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Born Joyce Botterill on April 27, 1939, in Northampton, England, Judy Carne was a petite, pixie-like performer trained in music and dance, the daughter of a grocer. As a teenager, she appeared in music revues and adopted the stage name Judy Carne on the suggestion of a dance teacher.
After gradually establishing herself on British television, she moved to America in 1962, just before the mid-60s "British invasion," and gained attention on the TV series Fair Exchange (1962). Starting modestly in film, she honed her skills as a light comedienne, earning a regular part on the sitcom The Baileys of Balboa (1964). Her breakthrough came with the romantic comedy series Love on a Rooftop (1966), where she starred opposite Pete Duel. Though short-lived, the series was popular and highlighted Carne’s charm, endearing her to American audiences as a lively, Cockney girl with a Peter Pan-like spirit.
Her rise continued when she became a "flower power" icon on the irreverent TV cult variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967), where she popularized the phrase "Sock it to me!" Known for her role as the plucky brunette often on the receiving end of slapstick humor, she won the audience’s affection. The show also launched the careers of Arte Johnson, Ruth Buzzi, Henry Gibson, Jo Anne Worley, Lily Tomlin, and notably Goldie Hawn, who eventually overshadowed Carne. After two seasons, Judy chose to leave the series, weary of the routine, typecasting, and limited use of her singing and dancing talents.
This decision likely hurt her career. Apart from playing Polly in a Broadway revival of The Boy Friend alongside Sandy Duncan, her post-Laugh-In work was lackluster and declined rapidly. She appeared in a few mini-movies, attempted a sitcom called Poor Judy, tried a Las Vegas music act, and appeared on TV talk shows—none of which succeeded. Despite her cheerful public persona, her private life was troubled. Her 1963 marriage to rising star Burt Reynolds ended acrimoniously within a few years, with bitter accusations publicized in tabloids. A second marriage to TV producer Robert Bergman in 1970 was even shorter-lived. More seriously, Judy struggled with mounting financial issues and developed a drug addiction that began with marijuana and hallucinogens and escalated to heroin.
Throughout the late 60s and 70s, she sought work on stage in musicals and comedies, including roles in Cabaret (as Sally Bowles), Absurd Person Singular, There's a Girl in My Soup, The Owl and the Pussycat, and Blithe Spirit. However, with her career in decline, she fell into addiction and squalor. For the next decade, she largely vanished from public view, occasionally making headlines for drug arrests or a near-fatal 1978 car crash—her ex-husband Robert was driving—that left her with a broken neck.
Her 1985 autobiography, Laughing on the Outside, Crying on the Inside, offered a raw and painful account of her fall from grace. Despite the candid memoir, the once-beloved English actress failed to regain public favor, illustrating the darker side of Hollywood glamour.
In later years, Judy lived relatively quietly and remained out of the spotlight following the book’s release. She reportedly married twice more. She appeared at the 25th anniversary of Laugh-In and its 1993 Christmas special. After largely disappearing since the early 1980s, she made guest appearances on talk shows hosted by Geraldo Rivera and Howard Stern in 1990 and had a brief role as a homeless woman in the 1993 urban drama What About Me, written and directed by Rachel Amodeo.
Judy Carne spent two decades living quietly in the village of Pitsford before passing away from pneumonia on September 3, 2015, at a hospital in Northampton.
