Carol Mayo Jenkins - Cast Member of the Month

Carol Mayo Jenkins

Carol Mayo Jenkins was born on 24^th November 1938 under the sign of Sagittarius. Sagittarians have been described as optimistic, restless, progressive and adventurous.

Born and raised in Knoxville Tennessee by her parents Dr Harry Jenkins  and Varina Mayo Jenkins. Starting out as a dancer Carol soon realised that acting was where her heart lay: “I guess I always wanted to perform and I wanted to be a great actress”.

Aged 18 Carol moved to the U.K. for 6 years and studied acting at Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Returning to America she started making regular appearances in Theatre productions around the Country. Carol made her Broadway debut as Natasha in William Ball’s production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters.

In 1977 she moved to television and appeared in the Soap Opera “Another World”.

In 1981 she was playing a teacher in a play in New York and that led to getting the audition for “Fame”. 

After an initial audition she was called back.  “I went and read a scene with Gene Anthony Ray. The first time I’d ever met him. It was wonderful. He was... , He was spectacular and he made it easy and fun and we had a good time, and I think that’s how I got the role.”   

Carol played firm but fair English Teacher Elizabeth Sherwood for 5 seasons from 1982 to 1986 starring in 95 episodes and then returning for the final episode in 1987 making it 96 episode appearances in total.

Carol stated:  “A lot of Elizabeth Sherwood is me. We’re not very different. We’re not very different at all!”

Referring to “Fame” as her fifteen minutes of fame, Carol said “It’s a wonderful memory and I wouldn’t have missed it for the World. It was a great chapter in my life.”   

After “Fame” she continued appearing in TV shows like Models Inc, Matlock and Max Headroom whilst also returning to the Theatre.

In 2000, after a long and distinguished acting career, she decided to return home to Knoxville to care for her Mother, until she died in February 2018 aged 102.

Carol also took a job as an artist in residence at the University of Tennessee teaching acting, where She also frequently appears on stage at the Clarence Brown Theatre.

To know that our (Fame) stories did make a difference in so many lives, all over the World makes me very grateful.”

“Fame was about something important. It was about young people daring to dream and daring to follow their dreams and because you the fans understand and support that it means you’re very special people and we are so grateful to have you in our lives.”