Karen Carpenter(1950-1983)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Karen Carpenter moved with her family
to Downey, California, in 1963. Karen's older brother,
Richard Carpenter, decided
to put together an instrumental trio with him on the piano, Karen on
the drums and their friend Wes Jacobs on the bass and tuba. In a battle
of the bands at the Hollywood Bowl in 1966, the group won first place
and landed a contract with RCA Records. However, RCA did not see a
future in jazz tuba, and the contract was short-lived.
Karen and Richard formed another band, Spectrum, with four other fellow
students from California State University at Long Beach that played
several gigs before disbanding. In 1969, Karen and Richard made several
demo music tapes and shopped them around to different record companies;
they were eventually offered a contract with A&M Records. Their first
hit was a reworking of The Beatles hit
"Ticket to Ride", followed by a re-recorded version of
Burt Bacharach's "Close to You", which
sold a million copies.
Soon Richard and Karen became one of the most successful groups of the
early 1970s, with Karen on the drums and lead vocals and Richard on the
piano with backup vocals. They won three Grammy Awards, embarked on a
world tour, and landed their own TV variety series in 1971, titled
Make Your Own Kind of Music! (1971).
In 1975 the story came out when
The Carpenters were forced to cancel a
European tour because the gaunt Karen was too weak to perform. Nobody
knew that Karen was at the time suffering from anorexia nervosa, a
mental illness characterized by obsessive dieting to a point of
starvation. In 1976 she moved out of her parents' house to a condo of
her own.
While her brother Richard was recovering from his Quaalude addiction,
Karen decided to record a solo album in New York City in 1979 with
producer Phil Ramone. Encouraged by the positive reaction to it in New
York, Karen was eager to show it to Richard and the record company in
California, who were nonplussed. The album was shelved.
In 1980, she married real estate developer Thomas J. Burris. However,
the unhappy marriage really only lasted a year before they separated.
(Karen was to sign the divorce papers the day she died).
Shortly afterward, she and brother Richard were back in the recording
studio, where they recorded their hit single "Touch Me When We're
Dancing". However, Karen was unable to shake her depression as well as
her eating disorder, and after realizing she needed help, she spent
most of 1982 in New York City undergoing treatment. By 1983, Karen was
starting to take control of her life and planning to return to the
recording studio and to make public appearances again. In February of
1983, she went to her parents' house to sort through some old clothes
she kept there when she collapsed in a walk-in closet from cardiac
arrest. She was only 32. Doctors revealed that her long battle with
anorexia nervosa had stressed her heart to the breaking point.
to Downey, California, in 1963. Karen's older brother,
Richard Carpenter, decided
to put together an instrumental trio with him on the piano, Karen on
the drums and their friend Wes Jacobs on the bass and tuba. In a battle
of the bands at the Hollywood Bowl in 1966, the group won first place
and landed a contract with RCA Records. However, RCA did not see a
future in jazz tuba, and the contract was short-lived.
Karen and Richard formed another band, Spectrum, with four other fellow
students from California State University at Long Beach that played
several gigs before disbanding. In 1969, Karen and Richard made several
demo music tapes and shopped them around to different record companies;
they were eventually offered a contract with A&M Records. Their first
hit was a reworking of The Beatles hit
"Ticket to Ride", followed by a re-recorded version of
Burt Bacharach's "Close to You", which
sold a million copies.
Soon Richard and Karen became one of the most successful groups of the
early 1970s, with Karen on the drums and lead vocals and Richard on the
piano with backup vocals. They won three Grammy Awards, embarked on a
world tour, and landed their own TV variety series in 1971, titled
Make Your Own Kind of Music! (1971).
In 1975 the story came out when
The Carpenters were forced to cancel a
European tour because the gaunt Karen was too weak to perform. Nobody
knew that Karen was at the time suffering from anorexia nervosa, a
mental illness characterized by obsessive dieting to a point of
starvation. In 1976 she moved out of her parents' house to a condo of
her own.
While her brother Richard was recovering from his Quaalude addiction,
Karen decided to record a solo album in New York City in 1979 with
producer Phil Ramone. Encouraged by the positive reaction to it in New
York, Karen was eager to show it to Richard and the record company in
California, who were nonplussed. The album was shelved.
In 1980, she married real estate developer Thomas J. Burris. However,
the unhappy marriage really only lasted a year before they separated.
(Karen was to sign the divorce papers the day she died).
Shortly afterward, she and brother Richard were back in the recording
studio, where they recorded their hit single "Touch Me When We're
Dancing". However, Karen was unable to shake her depression as well as
her eating disorder, and after realizing she needed help, she spent
most of 1982 in New York City undergoing treatment. By 1983, Karen was
starting to take control of her life and planning to return to the
recording studio and to make public appearances again. In February of
1983, she went to her parents' house to sort through some old clothes
she kept there when she collapsed in a walk-in closet from cardiac
arrest. She was only 32. Doctors revealed that her long battle with
anorexia nervosa had stressed her heart to the breaking point.