Carol Connors | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Annette Kleinbard |
Born | New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States | November 13, 1941
Genres | Rock and roll, pop |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Vocals |
Years active | 1956–present |
Labels | Dore Records |
Carol Connors (born Annette Kleinbard, November 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. She is perhaps best known as the lead vocalist on the Teddy Bears' single, " To Know Him Is To Love Him", which was written by her bandmate Phil Spector.
Connors was born Annette Kleinbard on November 13, 1941, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. [1] Her parents were Polish Jews. [1] She lost many relatives in the Holocaust. [1] She attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California. [1]
She was the lead singer of the pop vocal trio known as the Teddy Bears, which also included Phil Spector. [1] The Teddy Bears' only major hit, " To Know Him Is To Love Him", which Spector wrote specifically to showcase Connors' singing voice, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1958, also becoming the first woman to chart. [2] After their initial hit, the trio disbanded because of the failure of their follow-up singles, a car accident that injured Annette, and the fact that Spector preferred working behind the scenes to performing.[ citation needed]
Some years later she legally changed her name to Carol Connors, because she did not want her first name to be associated with Mousketeer Annette Funicello. [ citation needed] She co-wrote (with Ayn Robbins and Bill Conti) " Gonna Fly Now", the theme song from the film Rocky, which earned her an Academy Award nomination. [1] Carol Connors sang the theme to the film Orca, called "We Are One".
Other songwriting credits include the Rip Chords' 1964 hit " Hey Little Cobra", plus the 1980 Billy Preston/ Syreeta Wright duet " With You I'm Born Again"; the 1994 title track "For All Mankind" on the debut album of Italian singer Guendalina Cariaggi, which was used as the theme song for a documentary produced by Pier Quinto and Lara Cariaggi, on the legends of soccer and the FIFA World Cup; [3] for "Madonna in the Mirror", the finale song on A&E's 15 Films About Madonna; [4] and three songs – "Condi, Condi", "I Think of You so Fondly", and "Chill, Condi, Chill" – for Courting Condi (2008).
Connors also wrote and performed songs for several films. The 1967 beach-party film Catalina Caper features her song "Book of Love" (not to be confused with the Monotones' song), co-written with Roger Christian, which she performed backed by the Cascades. She co-composed (with Ayn Robbins) three songs for the soundtrack of the 1977 Disney film, The Rescuers: "Tomorrow Is Another Day", "The Journey" and "Someone's Waiting for You". In 1983 Connors was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award, for the 'Worst Original Song' for "It's Wrong for Me to Love You", from Butterfly, which she co-composed with Ennio Morricone.
In 2011, she skydived and performed a concert to raise awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project. [5]
A Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her in 1999. [6]
Connors lives in Beverly Hills, California. [1]
She testified at the O. J. Simpson trial in 1995. She had seen Simpson at a charity event the night before his ex-wife's murder.