Pat Carroll provides the voice of Ursula, the Sea Witch. For the veteran performer, the part was a rare chance to play the bad guy.
"To play someone mean is heavenly,"she said. "It's a roller coaster. You can go wild. She's everythingyou hate and yet everyone is fascinated by what makes her tick and all her quirks."
The actress envisioned the character as part Shakespearean actress, withall the flair, flamboyance and theatricality, and part used car salesmanwith touch of con artist. "The excitement is to arrive at the emotionin your head because the character always has a thought and an emotion forthcomingfrom that thought. By nature I am a contralto, but they wanted Ursula'svoice to be lower, growly and gravelly, so there would be a contrast withAriel's sweet tones. They made me work hard to get it and I adored it."
Carroll was born in Shreveport, La., and moved to Los Angeles at age five.Her first professional stage appearance was in 1947 when she starred with Gloria Swanson in "A Goose for the Gander." The following yearshe joined Actors Equity and played more than 200 roles in stock theaterover the next two years.
In 1952, she made her TV debut on "The Red Buttons Show." Shewent on to guest-star on many popular variety, drama and comedy series aswell as most talk shows. In 1956, she won an Emmy Award (plus a second nomination)for her regular appearances on "Caesar's Hour," starring Sid Caesar.TV fans will remember her recurring stint (1960-1963) as Bunny Halper on"The Danny Thomas Show" and her role in the CBS presentation ofRodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" in the early 1960s.
Carroll's stage credits include the 1955 Broadway production of "Catcha Star," for which she received a Tony nomination, and the acclaimed1980 one-woman show "Gertrude Stein," which won her a Drama Deskaward, a Grammy and was named Best Show by the Outer Critics Circle.
After "Mermaid," she appeared as Falstaff at the Shakespeare Theaterin Washington, D.C., in "The Merry Wives of Windsor." She returnedto the role of the Sea Witch in the second and third seasons of the CBStelevision show "Disney's The Little Mermaid."
"To play someone mean is heavenly,"she said. "It's a roller coaster. You can go wild. She's everythingyou hate and yet everyone is fascinated by what makes her tick and all her quirks."
