WASHINGTON 鈥� British actress Judy Carne, whose main claim to American fame was as the 鈥淪ock It to Me Girl鈥� on the TV show 鈥淩owan and Martin’s Laugh-In,鈥� has died. She was 76.
Carne died Thursday in Northampton, England, where she was born, on Thursday. She had been living in the nearby village of Pitsford, reports.
The daughter of two greengrocers, Carne, born Joyce Audrey Botterill, was on two British TV shows in the early 1960s, then headed to the U.S. just as all things British were catching on. She appeared on three American sitcoms as well as 鈥淭he Man From U.N.C.L.E.鈥�
She was only a regular on the first two seasons of 鈥淟augh-In,鈥� in 1968 and 1969, making occasional appearances later. But her catch phrase, 鈥渟ock it to me,鈥� which inevitably led to her being doused with water and being victimized by other pranks, lived on for years.
She was married to Burt Reynolds from 1963 to 1965; they divorced amid accusations that Reynolds was abusive to her. He reportedly helped Carne later, however, when drug addiction and financial problems threatened her life and well-being.
Carne left 鈥淟augh-In鈥� for fear of being typecast, the Northampton News reports, and went on to star on Broadway and TV, but without surpassing her earlier success. In 1985, she documented her decline in her autobiography, 鈥淟aughing on the Outside, Crying on the Inside: The Bittersweet Saga of the Sock-It-To-Me Girl,鈥� and appeared in a Laugh-In reunion in 1993.
By then she鈥檇 moved to Pitsford, where she lived a quiet life with her two dogs. The remembrances from friends and acquaintances collected by the Northampton News have as much to do with her dogs as her fame.
