Haunting Facts About The Sad Life Of Carol Wayne
Although she had a sizable film and TV filmography, Carol Wayne was primarily known as the "Matinee Lady" in a popular series of sketches on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. In these "Art Fern's Tea Time Movie" sketches, she would deliver a series of double entendres about non-existent movies.
Yet, while a recurring place on one of the most popular shows in television history seems like confirmation that she was living the dream, that sadly wasn't what life was like for her behind the scenes. To better understand her, it helps to get a sense of how her life unfolded toward its tragic ending.
Even Her First Opportunities Had Bad Luck
When Wayne was a teenager she and her younger sister Nina were discovered by the Ice Capades. By then, they had both already trained for eight hours a day for years at the behest of their parents. Once the sisters were hired to perform together by the Ice Capades, they dropped out of high school to pursue this entry into show business.
However, Wayne later expressed some wistful regret for this, saying, "When you train for something so young and become good at it as we did, you never know if that's what you were meant to do in the school of things of life, or if it was just because it was someone else's idea. We missed a childhood of growing up."
A Sad Incident That Ruined Everything
Despite how much Wayne sacrificed for the Ice Capades, however, her time with them would not last as long as she'd hoped. As she explained, unruly audience members had a tendency to throw pennies on the ice and make skaters fall down.
One of these people ruined everything for Wayne because after she was tripped up by one of them, she experienced a horrific injury that left a five-inch scar on her knee. Although she recovered enough to finish the tour she and her sister had embarked on, it would be her last.
Panic Set In With An Unfortunate Realization
Not only did it feel like Wayne had wasted her childhood on what was ultimately a fleeting experience but she realized that she had no idea where she was going to go from there.
Since she didn't have any education and could no longer pursue what she had trained all her life up to that point for, Wayne found herself in a moment of crisis. Although her sister also left the Ice Capades to stay by her side, neither were sure what would happen next.
An Awkward Career Move
Since there wasn't much the Wayne sisters were trained to do besides perform, they found themselves at the now-defunct Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, where they performed as showgirls. Specifically, they were part of the Folies Bergere show, as advertised on the pictured sign.
Her mother was less than impressed by the skimpy outfits the sisters were expected to wear, once humorously asking, "Girls, could you ask them for a couple more feathers?" However, they had to do something and that something led Wayne to an unexpected opportunity.
A Chance Meeting Turned Her Luck Around
Although they worked in one of America's most notorious party cities, the Wayne sisters tended to drive down to Los Angeles when they wanted some fun of their own. Despite this, Wayne appeared to find herself on her own at a party when she was approached by a mysterious man.
While she was naturally skeptical when the man said "We're looking for a girl just like you," she nonetheless found that the studio screen test he invited her to was real. Better yet, she passed it with flying colors.
She Wasn't Naive About What Got People's Attention
Although Wayne certainly had the charm and charisma to avail her during that screen test, she was also very sure that the man who first approached her didn't just notice her personality. Indeed, it was well-known to her that her buxom frame was a serious asset to her other show business opportunities.
When she looked back on the chance meeting and the screen test that followed in a later interview, she looked down at her chest, laughed, and said, "And I got all my parts ever since then."
A Whirlwind Romance
Before arriving for the screen test that would be the start of her big break, Wayne found that Las Vegas had just as much of an effect on her personal life as her professional one. In other words, that's where she met her first love.
Since she was too busy to date in her youth, she experienced all new feelings after meeting Loretto "Larry" Cera and fell deeply in love. Their relationship would end up moving fast enough that she married him on May 1, 1965.
A Mysterious But Clearly Tumultuous Marriage
Although Wayne was coy about what had happened in her marriage to Cera, one need only look at the amount of time they stayed together to understand that things went very wrong very quickly. By the time their divorce had gone through in June 1967, their marriage had barely lasted two years.
All Wayne had to say about that marriage after the fact is that while skating taught her to be limber, that brief marriage taught her to be flexible. There a few possible interpretations for what that could mean and they're all fairly grim.
A Fledgling Acting Career
Before she truly found her star-making role, Wayne was able to score some guest appearances in various TV shows such as The Man From U.N.C.L.E, a spin-off called The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., and I Dream Of Jeannie.
Although she was still married to Cera when she took on the first of these roles, she crept ever closer to her breakout opportunity by the time of their divorce. And it centered around one titanic figure in television.
