Four Broadway theaters will dim their lights Wednesday evening in memory of actor Carole Shelley, who passed away on Aug. 31 at the age of 79.
The Gershwin Theatre, the Walter Kerr Theatre, the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre and the Imperial Theatre, all theaters where Shelley performed, will dim their lights at 6:45 p.m. Shelley, a Tony Award winner for her role in the 1979 “Elephant Man,” made her Broadway debut in 1965 in “The Odd Couple” at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre and was last seen on Broadway in the 2015 musical “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” at the Walter Kerr Theatre.
“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,” Thomas Schumacher, chairman of the Broadway League, said in the press release. “She will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with her family and friends.”
Shelley originated the role of Madame Morrible in “Wicked” at the Gershwin Theatre, where she also appeared in the 1994 “Show Boat.” At the Imperial Theatre she appeared in “Billy Elliot: The Musical,” for which she received a 2009 Tony nomination.
