New York, NY -- September 4, 2018 -- The Broadway community mourns the loss Tony Award^® winner Carole Shelley, who passed away on Friday, August 31 at age 79. The Committee of Theatre Owners has decided to dim the lights of The Gershwin Theatre, The Walter Kerr Theatre, The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, and The Imperial Theatre in her memory on Wednesday, September 5 at exactly 6:45pm for one minute.

Each of the theatres dimming lights in her memory was significant to Ms. Shelley’s career. She made her Broadway debut in 1965 at The Gerald Schoenfeld (formerly The Plymouth Theatre) in The Odd Couple. At The Gershwin Theatre, she originated the role of Madame Morrible in Wicked (2003) and appeared in Show Boat (1994). She received a Tony Award Nomination in 2009 for her performance at the Imperial Theatre in Billy Elliot: The Musical. She was last seen on Broadway in 2015 at The Walter Kerr in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder.

“Carole Shelley was as skilled at the repartee of The Odd Couple as the heartbreak of The Elephant Man and the outsized joy of Show Boat; as indelible in plays as in musicals.   During an extraordinary 50 year Broadway career, she originated characters that stood the test of time and earned the devotion of anyone who worked with her," said Thomas Schumacher, Chairman of the Broadway League. "She will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with her family and friends.” 

On Broadway Ms. Shelley also appeared in: Cabaret (1999 Revival), The Last Night of Ballyhoo (1997), Show Boat (1994),The Miser (1990), Stepping Out (1987), Noises Off (1983), The Misanthrope (1983 Revival), The Elephant Man (1979), The Norman Conquests (1975), Absurd Person Singular (1974), Hay Fever (1970), Noël Coward's Sweet Potato (1968), Loot (1968), and The Astrakhan Coat (1967).

Winner of the 1979 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in The Elephant Man, she received Tony Award nominations for her performance in Billy Elliot: The Musical (2009), Stepping Out (1987), and Absurd Person Singular (1974). She was also a multiple Drama Desk Award nominee and received honors from the Outer Critics Circle Awards and Obie Awards.

Some of Ms. Shelley’s film and television credits include: Bewitched, Jungle 2 Jungle, Quiz Show, Robin Hood, The Aristocats, The Odd Couple, “Third Watch,” “Frasier,” “Hercules,” “Monsters,” “The Cosby Show,” “Spenser: For Hire,” “All My Children,” “One Life to Live,” “Another World,” “The Odd Couple,” “Boeing-Boeing,” “The Avengers,” and many more.

Her full Broadway biography can be found on the Internet Broadway Database:  https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/carole-shelley-68735/#broadway