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Carolyn Ann Stewart (March 14, 1945January 14, 2022), known professionally as Carol Speed, was an American actress, singer-songwriter and author. Speed was best known for her roles in films during the 1970s blaxploitation era, most notably starring as Abby Williams in the American International Pictures 1974 blaxploitation horror film Abby (1974).
From 1970 through 1972, Speed appeared in other shows such as, Sanford and Son, The Psychiatrist and Days of Our Lives. In 1972, Speed made her film debut in The New Centurions in which she portrayed Martha, a prostitute. Speed portrayed Mickie, prisoner in Jack Hill's 1972 blaxploitation film The Big Bird Cage alongside Pam Grier and Sid Haig. In 1973, Speed starred opposite Max Julien as Lulu, his childhood friend and top prostitute in the blaxploitation crime film The Mack. In 1974, Speed portrayed Abby Williams, a minister's wife who becomes possessed by the malevolent spirit of an evil demon in William Girdler's horror film Abby. For the film, Speed wrote and sang "My Soul Is A Witness".
In 1976, Speed appeared on the July cover of Jet.
Speed later appeared as Noel in Disco Godfather, starting alongside Rudy Ray Moore in 1979. In 1980, Speed published Inside Black Hollywood. Speed initially accepted a minor role in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 film Jackie Brown but decided not to appear in the film for personal reasons. The Pocket Essential Blaxploitation Films, Jackie Brown, By Mikel J. Koven · 2001 In 2006, Speed portrayed Cookie in the independent horror film Village Vengeance.
She died in Muskogee, Oklahoma, on January 14, 2022, at the age of 76, just two weeks after her The Mack co-star Max Julien died. Speed was cremated.
| 1970 | Julia | Clara Dormin | Episode: "Charlie's Chance" |
| The Psychiatrist | (uncredited) Episode: "God Bless the Children (Pilot)" | ||
| 1971 | Love Hate Love | Secretary | TV movie |
| 1972 | Getting Away from It All | Town Clerk | TV movie |
| Sanford and Son | Crystal Simpson | Episode: "Here Comes the Bride, There Goes the Bride" | |
| The Paul Lynde Show | Laverne | Episode: "Paul's Desperate Hour" | |
| 1973 | Tenafly | (uncredited) Episode: Pilot | |
| The Girls of Huntington House | Marlene | TV movie | |
| + !Year !Title !References | ||
| 1980 | Inside Black Hollywood | |
| 2002 | The Georgette Harvey Story | |
| 2004 | Gods in Polyester, or a Survivors’ Account of 70s Cinema Obscura (contributor) |
| + !Year !Song Title !Film !References | |||
| 1973 | "I Can Make It" | Girls of Huntington House | |
| 1974 | "My Soul is a Witness" | Abby |
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