Heartbreaking Facts About Carol Wayne, The Matinee Girl

She Was The Matinee Girl

With her high voice, buxom figure, and comedic timing, Carol Wayne more than earned her regular spot as the naive “Matinee Girl” on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. But her brutal and mysterious end dug up secrets that were far from innocent. 

If anyone was chewed up and spit out by the dark side of Hollywood, it was Carol Wayne.

1. She Was A Teen Star

Carol Wayne got a taste for fame from an incredibly young age. Born in Chicago in 1942, she and her younger sister Nina were promising ice skaters, and got jobs at 15 and 16 performing a 42-city tour with the Ice Capades. It had its cost. They not only dropped out of high school to do the gig—but disaster struck soon after.

 United Archives, Getty Images

2. She Had A Horrible Fall

One day, Carol was performing her usual tricks on the ice when she tripped—possibly on a penny or another item that someone had thrown on the ice—and fell. It was no simple accident either, and the fall resulted in a five-inch scar running down her knee. 

It would have even bigger consequences for her career.

 MGM, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968)

3. She Missed Her Childhood

Although Carol later finished the tour with the Ice Capades, the injury meant the end of her skating long-term. This drove her to a devastating realization. She had spent all her supposedly carefree years devoted to skating, missing “a childhood of growing up, dating," and she didn’t even have a high school diploma to show for it. 

So, she kept doing the only thing she knew how to do: Get attention.

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

4. She Became A Showgirl

When Carol exited the Ice Capades, so too did her sister Nina. The girls found employment in a more scandalous place. With their curvy figures, the pair became showgirls in Las Vegas at the Tropicana, much to their mother’s horror. According to Wayne, her mother once looked their barely-there outfits up and down and said “could you ask them for a couple more feathers?” 

But Wayne was about to hit the big leagues.

 MGM, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968)

5. A Party Changed Her Life

While working in Las Vegas, Wayne and her sister would often drive down to Los Angeles and see what kind of fun they could have. On one such trip, Wayne found herself at a party when a man approached her and said, “We’re looking for a girl just like you” and then invited her for a screen test at a studio in the morning.

Skeptical, Wayne went anyway. She didn’t regret it.

 Paramount, Love, American Style (1969–1974)

6. She Knew She Had The Goods

Wayne apparently smashed her screen test the next day, because she got the part the man had intended for her. That said, Wayne had a saucy theory about her success. Laughing and looking down at her chest, Wayne later said slyly, “And I got all my parts ever since then”. 

Either way, her foot was now in the door in Hollywood, but for the moment her heart was somewhere else.

 Paramount, Love, American Style (1969–1974)

7. She Fell In Love

Around this time, while working in Las Vegas, Wayne met Loretto “Larry” Cera and fell head over heels, enough to marry him in May of 1965. It may have been the beginning of stability and settling down—but it turned into something else entirely. 

 MGM, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968)

8. Her Marriage Fell Apart

In the end, Wayne and her new husband Cera were barely together long enough to take a proper honeymoon; they divorced just a month after their second anniversary. Speaking on the marriage later, Wayne quipped somewhat mysteriously, "skating taught me to be limber, but that marriage really taught me how to be flexible”. 

Unfortunately, it would not be her last doomed romance. 

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

9. She Was A Rising Star

At the time of her divorce from Cera, Wayne’s star was on the rise. She was doing several guest spots—as characters with sultry names like Ginger LaVeer and Bootsie Nightingale—on established shows like The Man from UNCLE and I Dream of Jeannie. Little did she know, she was about to hit her biggest break yet.

 MGM, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968)

10. She Got An Iconic Guest Spot

Starting in 1967—the year she divorced Cera—Wayne landed a huge opportunity. No less than Johnny Carson and his team hired her to work on The Tonight Show in the recurring Art Fern's Tea Time Movie sketch, where she played The Matinee Lady, an innocent, va-va-voom woman who can’t help making double entendres. 

It was the beginning of true fame, and true controversy. 

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

11. She Had Chemistry With Her Co-Star

Wayne would go on to have more than 100 appearances on The Tonight Show, but this led to many scandalous backstage rumors. Her chemistry with Carson was undeniable, as were her physical charms, and many believed the pair might have struck up a backstage romance. Wayne’s response to this was surprising.

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

12. The Timing Wasn’t Right

In a later interview where she addressed her time on The Tonight Show, Wayne didn’t deny the chemistry she had with Carson—and she even alluded to feelings on both their parts when she replied that there was “always bad timing” because they never seemed to be single at the same time. 

Some of Wayne’s other comments on the matter, however, raised eyebrows. 

