June Carroll, 86; Lyricist, Singer Best Known for ‘New Faces’ Revue

June Carroll, a lyricist and singer best known for appearing in the hit Broadway musical revue “New Faces of 1952,” for which she co-wrote many of the songs, has died.

She was 86.

Carroll died Sunday of complications from Parkinson’s disease in a nursing home in Culver City, said her daughter, Sydney Swire.

In “New Faces of 1952,” primarily a collection of sketches, songs and dances, Carroll sang two of her own tunes, “Love is a Simple Thing” and “Penny Candy.” “Monotonous,” another of the six songs Carroll co-wrote for the show, became a show-stopper for Eartha Kitt.

Carroll, Kitt and fellow cast members Ronny Graham, Robert Clary, Alice Ghostley, Paul Lynde and Carol Lawrence also appeared in the 1954 film version of “New Faces.”

Over the years, Carroll wrote the book or lyrics for 12 Broadway musicals.

She wrote songs for the 1945 musical western “The Man From Oklahoma,” starring Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. And she wrote the screenplay and co-wrote the music for the 1945 movie “An Angel Comes to Brooklyn,” a comedy musical in which she had a role.

Carroll, whose musical collaborators included Arthur Siegel, Kurt Weill, Baldwin Bergeson and Sanford Green, wrote the lyrics for such popular songs as “He Takes Me Off His Income Tax,” “I Want You to Be the First One to Know,” “Where Is Me?,” “The Boy Most Likely to Succeed,” “Let’s Hold Hands” and “Rinka Tinka Man.”

Born June Sillman in Detroit in 1917, Carroll made her stage debut in that city at age 5, singing at the Fox Theater. By 7, she was singing professionally. “She had a huge voice, an alto voice,” her daughter said.

Carroll moved to Los Angeles with her family when she was about 12 and graduated from the Hollywood School for Girls.

She appeared as a singer in a show called “Lo and Behold,” for which she wrote the lyrics and which was produced by her brother, Leonard Sillman.

When the show opened on Broadway, it was retitled “New Faces of 1934” and, as Carroll told The Times in 1953, “I stepped out of the cast and Imogene Coca became a starring principal.”

“It has always been my practice to avoid appearances in the shows which I have written, and particularly those with which my brother is identified as producer,” she said.

Carroll subsequently wrote lyrics for other editions of “New Faces.”

“When it came to this ‘New Faces’ 1952 edition, our backers actually asked that I appear, and while I demurred, they kept insisting,” she told The Times. “So I finally agreed and I have enjoyed the experience, but I will be concentrating on writing again in the future.”

Carroll married her second husband, film and television writer Sidney Carroll, in 1940. He died in 1988.

In addition to her daughter, Carroll is survived by her sons, Steve Reich, David Carroll and Jonathan Carroll; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.