Remembering Judy Carne as a 1960s Song and Dance Swinger

To be young, mod and English in the mid-1960s was just the swingiest thing; especially to Americans who couldn't get enough of pop celebs like Davy Jones, Twiggy and Petula Clark.

So when a scrappy Brit with a swingin' unisex bob started appearing every week on ROWAN AND MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN, imploring viewers to "Sock it to me!," (a request that was usually followed by her being splashed with water or falling through a trap door) Yanks thought it was a groove.

But Judy Carne, who passed away this week at age 76 (The word that reports of her death were a hoax was itself a hoax.) was a veteran of three West End musicals before coming to American and once television fame was achieved she was anxious to get back on stage.

Limiting her LAUGH-IN appearances to semi-regularly, she starred as Sally Bowles in a 1969 tour of CABARET. Broadway stardom came the next year, with her name above the title for a revival of Sandy Wilson's spoof of 1920s musicals, THE BOY FRIEND. Carne played the role that gave Julie Andrews her Broadway debut in 1954.

Here's a taste of Judy Carne's musical theatre chops, singing and dancing to Arlo Guthrie's "Ring-Around-A-Rosy Rag" for a 1969 broadcast of HOLLYWOOD PALACE. The lyric's drug references seem to be glossed over for 1920s flapper fun.