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

13. She Thought He Loved Her

In the same interview, Wayne seemed to break from this placid assessment of her relationship with Carson and, whether jokingly or not, said, “He loves me…I love him. It’s an understanding, a given. He still sees me every day in his dreams”. Publicly, however, Carson never voiced such feelings for Wayne. 

Well, Wayne moved on in her own way.

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

14. She Met A Rock Legend

Shortly after her divorce from Larry Cera and in the heyday of her work on The Tonight Show, Wayne met rock and roll photographer Barry Feinstein. For Wayne, it might have been love at first sight: Feinstein was fundamentally cool, and had connections and close friendships with some of rock’s greatest artists, including Bob Dylan, as well as with tough-guy actors like Steve McQueen. 

Yet as always, there were issues. 

 Chris Hakkens, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

15. She May Have Been The Other Woman 

Barry Feinstein’s first wife was Mary Travers, of folk band Peter, Paul, and Mary—and according to Hollywood’s Babylon Women, at the time Wayne met Feinstein, he was still married to Mary. Just…not for long. The musical pair divorced in 1967, perhaps not-so-coincidentally the same year Wayne became single.

Foul play or not, Wayne didn’t become the new girlfriend quietly.

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

16. She Had A Sharp Tongue 

Wayne was perfectly sweet and polite on the outside, but she could dish out an insult when she wanted. Hollywood’s Babylon Women relates that after Wayne and Feinstein got together soon after their messy divorces, Wayne referred to her predecessor Mary Travers as “Peter, Paul, and Scary”. 

 Columbia, I Dream of Jeannie (1965–1970)

17. She Started A Family 

Whatever the truth of their beginnings, Carol Wayne and Barry Feinstein made it official in 1969, becoming husband and wife themselves. Then, a year later, Carol gave birth to her first and only child, a son named Alex. Once more, it looked like Carol was settling into modest success and family life. Once more, it crumbled.

 Paramount, Love, American Style (1969–1974)

18. She Went Through Heartbreak Again 

Wayne and Feinstein made the best go they could of it, but in the end they were together for only five years—and much of that may have been for their young son. In 1974, they finally called it quits, and Carol Wayne was on the market again, this time as a single mother. Only, Carol never had to wait long for a man to come. 

 Columbia, I Dream of Jeannie (1965–1970)

19. She Wouldn’t Quit 

By now, Carol was in her early 30s, but her quest for lasting love didn’t stop, even with two failed marriages under her belt. Just a year after her divorce from Feinstein, she married the television and film producer Burt Sugarman…but this time, her marriage might have been for more than just romance.

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

20. She Made A Smart Alliance 

Sugarman was an influential producer on just the kind of television shows that fit Wayne’s buxom, bubbly brand. At the time of her marriage, he was acting as producer on Celebrity Sweepstakes. Wayne reaped these benefits, acting as a panelist both on Sweepstakes and Sugarman’s later show Whew!

Still, Wayne wanted more.

 NBC, Celebrity Sweepstakes (1974–1977)

21. She Aimed Higher 

Wayne was still appearing regularly—and popularly—on The Tonight Show, but she now began to try out for more ambitious roles for herself, including in films. In 1979, after nearly a decade away from movies, she took on a part as “Nurse” in the ensemble comedy Scavenger Hunt. 

Things were looking up. That is, until they came crashing down. 

 Twentieth Century, Scavenger Hunt (1979)

22. Her Boss Threw A Fit 

In the early 1980s, Wayne’s life changed in a terrifying way. Johnny Carson, unhappy with the current state of The Tonight Show, threatened to walk off and leave it forever. The network was horrified at the thought of losing their biggest cash cow, but Wayne herself must have worried for the most stable job she’d ever had.

When the dust settled, Wayne didn’t come out on top.

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

23. She Was Cut

Although NBC convinced Carson not to leave them, they did it by acceding to his demand that The Tonight Show be reduced from its usual hour-and-a-half run time to just an hour. This would give Carson more free time—but also meant they had to cut a ton of material from the show, including much of Wayne’s work as “The Matinee Girl”. 

Then the bad news got worse.

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

24. She Went Through Her Third Divorce 

In 1980, another piece of Wayne’s life fell apart. Her marriage to producer Burt Sugarman ended in divorce, right around the time she began appearing less on Carson’s set. For the first time in a while, Carol Wayne was almost completely empty-handed in Hollywood, and it happened almost completely overnight.

Wayne wasn’t the least prepared for this. 

 NBC, Celebrity Sweepstakes (1974–1977)

25. She Was Alone 

For the past decade, Wayne had been working steadily, if not flashily, and she was at the very least a reliable actress. Yet suddenly, with the loss of both The Tonight Show and her ex-husband’s connections, no one wanted to hire her. For the next couple of years, the work almost completely dried up, aside from some sparse film or TV work. 

