Carolyn Ann Stewart (March 14, 1945January 14, 2022), known professionally as Carol Speed, was an American actress, singer-songwriter and author. Speed was best known for her roles in films during the 1970s
blaxploitation
Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...
era, most notably starring as Abby Williams in the
American International Pictures
American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...
Carolyn Ann Stewart was born on March 14, 1945, in
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...
. Speed began performing at a young age. At age 12, she received her first acting role in the San Jose Light Opera production of ''
The King and I
''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childre ...
''. During her youth, she was a part of a singing group which included two of her cousins. Speed attended William C. Overfelt High School, where she was voted "Best All Around" for her senior class. She graduated in 1963. Speed holds the distinction of being the first African-American homecoming queen in
Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...
and was one of the first African-Americans to receive a scholarship for the
American Conservatory Theater
The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school.
History
The Ameri ...
in San Francisco, California.
Career
Speed began her career in show business as a singer, serving as a back-up singer for
Bobbie Gentry
Bobbie Gentry (born Roberta Lee Streeter; July 27, 1942) is a retired American singer-songwriter, who was one of the first female artists in America to compose and produce her own material.
Gentry rose to international fame in 1967 with her Sou ...
during her stint at Harrah's Club in
Reno, Nevada
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
. Speed's career in television began in 1970 when she landed a minor role as Clara Dormin on an episode of the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
series ''
Julia
Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g. ...
'' starring
Diahann Carroll
Diahann Carroll (; born Carol Diann Johnson; July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. She rose to prominence in some of the earliest major studio films to feature black casts, including ''Car ...
. Speed appeared in several television commercials during the 1970s.
From 1970 through 1972, Speed appeared in other shows such as, ''
Sanford and Son
''Sanford and Son'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom ''Steptoe and Son'', which initially aired on BBC One in the United ...
Days of Our Lives
''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...
''. In 1972, Speed made her film debut in ''
The New Centurions
''The New Centurions'' is a 1972 American Panavision neo-noir action crime film based on the 1971 novel of the same name by policeman turned author Joseph Wambaugh.
It stars George C. Scott, Stacy Keach, Scott Wilson, Jane Alexander, Rosal ...
'' in which she portrayed Martha, a prostitute. Speed portrayed Mickie, prisoner in
Jack Hill
Jack Hill (born January 28, 1933) is an American film director in the exploitation film genre. Several of Hill's later films have been characterized as feminist works.
Early life
Hill was born in Los Angeles, California. His mother, Mildred (nà ...
's 1972 blaxploitation film ''
The Big Bird Cage
''The Big Bird Cage'' is a 1972 American exploitation film of the "women in prison" subgenre. It serves as a non-sequel follow-up to the 1971 film ''The Big Doll House''. The film was written and directed by Jack Hill, and stars Pam Grier, Sid H ...
'' alongside
Pam Grier
Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distin ...
and
Sid Haig
Sidney Eddie Mosesian (July 14, 1939 – September 21, 2019), known professionally as Sid Haig, was an American actor, film producer, and musician. He was known for his roles in several of Jack Hill's blaxploitation films from the 1970s, as well ...
. In 1973, Speed starred opposite
Max Julien
Maxwell Julien Banks (July 12, 1933 – January 1, 2022), better known by his stage name Max Julien, was an American actor, sculptor, and clothes designer best known for his role as Goldie in the 1973 blaxploitation film ''The Mack''. Julien als ...
as Lulu, his childhood friend and top prostitute in the blaxploitation crime film ''
The Mack
''The Mack'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by California native Michael Campus, starring Max Julien and Richard Pryor. The film also stars Oscar-nominee Juanita Moore and Tony-nominated actor Dick Anthony Williams. Filmed in Oa ...
''. In 1974, Speed portrayed Abby Williams, a minister's wife who becomes possessed by the malevolent spirit of an evil demon in William Girdler's horror film '' Abby''. For the film, Speed wrote and sang "My Soul Is A Witness".
In 1976, Speed appeared on the July cover of ''Jet''.
Speed later appeared as Noel in ''
Disco Godfather
''Disco Godfather'' (also known as ''The Avenging Disco Godfather'') is a 1979 American action film starring Rudy Ray Moore and Carol Speed, directed by J. Robert Wagoner and released by Transvue Pictures. J. Robert Wagoner wrote and directed ''Di ...
'', starting alongside
Rudy Ray Moore
Rudolph Frank Moore (March 17, 1927October 19, 2008), known as Rudy Ray Moore, was an American comedian, singer, actor, and film producer. In 1980, Speed published ''Inside Black Hollywood''. Speed initially accepted a minor role in
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
's 1997 film ''
Jackie Brown
''Jackie Brown'' is a 1997 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, based on Elmore Leonard's 1992 novel ''Rum Punch.'' It stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who is caught smuggling money. Samuel L. Ja ...
'' but decided not to appear in the film for personal reasons. In 2006, Speed portrayed Cookie in the independent horror film ''Village Vengeance''.
Personal life and death
Speed was a resident of
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
during a period in her later years. During the film of ''The Mack'', Speed was romantically involved with Frank Ward, a
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
Muskogee, Oklahoma
Muskogee () is the thirteenth-largest city in Oklahoma and the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0 percent decrease ...
, on January 14, 2022, at the age of 76, just two weeks after her ''The Mack'' co-star Max Julien died. Speed was cremated.