Carol Joplin Elliott

DURHAM - Carol Joplin Elliott, actress, singer, and playwright, died peacefully on June 24, 2023. She was 83. Carol was born in a blizzard on February 14, 1940 in Boston, Massachusetts to the late Mary Minns Joplin and Dr. Robert Jefferson Joplin. She was the fourth of their five children. Carol graduated from Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill, MA (1957) and from Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, with a B.S. in Music (1961). She later studied at the Actromatic Repertory School, International Dance School, the Aspen Music School, and the University of Colorado, Denver.

Carol began performing professionally in college, in summer stock productions, at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT and at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, MA, where she made lifelong friends. After college, Carol moved to New York City and developed a successful career in show business, often playing what she called “the ingenue” in theater, commercials, television and industrial shows. She was also a professional soloist and loved performing at St. Bartholomew’s Church and Brick Church, in Manhattan, as well as traveling through Europe with choirs. Carol performed in five shows on Broadway including South Pacific (City Center Revival 1961), Do Re Mi (1962), A Gift of Time with Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland (1962), Kelly (1965), and Half A Sixpence (1965). She also performed off-Broadway with Eartha Kitt in Peg (1967). In the late 1960s, you could see Carol on tv in commercials for Westinghouse, G.E., Kraft, Pampers, and Cadillac as well as performing on radio, tv and at state fairs with a group called the Energetics for the American Dairy Association. She also performed on the Everett Dirkson Christmas Show and on the Jimmy Dean Show with the Chuck Green Singers.

In 1969, Carol married her first husband, Neil Peck, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City where she entertained guests at the reception by singing “Moon River.” The two remained in New York until Neil’s job brought them to Denver, Colorado in 1970. Carol and Neil welcomed daughters Mary Minns Peck in 1972 and Grace Leisure Peck in 1976.

In Denver, Carol was devoted to raising her girls while simultaneously continuing her performing career. Carol found a wonderful home for her creative endeavors at Montview Presbyterian Church where for nearly 30 years she wrote, produced, and directed various special performances, starred in musicals, and sang with the Westminster Choir, often performing solos with her rich Lyric Soprano voice. Carol also established a strong professional partnership and lifelong friendship with her talented piano accompanist, Beatrice (Bede) Wald, with whom she gave small, private concerts in Denver and Yreka, California for many years. Carol served on the board of Allied Arts, Inc. of Colorado from 1978-1984. In 1983, Carol married Dr. Donald P. Elliott, who was a loving and very patient stepfather to Mary and Grace.

In between family commitments, Carol thrived as a celebrated working actress in Denver. She performed with the Denver Center Theatre Company, the Denver Victorian Playhouse, the Dorie Theater, The Guild, University of Denver, University of Colorado at Denver, and Metro State College. Between 1994-2002 she was a leading actress at the Germinal Stage in Denver, where she starred in nearly 15 plays and made very dear friends. Mary, Grace, and their friends loved watching Carol perform and were so proud of having a star in their midst.

Carol was an enthusiastic mother who encouraged her girls’ creativity and their friendships. She drove them around to music, dance, and art classes, friends’ houses, hosted slumber parties, delivered multiple litters of kittens and puppies, facilitated impromptu plays and puppet shows, and orchestrated family vacations. Whether she was performing as a gypsy fortune teller at the school carnival, hand sewing elaborate Halloween costumes, tap dancing in the basement dance studio, memorizing lines or music, needlepointing, growing her garden, or baking blueberry muffins and quiche, she was always creating. When she traveled and relaxed (which she loved to do), she gravitated towards the water and the rocky shores of New England or to art and cultural sites in Europe. Carol adored the salty breezes and had the happiest memories from her childhood summer home in Annisquam, Mass. She also treasured the mountains and climbed many peaks in the Adirondacks and the Rocky Mountains. Carol and Don also biked many miles together and rafted down the Grand Canyon.

Later in her career, Carol adapted her many skills to new roles. She coached public speakers, served as a guest director and substitute teacher at area schools, consulted with music departments, and taught private acting and piano lessons. Carol also started a business as a wedding music consultant, sharing her wealth of classical music knowledge with clients. When she relocated to Portland, Maine in 2002, she enjoyed spending time as a dog walker and companion for housebound elderly. In 2007, Carol moved to Durham, where Grace and her family live. There, she made a new home in the choir at Watts Street Baptist Church, she once again cared for animals, and relished visits to Sunset Beach and time with her big extended family. She always looked forward to her travels back to Denver to visit Mary and her family.

Carol never met a stranger and, in fact, ended up at many a “stranger’s” dinner table after befriending them on an airplane or in a store. She delighted in spending time at her latest favorite coffee shop and she cultivated community wherever she landed.

Carol was witty, funny, irreverent, and bold. She was independent and fearless, sophisticated and laid back. She was always up for an adventure. Carol was very rarely without a positive disposition, even during these last few difficult years as her health declined. She rarely complained or felt sorry for herself. She was beautiful and strong, fierce and wild. Carol and her unforgettable voice will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Carol is survived by her daughters Mary Peck (Greg Kasper) and Grace Beason (Mattie), her beloved grandchildren Gracie, Court, and Than as well as by her siblings Robert Joplin (Alice), Anne Murray, and Bill Joplin (Mary Bell). She was preceded in death by her parents and her eldest brother Dickie Joplin.

A celebration of life will be held at 2:00p.m. Sunday, July 16, 2023, at Watts Street Baptist Church, Durham. A Zoom link will be available.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to: the Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Floor 17, Chicago, IL 60601, www.alz.org, the Charles House Association, 7511 Sunrise Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, www.charleshouse.org, or to an animal charity of your choice.