Ruth Carrell (1909-1992)
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Songwriter and Performer
Ruth Carrell made only one appearance on camera, and sang an off-camera duet with her husband Jimmie Dodd, on the first season of the Mickey Mouse Club. She co-wrote several songs with Jimmie, and was responsible for the idea behind at least one production number. Her only connection to show business was through Jimmie, and she retired from it after his death.
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Background
Ruth Carrell was born Ruth Geneva Wolfenden, on Dec 10, 1909, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her parents were William Wolfenden and Carrie Fisher, who apparently separated when Ruth was a child. Her mother worked as a baker. The family, including Ruth's younger brother William, lived with Carrie's sister and brother-in-law.
By age twenty-one Ruth was on her own, living in a rooming house, and paying $6.50 per week for room and board. She supported herself by working as an advertising solicitor for a local newspaper. Sometime during the mid 1930's Ruth headed for Hollywood. She is generally described as a dancer, though she doesn't appear to have worked in films. Somewhere along the way she picked up the surname "Carrell", either from a brief marriage or as a stage name. She most likely danced and sang in the chorus of a Hollywood nightclub, and it's not inconceivable that she met Jimmie Dodd there when the Louis Prima Orchestra was on tour of California. He was from the same area of Cincinnati as Ruth, and it's equally possible they already were acquainted, or at least knew of each other.
They were married in 1940, just after Jimmie broke into pictures. From this point on Ruth's life is submerged in Jimmie's, with the exception of their USO tours during the war. They started with a tour of North Africa during 1943-44. (These tours are the only record of Ruth performing in show business). From late October through early December of 1944, they toured the China-Burma-India theater of war with a six-member USO group. The stars were Pat O'Brien and Jinx Falkenburg; also on the tour were Harry Brown and Betty Yeaton. The group spent fifty days in the theater, performing over 100 shows and personal appearances in Karachi, New Delhi, Luichow, and 10 days at forward air bases in China.
Contribution
For one of the earliest show's in the first season, Ruth sang an off-camera duet with Jimmie, called Pussycat Polka. Even before the Mickey Mouse Club, Ruth had co-written a song with Jimmie, called Amarillo. Now Ruth came up with an idea for a production number called Cooking With Minnie Mouse, which choreographer Burch Mann turned into a ballet-jazz piece. Ruth and Jimmie co-wrote the song, and sang it on-camera. Ruth co-wrote several other songs with Jimmie, including their signature tune, Do What The Good Book Says, which the Mouseketeers used to end their live performances. Ruth also had solo writing credit on two songs, and collaborated with Bob Amsberry on Rose Festival Time. Ruth also had another, unofficial role, as a sort of Den Mother and hostess for Mouseketeer parties at the Dodd house.
Aftermath
After the show was cancelled Ruth and Jimmie moved to Hawaii, where they had a condominium. Jimmie frequently traveled, making personal appearances for the Disney studio on an ad hoc basis, and they both went with some of the Mouseketeers to Australia in 1959, and again in 1960. They recorded and released an LP album of their songs with spiritual themes, and often made singing guest appearances on religious radio and television programs.
When the Mickey Mouse Club's first run in syndication ended in 1964, Jimmie got a job hosting a local kid's television show in Hawaii, to be called Jimmie Dodd's Aloha Time. As the show's debut neared, and Jimmie fell ill, Ruth stepped in to help finish the filming. The producers begged her to keep Jimmie's illness and death a secret, until after the show went on the air in Hawaii. After his death on November 10, 1964, Ruth moved back to Los Angeles. She married an accountant named Harold Braun in 1968, and aside from local church gatherings, no longer performed or took part in show business. In 1975, though, she took part in the Disneyland 20th Anniversary celebrations. She died April 19, 1992 in Northridge, CA.
