A stalwart of the stage, actress Nancy E. Carroll dies at 70

Nancy E. Carroll had extraordinary stage presence.

The beloved Boston actress, who died Dec. 24 after a long illness, could hold an audience with her unflinching gaze, often leavened by a mischievous twinkle in her eye. It was a skill that dared audiences not to pay attention, and unfailingly pulled them into the action onstage and the complexity of the characters she was portraying. It hardly mattered if she was appearing in a brief cameo as the regal Queen Elizabeth in “Shakespeare in Love” (SpeakEasy Stage Company), the acerbic landlord/friend Dottie in “Good People” (Huntington Theatre Company) or a dotty Irish priest in “Trad” (Tír Na Productions).

“She had an extraordinary capacity to imagine an inner life for her characters,” says Scott Edmiston, who directed her in seven different shows over two decades. “She often played characters who were trying to hold their emotions inside, and yet she was able to communicate that struggle through her eyes, her expressions and her spirit.”

Born in Haverhill, Massachusetts on Sept. 27, 1952, but raised in Toledo, Ohio, the first chapter of her theatrical career was spent in musical theater across the country, including a two-year tour of the musical “Nunsense” and “Nunsense 2: The Sequel.” But she decided to step away from musicals and auditioned for Worcester's Foothills Theatre Company production of “Dancing at Lughnasa,” which Edmiston directed.

“She had no straight plays on her resume, so I was taking a risk casting her,” says Edmiston. “But she was trying to transition from being an entertainer to an artist. She achieved that goal.”

Carroll was, in fact, in great demand in Boston-area theaters, performing in both musicals — “Into the Woods” and “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” at New Repertory Theatre and “A Man of No Importance” at SpeakEasy Stage — and straight plays such as “Happy Days” at Gloucester Stage Company, several shows with Sugan Theater Company, including “Bailegangaire” and two shows with the small Tír Na Productions. She performed in 14 plays at the Huntington, a particularly impressive accomplishment since when she began auditioning for them, the company tended to cast New York actors. She made her Broadway debut, at age 57, with the Huntington’s Broadway production of “Present Laughter.”

Colin Hamell, artistic director of Tír Na, says Carroll’s comic timing was second to none.

“She could deliver an Irish monologue with a spot-on brogue, timing and nuances that I couldn’t even pull off,” says Hamell, an Irish native. “She was so comfortable with pauses, she would hold a moment for just a beat longer than you thought was possible,” he says. “Onstage opposite her, I had to bite my cheek to keep from breaking out laughing.”

Although Carroll won several awards for her performances, Hamell says she never bragged about her past work.

“She was obviously brilliant, and nobody worked harder than she did, but she was just so normal, so comfortable with herself and fun to be with,” he says.

He also says that although he knew her for many years, he didn’t know much about her background as a veteran of musical theater song-and-dance.

“I do know that in ‘The Return of the Winemaker,’” where Carroll played God’s hilariously controlled wife Marilyn, “when Derry Woodhouse and I were singing and dancing and trying not to trip over ourselves, we looked over at Nancy and said, ‘what are you doing?’ and she said, ‘I don’t know what you’re doing, but I’m following the beat. Try it.’”

In addition to her work on Boston-area stages, Carroll appeared in several films, including “Spotlight” (2015), Woody Allen’s “Irrational Man” (2015), “On Broadway” (2007), “The Love Letter” (1999), “The Crucible” (1996) and “The Good Son” (1993) and the HBO miniseries “Olive Kitteridge” (2014). Her final performance is in the “Boston Strangler,” scheduled for release in March on Hulu.

In 2018, Carroll shifted from an onstage role to director for “Calendar Girls” at the Greater Boston Stage Company, and artistic director Weylin Symes says he never hesitated when considering her to direct.

“She loved the script, and I’ve never seen anyone work as hard on research, planning and casting,” he says. “She was determined to get this ensemble right.”

The play follows a group of middle-aged female friends who decide to pose nude for a calendar to raise funds for a more comfortable sofa in the cancer ward where one woman’s husband had been a patient.

“Nan was a delight to work with,” says Sarah deLima, a member of the “Calendar Girls” cast. “In the play, women of a certain age are stripping off their clothes, and while we are never completely exposed to the audience, we are all backstage together in various states of undress. To make sure we all felt comfortable, at the third rehearsal, she and her stage manager shut the rehearsal room door and said, ‘Right, here we go,’ and they stripped off their clothes, and then so did we. She was so endearing, but without an ounce of sentimentality.”

“Calendar Girls” celebrates the impact of a small act of kindness, an attitude that had an extraordinary ripple effect on the cast. The production was dedicated to “Maureen and Patrick,” a nod to Boston actress Maureen Keiller, who was not able to join the ensemble because of her own husband’s battle with cancer, and the company raised funds for Dana Farber Cancer Center. After the show closed and COVID set in, the women of “Calendar Girls” stayed in touch, meeting weekly on Zoom.

“Sometimes we’d read a play,” says deLima, “other times we’d just chat. It became a lifeline for all of us. Then, when Nan needed rides to chemotherapy, Bobbie Steinbach [another 'Calender Girl'] created a roster, and we practically fought over the chance to drive her or sit with her.”

“She was very private,” says Edmiston, “but she loved the camaraderie of acting. She loved being a part of the theater family.”

A celebration of life will take place in May, with details announced in the coming months.