Carol Arthur  

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Carol Arthur (born Carol Arata, August 4, 1935 – November 1, 2020) was an American actress, mainly recognizable as playing supporting roles in films produced by Mel Brooks.

Early life and career

Arthur was born Carol Arata in Hackensack, New Jersey, the daughter of Mildred (née Foehl) and Peter Arata, a police officer.

She is probably best remembered as the outspoken town school teacher Harriett Johnson ("You are the leading asshole in the state!") in Brooks' Blazing Saddles. She has also guest-starred in many television shows from the mid-1970s to the mid-2000s, including The Dom DeLuise Show, Emergency!, Sanford and Son, Rhoda, Alice, Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories, St. Elsewhere, and 7th Heaven. During the late-1970s and early-1980s, Arthur appeared as "Safety Sadie", the spokeswoman for the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in several television and radio public service announcements.

Personal life

Arthur met her husband Dom DeLuise in 1964 while working in various stage theaters in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The couple were married from 1965 until DeLuise's death in 2009. Together they had three sons, all of whom have become actors: Peter, Michael, and David DeLuise.

Arthur died on November 1, 2020, at age 85, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Los Angeles. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease eleven years prior.

Filmography