Carol Connors

Birthday: Nov 13, 1940

Bio: The composer, singer, and musician Carol Connors -- not to be confused with the adult film actress of the same name who appeared in Deep Throat -- was born Annette Kleinbard in New Jersey in 1940. By her teens she had made her way to California, and it was under her birth name that she made her first recording, as a member of the Teddy Bears, a trio whose ranks… More Bio: The composer, singer, and musician Carol Connors -- not to be confused with the adult film actress of the same name who appeared in Deep Throat -- was born Annette Kleinbard in New Jersey in 1940. By her teens she had made her way to California, and it was under her birth name that she made her first recording, as a member of the Teddy Bears, a trio whose ranks included Phil Spector, who wrote the song that became their biggest success, "To Know Him Is To Love Him." She subsequently recorded on her own for various labels, using the names Annette Bard and Carol Collins, and turned to songwriting herself using the name Carol Connors, which also became the name under which she also periodically appeared on-screen -- the latter eventually became her legal name, as well. Connors' first contact with the movie business -- and most of her work within the industry -- was as a songwriter. She had a knack for delivering solid teen-oriented pop-rock (most notably the hot-rod classic "Hey Little Cobra"), and composed the title-track for the teen-exploitation film A Swingin' Summer (1965) -- the latter movie is best remembered today for presenting Raquel Welch in a co-starring role, and as a vehicle for Gary Lewis & the Playboys. She also wrote songs that appeared in the score of the Howard Hawks film Red Line 7000, and appeared in small, specialty roles on-screen in a handful of movies during this period, showing up as a dancing sorority girl in The Girls On The Beach (1964) and as an on-screen singer in Catalina Caper (1967), doing her own song "Book of Love." In 1976, Connors burst forth anew in the film business as the co-author the Oscar-nominated "Gonna Fly Now," also known as the "Theme From Rocky." The latter song dominated the airwaves and popular culture as much as any pop-music theme from a movie that year. Since then, Connors has amassed dozens of movie and television credits. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi