Actor / Director Profile

Cute, bubbly and adorable actress Carol Speed achieved a considerable amount of cult cinema popularity with her often lively and delightful contributions to a handful of enjoyably down'n'dirty 70's blaxploitation features. She was born as Carolyn Stewart on March 14, 1945 in Bakersfield, California. Speed holds the distinction of being the first black homecoming queen in Santa Clara County and was one of the first black people to receive a scholarship for the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Carol got her start in show business as a back-up singer for Bobbie Gentry at Harrah's club in Reno, Nevada. She made her film debut as a hooker in "The New Centurians." Speed's most memorable movie roles include sassy prison inmate Mickie in Jack Hill's hilarious babes-behind-bars parody "The Big Bird Cage," pimp Max Julien's loyal prostitute girlfriend Lulu in the terrific "The Mack," sarcastic rock groupie Janyce in "Bummer," club owner Rockne Tarkington's sweet gal pal Leslie in the fun "Black Sampson," and deaf mute Sarah in Al Adamson's "Dynamite Brothers." Carol gave an especially inspired and impressive performance as a minister's innocent wife who becomes possessed by the malevolent spirit of an evil demon in William Girdler's immensely entertaining horror picture "Abby." She had a recurring part on the daytime soap opera "Days of Our Lives" in the summer of 1970. Moreover, Speed made a guest appearance on an episode of "Sanford and Son," has acted in several TV commercials, and pops up in the made-for-TV films "The Girls of Huntington House," "Love Hate Love," "Tenafly," "Getting Away from It All," and "The Psychiatrist: God Bless the Children." Outside of acting, Carol is also a successful writer (she's the author of the books "Inside Black Hollywood" and "The Georgette Harvey Story"), singer, and songwriter (she sings her own compositions "I Can Make It" in "The Girls of Huntington House" and "My Soul Is A Witness" in "Abby"). After taking a regrettably lengthy hiatus from acting following "Disco Godfather" (she was slated to do a small role in Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown," but backed out at the last minute), Speed made a welcome comeback with a supporting part in the independent thriller "Village Vengeance." Carol Speed now lives in Atlanta, Georgia.