Loving New Orleans
and Enjoying a
Stellar Career:
Carol Sutton
to Star in
“A Raisin in the Sun”
By Tommye Myrick
Born in New Orleans some “seventy
-odd” years ago, Carol Sutton is
a force to be reckoned with on
screen and stage. She is the face everyone
recognizes, the talent everyone knows,
and a name everyone has heard.
Over a career dating back to 1974,
Carol has appeared in more than 100
films and made-for-TV movies and show
episodes. Her feature film credits include
“Eve’s Bayou,” “The Pelican Brief,” “Ray,”
“Monster’s Ball,” “Sounder, Part 2” and
“Steel Magnolias,” just to name a few.
She has worked with such big-name
stars as Glynn Turman, Diane Keaton,
Pam Greer, Jackie Weaver, Mel Carter,
and well-known New Orleans born and
raised actors Vernel Bagneris and Patricia
Clarkson. She has roles in five films due
to be released this year and, at the time of
this interview, she was on location shooting
a film in San Diego.
For TV she has appeared in “The
Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,”
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” “The Big Easy,”
COVER STORY
“A Lesson Before Dying,” plus episodes
from “American Horror Story,” “True
Detective,” “Scream Queens” and the
remake of “Roots” in 2016.
Locally Carol has won several Big Easy
Awards for her stage performances and, in
2012, she was honored with a “Big Easy
Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Commenting on her humble beginnings,
Carol called herself “an uptown
girl,” laughing as she referenced the popular
Billy Joel song. “I went to Carter G.
Woodson Middle School and then I went
to Booker T. Washington High School for
a year,” she continued. “Then I started
going out with this guy named Archie
Sutton. He was going to Xavier Prep so I
transferred there.”
At Xavier Prep Carol attended school
with a number of other young women
who rose to local prominence. Among
the names she recalled were those of
Sandra Rhodes, later to become president
of Rhodes Funeral Home, and Mickey
Barthelemy, former first lady, and wife
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BIONCA FLOT SYKES
of former New Orleans Mayor Sidney
Barthelemy.
“And then there was this girl who came
in as a freshman; a character,” Carol said.
“We all knew she would be a star. That was
Wanda Rouzon.”
After graduating from Xavier Prep,
Carol attended Xavier University. She
would later leave college to marry the
love of her life and high school sweetheart,
Archie Sutton, with whom she
had two children – Archie, Jr., and Aunya.
Always interested in social justice and
in serving her community, Carol began
working with Total Community Action
(TCA), a nonprofit community-based
agency dedicated to providing essential
aid to the disadvantaged, in 1968. Later,
TCA sent her to Houston, Texas where
she attended Texas Southern University
and received her certification in Early
Childhood Development.
As a member of St. Francis de Sales
Catholic Church in uptown New Orleans,
Carol developed an interest in theatre
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