Karen Carpenter

Early life

Karen Anne Carpenter was born on March 2, 1950, at Grace New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, to Agnes Reuwer and Harold Bertram Carpenter. Her father, educated in boarding schools in the United Kingdom, was born in Wuzhou, China, where his parents were missionaries, and later worked in the printing business. Her older brother Richard became a piano prodigy at an early age. Karen's first words were "bye-bye" and "stop it," the latter spoken in response to Richard.

She enjoyed dancing and by age four was enrolled in tap and ballet classes, and later liked to play softball in the street. In June 1963, the family moved to Downey, California, after Harold was offered a job there. After disliking the glockenspiel she was given, she asked to play drums after admiring a friend's drumming. She wanted a Ludwig drum set, used by her favorite drummers Joe Morello and Ringo Starr, and a friend persuaded her family to buy her a $300 Ludwig kit.

She taught herself complex lines and studied stick control and playing techniques, and within a year could play in complex time signatures such as the 5/4 signature in Dave Brubeck's "Take Five. She studied drum technique with Bill Douglass, a jazz drummer who had worked with Benny Goodman and Art Tatum.

Career

Karen and Richard's first public performance was in a local production of Guys and Dolls. Carpenter's first band, Two Plus Two, was an all-girl trio formed with friends from Downey High that split after one mother refused permission for her daughter to attend their first gig. In 1965, Karen, Richard, and his college friend Wes Jacobs formed the Dick Carpenter Trio, which rehearsed daily and played jazz in nightclubs. Carpenter did not sing at this point; the singer Margaret Shanor guested on some numbers.

The trio signed with RCA Records and recorded two instrumentals that were not released. In April 1966, the Carpenters auditioned with bassist Joe Osborn of the Wrecking Crew; though expected only to drum, Carpenter sang and impressed everyone. Osborn signed her to his Magic Lamp Records, not particularly interested in Richard's involvement. Many tapes were rejected by record companies, and the group struggled to attract a live following because their sound differed from the hard rock and psychedelic rock then popular.

In 1968, the Dick Carpenter Trio appeared on the TV talent show Your All American College Show, performing "Dancing in the Street" with Carpenter playing drums and singing, and won the finals that year.

Personal life

Carpenter had a complicated relationship with her parents. The family moved to Los Angeles from Connecticut for Richard to enter the music business, but was not aware of Karen's musical talent. She lived with them until 1974. In 1976, she bought two Century City apartments that she combined into one, and the doorbell chimed the opening notes of "We've Only Just Begun."

She collected Disney memorabilia and liked to play softball and baseball. As a child, she played baseball with other children and was selected before her brother for games; she studied baseball statistics and became a fan of the New York Yankees. In the early 1970s, she pitched on a celebrity all-star softball team. Her celebrity friends included Petula Clark, Olivia Newton-John, and Dionne Warwick.

Though enjoying success as a female drummer in a male-dominated field, Carpenter's ideas were not in line with the women's liberation movement; she felt a wife should cook for her husband because men were unskilled at cooking and planned to do so when she married. In early interviews, she showed no interest in marriage or dating, believing a relationship would not survive constant touring. She later dated several notable men, including Mike Curb, Tony Danza, Terry Ellis, Tom Bahler, Mark Harmon, Steve Martin, Alan Osmond, and Bill Hudson.

After a whirlwind romance, she married real-estate developer Thomas James Burris on August 31, 1980, in the Crystal Room of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Burris, divorced with an 18-year-old son, was nine years her senior. A tape of Carpenter singing "Because We Are in Love" was played during the wedding ceremony. The couple settled in Newport Beach.

Health and death

Carpenter began dieting in high school, following the Stillman diet under a doctor's guidance, eating lean proteins and avoiding fatty foods and carbohydrates. She reduced her weight to 120 lb and stayed near that until around 1973. That year, seeing a concert photo, she felt her clothing made her appear heavy. She hired a personal trainer who advised a diet change, but the new diet built muscle, making her feel heavier.

She fired the trainer and began her own program using exercise equipment and calorie counting, losing about 20 lb and intending to lose another 5 lb. Her eating habits changed; she would try to remove food from her plate by offering tastes to others. By September 1975, she weighed 91 lb. At live performances, fans reacted with gasps to her gaunt appearance, and many wrote to ask what was wrong.

She refused to publicly declare she had an eating disorder; in a 1981 Nationwide TV interview, when asked about anorexia nervosa, she said she was "pooped." In 1981, she told Richard she needed help. She spoke with Cherry Boone, who had recovered from anorexia, and contacted Boone's doctor, but was told treatment could last one to three years. She chose to be treated in New York City by psychotherapist Steven Levenkron.

By late 1981, she was taking thyroid-replacement medication obtained under the name Karen Burris to increase her metabolism, and used it with increased consumption of laxatives (up to 90 tablets per night). Despite Levenkron's treatment, her condition deteriorated, and she lost more weight, eventually reaching an adult low of 77 lb. She told Levenkron she felt dizzy and that her heart was beating irregularly. She died on February 4, 1983, at age 32 from complications related to her disorder.