She had to do something—but not everyone agreed with her next choice. 

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

26. She Bared It All 

By 1984, Wayne was in dire need of money, not to mention a career boost. So she made a controversial decision. That year, she appeared in Playboy—and let’s just say she was not in one of their more demure spreads. Of course, this was her decision to make…but behind the scenes, there was a much darker story unfolding. 

 MGM, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968)

27. She Picked Up A Bad Habit 

In the mid-1980s, Carol’s son Alex was now in high school, and around then he reportedly introduced his mother to clove cigarettes for the first time. She took to the habit with a vengeance. According to Hollywood’s Babylon Women, she smoked them so much that their distinctive scent got her kicked out of many Hollywood restaurants.

If it had stopped there, things might have gone very differently for Wayne.

 Paramount, Love, American Style (1969–1974)

28. She Became Addicted

One of Wayne’s favorite things about cloves was the head rush they gave her, and she was soon seeking out that rush in other substances, alcoholic or otherwise. Given the way her life had gone, it’s possible that Wayne was self-medicating away her emotions.

Sooner rather than later, there were devastating effects.

 MGM, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968)

29. She Lost Everything

In 1984—the same year she had raked in a little much-needed money by posing for Hugh Hefner’s camera—Carol Wayne was forced to file for bankruptcy. It was a stark indication that she had been spending most of her money on her addictions, but that somehow wasn’t the saddest thing about the filing.

 Paramount, Love, American Style (1969–1974)

30. She Had Nothing 

In her petition to the courts, Wayne revealed a tragic detail. The paperwork declared that she had $0 as income, and indeed the year before, her filmography lists exactly zero roles for the actress, now in her 40s. 

Still, in only a year, Wayne would discover that it could get much, much worse. 

 MGM, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968)

31. She Got A Plum Role At Last

Ironically enough, the end of Wayne’s life began with another windfall. Around when she filed for bankruptcy, she appeared in the dramatic film Heartbreakers, which was more serious fare for her, and which screened at the Berlin International Film Festival. More than that, critics took notice.

 Columbia, I Dream of Jeannie (1965–1970)

32. Roger Ebert Complimented Her

Wayne’s role in Heartbreakers finally had some meat to it, and she was allowed to show her talents. When Roger Ebert saw the film, he singled out Wayne’s performance, saying, “Her performance is so good, so heartbreaking, if you will, that it pulls the whole movie together”. 

It could have been the beginning of an acclaimed career for Wayne. Instead, Heartbreakers was the last film she would ever make. 

 Rebert, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

33. She Escaped America 

In January of 1985, perhaps bolstered by the positive reception of her work in Heartbreakers, Wayne made a fateful decision: She went to the Las Hadas resort in Manzanillo, Mexico, reportedly to “dry out” from the habits that had put her into bankruptcy. 

But just as she tried to take back control of her life, it spun out.

 MGM, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968)

34. She Had A Companion 

With Wayne on the trip was Edward Durston, a car salesman and a general man-about-Hollywood. They appeared to be there as a couple, though the official status of their relationship was murky even after the ensuing events. Whatever the case, Durston didn’t appear to be a good influence on Wayne.

 Columbia, I Dream of Jeannie (1965–1970)

35. She Fell Back Into Dangerous Habits

In light of what was about to happen, it’s difficult to know if Carol Wayne really had gone to the resort to kick her habits or not. Yet if she did try, she seems to have failed. Employees of the hotel went on record saying that Wayne and Durston spent their time in Mexico “having fun, dancing and drinking”. 

That “fun” would soon run out.

 Columbia, I Dream of Jeannie (1965–1970)

36. She Missed A Fateful Flight

The trouble started on January 10, when Wayne and Durston were due to leave. Because of a disagreement, or perhaps just a mistake, they ended up missing their flight out of Mexico. It snowballed from there. The Las Hadas resort where they had been staying was expensive, and they didn’t have enough money to go back there—even if their old room hadn’t already been rented out again.

 Paramount, Love, American Style (1969–1974)

37. She Had Expensive Tastes

Seeing their distress at this turn of events, staff at Las Hadas tried their best to help Wayne and Durston, assigning them a room at the cheaper Playa de Santiago nearby. Wayne’s reaction was explosive. According to eyewitnesses, she was incensed at the idea of staying at the “dump” that was the Playa de Santiago, and she lashed out.

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

38. She Threw A Fit

Likely already angry at the misfortune of the day, Wayne reportedly pitched a fit when they arrived at the hotel around 8:30 pm that night, and refused to get out of the taxi and go into the accommodations. As the bellboy and Durston brought up their luggage to the room anyway, Wayne stood outside, fuming.