The Part That Everyone Knew Her For
In 1967, Wayne seized an opportunity that would support her career for over 15 years. She joined the rotating cast of Johnny Carson's famous version of The Tonight Show and logged over 100 appearances, most of which consisted of playing the character Art Fern's "Matinee Lady."
Although this meant she would trade double entendres with this sleazy, mustachioed character, they were framed as unintentional slips from a character too innocent to realize what she's saying. Given its longevity, it was clearly a popular segment.
Rumors Started To Follow Her
The frequency of her appearances and the chemistry she shared with Carson wasn't lost on either viewers or the show's crew, which led to persistent rumblings that her relationship with Carson wasn't purely professional.
The rumors suggested that the two were carrying on a long-term romantic entanglement backstage. Although this was not true, Wayne came off as pretty understanding as to why they formed when she addressed them.
The Timing Was Never There
Wayne admitted that the chemistry between them wasn't purely for the cameras and that had circumstances been different, a romantic relationship between them could have been possible. However, the fact of the matter was that they never happened to be single at the same time.
Although her marriage to Cera was in her rear view by the time she met Carson, she would marry twice more after that. The bulk of her early years on The Tonight Show were spent while she was in a relationship with filmmaker and photographer Barry Feinstein, while many of the latter years saw her married to producer Burt Sugarman. Meanwhile, two of Carson's four marriages ran their course while Wayne knew him.
She Was Sure He Loved Her
However she felt about the way their personal lives never allowed her and Carson to be together, Wayne expressed confidence that this was truly all that held them back. Not only did she say that he loved her and that she loved him but that it was understood between them to the point of being a given fact.
She also went as far as to say that Carson saw her every day in his dreams. Whether that was true or not, Carson never publicly confirmed any of Wayne's statements.
Wayne's Second Marriage To An Interesting Figure
While it's been established that Wayne's second husband, Barry Feinstein was a photographer, it's more accurate to say that he made a name for shooting some of the biggest names in music at the time.
He was particularly known to be a friend of Bob Dylan and had once married Mary Travers from the beloved folk act Peter, Paul and Mary. In fact, the timelines of his relationships with Travers and Wayne were close enough to invite suspicion.
Her Relationship With Feinstein Began Awkwardly
Although Wayne and Feinstein married in 1969, it's more murky as to when they officially started dating. If it was during 1967, it's possible that he was still married to Travers at the time.
At the very least, it's historically been hard not to regard the fact that he divorced Travers fairly soon after Wayne exited her marriage with Cera as more than an innocent coincidence. And whether it was the result of that awkwardness or just frustration at the rumors that may have came from it, it was clear that Waybne had some acerbic feelings about Travers.
Wayne Had A Derisive Nickname For Travers
Since both Feinstein and Wayne's divorces were pretty acrimonious, they seemed to leave a residual cloud of hostility in the lead-up to the couple's relationship. While Feinstein didn't appear to comment on how he felt about Cera, the same could not be said for Wayne.
While it's unclear as to whether this was intended to be a reference to her attitude at the time or an unkind remark of a more superficial nature, Wayne reportedly referred to Travers as "Peter, Paul, and Scary."
Wayne And Feinstein Didn't Stop At Marriage
While their relationship wouldn't last either, it seems that Wayne's marriage to Feinstein had a better start to her time with Cera. Not only was the extent of her marriage to Cera the equivalent of less than half of her time with Feinstein but the status of those marriages a year in said a lot about them.
For instance, Wayne was already approaching the end of her marriage to Cera at that one-year mark. Conversely, she gave birth to her son Alex at the same point in her marriage with Feinstein. He was born in 1970 and would be her only child.
Single Again For Similarly Vague Reasons
Although Wayne's mysterious statements about Cera suggested some dark times in their brief marriage, the way she reflected on her time with Feinstein didn't strike quite as serious a chord.
While it's true that the vagueness of her statements make it sound like the fatal differences between her and Feinstein were aesthetic, her explanation that "The Frey boots, the Levi's — I couldn't stand the whole New York cowboy thing anymore" suggests a difference in their personalities that they couldn't navigate by the time they divorced in 1974.
A Quick Rebound That Raised Eyebrows
Although Wayne hadn't jumped into marriage quite as quickly with Feinstein as she had with Cera, the same could not be said about her relationship with television producer Burt Sugarman.
Just a year after divorcing Feinstein, Wayne and Sugarman married in 1975. This would prove the final marriage of Wayne's life and see them spend five years together before their divorce in 1980. However, what happened during that time aroused some suspicions about their whirlwind romance.
