| Betty Ann Carr | |
| Birth Date: | 6 September 1942[1] |
| Birth Place: | Tennessee, United States |
| Death Place: | Morristown, Hamblen Claiborne County, Tennessee |
| Years Active: | 1972–1985 |
| Spouse: | Tom Carr |
| Birth Name: | Betty Ann Brown |
Betty Ann Carr (1942-1995) was an American actress of Native American ancestry, musician, composer and film editor best remembered for her television work.
Carr was born to William Raymond and Helen Marie Brown. Her heritage is one-half Cherokee and one-half French. She was the oldest of six children. Betty was raised on a small farm in Asbury, Missouri, outside Joplin, Missouri and according to the actress, grew up in a poor family, saying: "We were poor, but so was everybody else, so I didn't think about that.[2]
Despite interests in music as a child, Carr studied Drama at San Diego State University.[3]
Her siblings are Perry, James, Susan, Benny, Kay Brown.
Carr started her career by appearing as a dancer in the party scenes on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Her first prominent acting role came in 1971, when shr replaced actress Sandra Ego as Betty Ann Sundown in the western series Cade's County until 1972. Besides appearing in the series, she taught acting skills to Native American actors at Jay Silverheels's drama school in the San Fernando Valley. On this work, she commented in a 1973 interview:
"Indians never were schooled in drama. If we want good actors we must begin by training the young; so I teach kids, 18 and under. For a while we had a busload of students from 12 to 16 coming in weekly from the Sherman Institute, but that stopped when the Institute ran out of money to pay the driver."
Carr, however, did not consider herself as an 'Indian actress' until casting directors began rejecting her at auditions because she looked "too ethnic" or "too dark" for non-Native American parts.[4] Carr is probably best remembered for appearing as Monica Bell in the daytime soap opera Return to Peyton Place, for which she flew daily from San Diego to Los Angeles to film. Carr achieved some fame with the role, which she first played in May 1973, and was featured in several daytime-oriented magazines. She also composed songs for musicians and edited a Native American film.
Following the show's cancellation, Carr went on to guest star in several TV series and was active as an actress until 1985.
Carr was married to engineer Tom Carr.