Carole's early days were filled with sadness and success. She was born in Wisconsin in 1919. Carole was such a beautiful baby that she was nicknamed "Baby Doll". Her father, Alfred Ridste, and her step-father, Charles Fenner, were only in her life for a short time. She would spend most of her adulthood searching for a father figure. Carole and her four siblings were raised by their strict mother Clara Ridste. Tragically two of Carole's brothers died before the age of seven. In 1923 the family relocated to California. They were poor but Clara always made sure her children were taken care of. Carole was raised a Catholic and attended church every Sunday. Her philosophy on life was "Pass the good deed along". When Carole was nine she ran on stage during a local talent show and impulsively began to sing. She started buying second hand movie magazines and covered her walls with photos of Mary Astor, Russ Columbo, and Clark Gable. Using make-up tricks to look older Carole started entering beauty pageants at the age of twelve. She won a pair of silk stockings and an electric heater but her mother made her stop competing because she was too young. Unfortunately during this time it is believed that Carole was molested by a relative. In high school she became boy crazy and often skipped her classes. She earned money by working at a hamburger stand, a department store, and a movie theater.
Carole married her first husband, Irving Wheeler, in 1934 but she walked out on him after three weeks. When she was sixteen she went to San Francisco where she worked as a hula dancer and sang with Carl Ravazza. Carole said "Although I avoided dramatics - and everything else - in school. I wanted to be a success on the stage, the screen, or the radio. So I saved my money and when I had bus fare and $16.82 over, I told my mother, Clara, I was going to leave home. She was heartbroken, but she believed in me." She moved to Hollywood in September 1936 and made her film debut as an extra in A Star Is Born. In July 1937 she was offered a six month contract at Warner Brothers for $50 a week. She was given small roles in dozens of films including Blondes At Work, Hollywood Hotel, and Gold Diggers In Paris. Carole had serious romances with director Busby Berkeley and journalist Kenny Morgan. The press started talking about her when her estranged husband sued Busby for "alienation of affection". In 1938 she appeared on Broadway in the play Once Upon A Night. She also costarred with Bob Hope in a Los Angeles stage production of Roberta. When she couldn't get acting jobs she worked as a model. Carole lived with her mother in a tiny apartment in an unfashionable part of Los Angeles. She signed with Republic Pictures in February 1939 and was cast opposite John Wayne in Three Texas Steers.
Here is an excerpt from an article Carole's mother wrote after her death -
Four children can be a handful in a little box house, but Carole made things easier. She was such a happy, outgoing child, staggering around on chubby legs, holding out her hands to friends and strangers, trusting the whole world, loving it. She was beautiful with her shining blonde curls and big blue eyes. I loved dressing her up in ruffled pinafores and crisp bonnetts. Carole was so young during those hard years. She more than the others had only the vaguest recollections of a father, of a man's authority, and support in the house. All of her life, I think, she looked for security, based on the love and understanding and support of a man she loved - without ever finding it. Carole's spirit was an electric thing, dancing out of her, defying the drab circumstances of our life. Reality wasn't good enough, so she made up plays, acted them out. By the time she was seven, she was hopelessly stage struck, and within a year she was dancing and singing in public performances. "I'm going to be a movie star," she said with great assurance when any grownup asked about her plans in life. Nothing could stop her now, she thought, except being so foolishly young."Don't throw away these precious years," I wanted to tell her, but how could I? She new what she wanted. She began to skip her classes at school to dream over her costumes and her little made-up plays. Her sister would write notes to the teacher, "Please excuse Carole, she's sick," and sign my name. I tried to make her see that an eduction was important, urged her to stick it out until she finished high school. And she would try. But her heart wasn't in it.