Marrying Sugarman Was A Decent Career Move
By the time Wayne married Sugarman, he was the producer for a show called Celebrity Sweepstakes. It also didn't appear to come as a coincidence that Wayne was a regular panelist on that very show between 1974 and 1976.
Although it didn't last as long, this pattern repeated with another show Sugarman produced called Whew! Indeed, Wayne was featured as a celebrity player on this show in 1979, but not when it was still on in 1980.
A Hopeful Turn In Her Career
Throughout the mid-to-late '70s, Wayne's career was in the best shape it had been since she co-starred in the 1968 Peter Sellers comedy The Party. Not only was she still regularly appearing as the Matinee Lady on The Tonight Show and not only was she appearing on Sugarman's shows, but she secured her first film role in over a decade.
This movie was called Scavenger Hunt and saw her play the personal nurse to the ailing gaming magnate Milton Parker, played by Vincent Price. Indeed, the film's zany plot kicks off after losing to her in a video game overwhelms him to the point of death.
A Sudden Downward Turn At Her Steadiest Job
Although Wayne was reliably popular during her appearances on The Tonight Show, that suddenly stopped mattering on a fateful night in 1981, when Carson threatened to walk off The Tonight Show and stay gone. While the prospect likely worried Wayne, it far more explicitly worried NBC executives.
After all, The Tonight Show was all but their flagship program at that point and Carson's presence on the show was clearly the biggest reason why. Naturally, this made them eager to negotiate a way to keep him hosting, but those negotiations didn't fare well for Wayne.
A Major Blow She Never Recovered From
If Wayne was relieved by news that Carson and NBC had reached an agreement, that relief quickly died once she realized how things were going to change. Although Carson didn't angle to have her removed from the show, that was practically the consequence of what he did want.
That's because the terms NBC agreed to involved shortening The Tonight Show, which had episodes that ran an-hour-and-a-half up to that point. Under the new agreement, the show's episodes would be an hour each, which meant some of its features would need to be cut. Unfortunately, that meant Wayne could no longer rely on her appearances as the Matinee Lady, which became far less frequent.
A Grim Echo Of Her Start
By the time this sudden change in her career took place, Wayne was already divorced from Sugarman. This meant that all the TV avenues that were readily available to her just a couple of years prior were suddenly gone. Naturally, this made film work harder to come by for her as well.
In many ways, this was a sad echo of how her time with the Ice Capades ended. She had worked toward something that felt so secure for long long only to have its fragility made heartbreakingly apparent in the blink of an eye.
Stray Roles Here And There, But That Was It
Between 1981 and 1983, the only movie role she secured was a somewhat small part in the 1982 family movie Savannah Smiles. Although TV provided the bulk of her work since she started appearing on The Tonight Show, there wasn't much work for her in that arena either.
Indeed, with the exception of the rare instances Carson could find room for her on The Tonight Show, Wayne's TV roles had vanished entirely by 1982. A part in the TV movie The Big Black Pill and two episodes of the sitcom The Fall Guy in 1981 comprised the last of her TV credits.
She Made A Desperate Decision In 1984
Perhaps one of the greatest tragedies in Wayne's life concerned the uncanny ways that her darkest times seemed to repeat themselves. After all, when her time with the Ice Capades suddenly ended, she found herself with few other options than to become a showgirl at the Tropicana.
That also characterized the slump she found herself in by 1984. Since the previous year hadn't seen her secure any roles at all and she was becoming desperate for money, she did a fully nude pictorial for Playboy magazine.
Her Personal Life Spiraled But It Started Subtly
It's fair to call 1984 a year when Wayne faced some brutal reckonings but one of them wouldn't become apparent right away. By this time, Alex was a teenager attending Beverly Hills High School and he had developed an affinity for clove cigarettes.
Rather than discourage him from smoking them, Wayne apparently decided to try them herself. Although this was an era when restaurants still had smoking sections, she developed a habit of relentless chain-smoking that was considered too noxious even for the time.
She Developed Darker Addictions Soon After
While it would be abundantly clear in the decades to come how destructive a smoking habit is, the sad truth is that this turned out to be the least of her problems. That was because the habits she would soon develop would prove even more disastrous for her health and for her financial woes.
That was because she had become addicted to both alcohol and the infamous extract from coca leaves. Considering how expensive that sort of coke is, it sadly didn't take her long to lose what little she had left.