When Durston came back for her, his blood ran cold. 

 MGM, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968)

39. She Disappeared

After settling the items in the room and returning to the foyer of the hotel, Durston made a chilling discovery. Wayne had disappeared, and no one around had seen where a “blonde lady” had gone. Perhaps more miffed at her stalking off than he was concerned, Durston posted up at the hotel bar to wait out the argument. It was his first mistake.

 MGM, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968)

40. He Carried On

Over the course of the evening, Durston appears to have kept an eye on if Wayne ever came back to the hotel—only, she never did. This is where his behavior became questionable at best: After hearing this, he simply checked into another hotel, making it impossible for Wayne to find him if she tried. Oh, but it gets worse.

 Columbia, I Dream of Jeannie (1965–1970)

41. He Abandoned Her

Durston was apparently fed up with Wayne, and his next move was ice cold. He flew back to Los Angeles without her, though he did take her bags along with him, telling the airline she would “pick them up in the morning”—even though he had not seen her in some hours.

The next time someone did see Carol Wayne, it made headlines.

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

42. They Found Her Body

On January 13, 1985, a fisherman was out casting his net when he caught sight of a horrific tableau: Carol Wayne’s fully clothed body floating in a shallow bay. He quickly brought her in, only to find no signs of life. 

“Matinee Lady” Carol Wayne had been found at last—dead and bloated, and with hundreds of questions about her end swirling.

 Savannah Smiles Productions, Savannah Smiles (1982)

43. Investigators Were Suspicious 

Mexican police immediately ruled Wayne’s death as suspicious, but these suspicions were manifold. The main questions they began asking all had terrible possible answers: Had Wayne accidentally fallen and drowned? Had she, upset at the fight and her circumstances, taken her own life? Had someone—someone like Edward Durston—slain her?

The autopsy’s revelations were heartbreaking.

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

44. She Was Clean When She Died

The autopsy on Wayne’s body showed she had been dead for 36–48 hours when the fisherman finally discovered her—meaning whatever happened, it had happened very shortly after the altercation with Durston in the hotel lot. More than that, she had no alcohol or substances in her blood; whatever her addictions, she had kept them at bay right before her end.

But all these answers brought up more questions. 

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

45. The District Attorney Had Doubts

Few explanations for Wayne’s case satisfied Manzanillo District Attorney Jorge Hernandez. He didn’t believe that Wayne would have drowned herself. Likewise, accidental drowning was unlikely: The waters nearby were gentle and shallow, and Wayne had no bruising or cuts that suggested she’d fallen from an outcropping.

Which left another, sinister, explanation.

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

46. There Was A Prime Suspect 

Wayne’s companion Edward Durston looked terrifyingly guilty to investigators. After all, they’d had a fight just before Wayne’s death, and he hadn’t filed a missing persons report after she disappeared. Worst of all, he had taken a flight home without her. As people looked into his past, their suspicions sharpened.

 Savannah Smiles Productions, Savannah Smiles (1982)

47. He Had A Shady Past 

As it happened, Durston had actually been involved in another suspicious death of an actress years before. In 1969, aspiring actress Diane Linkletter called Durston over to her house, and then apparently jumped out of a window. In the wake of the case, officers focused on possible substances in Linkletter’s system and cleared Durston of any suspicions. 

It was dark deja vu—but those who believed Durston had something to do with Wayne’s death would be sorely disappointed.

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

48. It Was Ruled An Accident 

In the end, even with all the doubts, objections, and suspicions, Wayne’s passing was ruled an accident, and Durston was never charged with anything. This remains true even after several reinvestigations of the case. 

Although Carol Wayne’s true last moments will remain a mystery, the general consensus is that she slipped and fell into the water while walking, upset and distracted, on the beach. This has a painful irony. 

 MGM, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968)

49. There Was Tragic Foreshadowing 

One of the common jokes around Carol Wayne and her hourglass figure on The Tonight Show was, “With that chest, this lady will never drown!” Even more heartbreakingly, one of Wayne’s exchanges with Carson on The Tonight Show had the host telling her “someday you’ll be 47”, which was Carson’s age at the time, and Wayne replying, “I hope so”. 

She was only 42 when she died.

 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

50. Carson Paid Tribute To Her

With all the cheeky (albeit dated) fun Carol Wayne brought audiences, people were cut up about Wayne’s premature end. Johnny Carson even took his Art Fern character—the one most closely associated with Wayne’s Matinee Lady—off The Tonight Show for the majority of a year in deference to his friend and colleague. 

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 NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7