including as Annie, a. saloon moll in "Wagon Train" S1 E12 "The Riley Gratton Story" in 1957. She played Paula in Peter Gunn in 1958 and had a regular role on 1959's The Betty Hutton Show.
She played the part of a saloon owner (Maggie) who takes in an orphan in season 1 episode 9 of the series Sugarfoot in 1958.
On The Andy Griffith Show, Carson had a brief role as Naomi in a 1962 episode ("Convicts at Large" with Jane Dulo and Reta Shaw), but her most popular role was Daphne, one of the "fun girls",[1] who appeared with Joyce Jameson on a recurring basis from 1962 to 1965. Daphne was a notorious flirt who greeted her objects of affection with a throaty "Hello, doll".[4]
In February 1964, she had a featured role as a nosy neighbor in "The Case of the Bountiful Beauty", season 7, episode 17 of Perry Mason.
Carson was married to Leonard Smith Jr.,[5] who was the assistant manager of the Roxy Theater.[6]
Death
On November 2, 2005, Carson died in Palm Springs, California,[1] from complications of a stroke; she was 82 years old.[7] She was survived by two sons.[8]
↑Winchell, Walter (March 14, 1956). "Broadway and Elsewhere". Logansport Pharos-Tribune. Indiana, Logansport. p.4. Retrieved February 28, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