Wayne Met Her Financial Rock Bottom
The combination of rapidly escalating addictions and the drying up of her opportunities led to the clearest indicator of her ruin as 1984 continued. It was clear that whatever she received from Playboy that year, it wasn't nearly enough to keep her growing struggles under control.
That's because that year saw her declare bankruptcy in a court filing. In just four short years, she went from a promising, reasonably successful actress to almost literally penniless.
Wayne Could Not Be Clearer That She Had Nothing
While a person doesn't have to have literally zero dollars to their name to declare bankruptcy, that extreme circumstance was closer to Wayne's situation in 1984 than not. And her bankruptcy court filing painted a stark, grim portrait of the dire financial straits she was in.
That's because she claimed an income of zero dollars, which sadly lines up with how 1983 went for her. She secured no film or TV roles that year whatsoever and her income reflected that.
Wayne Received Encouragement From An Unlikely Source
Once it became abundantly clear that Wayne was using narcotics, her friends became deeply concerned for her and urged her to go to rehab to put herself on a healthier track.
Considering his own well-publicized struggles with addiction, it may be a little surprising to learn that the most serious effort to help her came from comedy legend Richard Pryor. He didn't stop at offering to pay for her treatment, either. He also promised her a role in an upcoming movie if she could get clean and sober. Sadly, we'll never know what difference this could have made.
A Surprising Upswing
Although 1984 was the year everything truly fell apart for Wayne, it was also a year that ended bringing her some professional hope. Although she hadn't appeared in any movies in 1983, she would appear in three of them by the time 1984 was out.
These films included obscurities like Surf II and E. Nick: A Legend in His Own Mind, but the most prestigious and encouraging of them was Heartbreakers. This was a dramatic turn for her that showed some of Wayne's previously unexplored talents and was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Critics Were Impressed, Especially Roger Ebert
Poignantly, Heartbreakers would make for Wayne's final film appearance but it also attracted the best reviews she had ever received throughout her entire career. In other life, perhaps this would have set the stage for a comeback.
Not only was performance impressive to critics, but the famous Roger Ebert went as far as to suggest that Wayne anchored the entire film. As he put it at the time, "Her performance is so good, so heartbreaking, if you will, that it pulls the whole movie together."
A Fateful Vacation
In January 1985, Wayne was feeling in enough of a celebratory mood after things were apparently getting back on track to embark on a trip to Mexico.
There, she stayed at the Las Hadas resort in the city of Manzanillo, which remains standing and prestigious today. However, the mystery of what happened next was complicated by the fact that she didn't go alone.
It Was Unclear What Their Relationship Was
While little is known about the man she went to Mexico with, what is clear is that his name was Edward Durston and that he was a car salesman.
Since it's unclear whether Wayne had any kind of romantic connection with Durston, he was typically referred to as either a "friend" or "companion" in reports that followed the fateful end of their journey together.
They Enjoyed Themselves At First
Although some reports suggest Wayne was drinking while they were at the hotel — which would have been concerning given her struggles with alcohol — other employee testimonies were significantly more vague about what the pair were doing.
These employees characterized their time together as having the fun they were used to seeing people have while vacationing at a seaside resort. In short, nothing appeared out of the ordinary for most of their stay.
It All Started With A Missed Flight Back
Although Wayne and Durston were scheduled to leave Mexico on January 10, 1985, something appeared to delay them. It was unclear whether the disagreement that led to the delay was between Wayne and Durston of the pair and their airline, but it led them to stay in Mexico longer than intended.
As inconvenient as this would be at the best of times, however, it seemed to be the start of a personal spiral between Wayne and Durston.
An Apparently Dreaded Rebooking
Whether due to budgeting concerns or a lack of vacancy at Las Hadas, Durston and Wayne rebooked at another hotel called Playa de Santiago. This hotel also still stands today and is considered an affordable, family-oriented beachfront hotel with a three-star experience.
It seems that was just as true in 1985 as it is now, as Wayne was reportedly unhappy with the change of venue. Regardless of its temporary and last-minute nature, it appeared to be a downgraded experience for her.
An Argument Separates Them
After their evening arrival at Playa de Santiago, the sight of the hotel seemed to confirm Wayne's suspicions about it, which led to a heated argument between her and Durston. At the end of their confrontation, Wayne reportedly stormed off.
As far as anyone knew, she had intended to take a walk on the beach. However, the results of that walk remain shrouded in a sinister mystery, as it was the last time anyone ever saw her alive.
Durston's Behavior Becomes Suspicious
Although it's unclear how long Durston waited at Playa de Santiago after Wayne stormed off, what was clear was that he had enough of her presence during the rest of his time in Mexico. If he was worried about what became of her, his actions did not show it.
That's because Durston checked out of Playa de Santiago and booked another hotel. Even more suspiciously, he brought Wayne's luggage with him.
A Reminder Of The Context Of The Time
Nowadays, it's not completely out of the question for such a response to make sense, as there are a myriad of ways to reach someone by a mobile device to explain where you've gone, especially if you have their luggage with you.
However, the only way Wayne would be made of the whereabouts of either Durston or her belongings was if he had left a message with the staff at Playa de Santiago to that effect.
Durston Washed His Hands Of Wayne Entirely
The following day, Durston had made it abundantly clear that he was finished with the whole experience regardless of Wayne's absence. After spending the night at the third hotel alone, Durston headed to the airport and flew home without Wayne.
Although he had brought her luggage to the airport, he left it with airline staff and told them Wayne would pick it up later. That would never occur.
A Gruesome Discovery
On January 13, a local fisherman discovered Wayne's fully clothed body in a shallow bay. She had apparently drowned and exhibited so signs of life. It would later be determined that this was true long before the fisherman found her.
Wayne was 42 years old. Yet, while the story of her life ends there, the mystery that surrounded her passing was only beginning to unfold.
An Investigation Begins
Since three days had passed between Wayne's final argument with Durston and her discovery, there were any number of possibilities as to what circumstances led to such a sudden end.
Wayne had apparently not been able to swim, which means it was possible that she had been unexpectedly swept away and doomed. Of course, there were also darker suspicions that either she, Durston, or somebody else entirely deliberately ended Wayne's life.
An Autopsy Answers A Few Questions But Raises Others
Considering her struggles with addiction, it wouldn't be entirely unreasonable to assume that she had plunged into the bay while in an intoxicated state. However, Wayne's autopsy had made it abundantly clear that no alcohol or narcotics were in her system whatsoever. At the time of her passing, she was clean.
The autopsy also led experts to estimate that Wayne had been deceased for between 36 and 48 hours by the time she was found. It's worth remembering that this timeframe overlaps with Durston's remaining time in Mexico.
Her Case Was Very Suspicious
During an extended 1990 report by A Current Affair, former district attorney Jorge Hernandez expressed his suspicions that Wayne had been murdered. While it's unclear what led him to believe she couldn't have taken her own life, he was confident that she hadn't.
He was more descriptive in explaining why her passing wasn't accidental, however, noting that the waters she was discovered in were calm and shallow. He also added that her body didn't show any bruising or cuts that would indicate she had fallen into the bay.
There Was A Prime Suspect
This not only meant that Hernandez and others who have since examined the case believe Wayne was murdered, but also that Durston was their prime suspect.
The fact that she was last seen having an argument with him didn't exactly help his case, nor did his lack of concern (such as failing to report her missing) about her whereabouts or fate after that argument took place. However, there's more to Durston's story that has drawn suspicion.
This Wasn't The First Incident Durston Was Involved In
On October 4, 1969, media personality Art Linkletter's daughter Diane reportedly jumped from a sixth-floor balcony at Shoreham Towers in West Hollywood, California. This was her apartment and about six hours before she died from her injuries, she had called Durston over.
Although Durston said she was very agitated and that they had talked all night before he attempted to grab her and prevent her from jumping, the fact remains that he was present at the moment of her passing. Although Linkletter's death was attributed to her LSD use, his presence during Wayne's death has made him appear more suspicious in both incidents.
Nobody Can Prove Anything
Despite people's suspicions about Durston's proximity to Linkletter at the time of her death and his behavior during the time of Wayne's death, however, there is no concrete evidence that indicates his culpability in either incident.
Thus, regardless of how it may have looked, Wayne's death was ruled an accident and that has not changed no matter how many times her case has been re-examined. Still, the circumstances of her death will always remain mysterious.
A Period Of Mourning On The Tonight Show
Out of respect for Wayne's memory, Carson elected not to film any more Art Fern's Tea Time Movie sketches for the remainder of the 1985 season. While there's no mention of him explicitly address her passing on The Tonight Show, it was clear why that subtle change happened.
Yet, while Wayne's memory cast a bittersweet shadow over the hearts of viewers, the art Fern segments did return with a new Matinee Lady. At first, she was played by Danuta Wesley but the role went to Teresa Ganzel (pictured) in the show's latter years.
Mason Zimmer
