Carol Connors (singer)

Connors was born Annette Kleinbard on November 13, 1940, in New Brunswick.[1] Her parents were Polish Jews.[1] She lost many relatives in the Holocaust.[1] She attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California.[1]

She was the lead singer of the pop vocal trio known as the Teddy Bears, which also included Phil Spector.[1] The Teddy Bears' only major hit, "To Know Him Is To Love Him", which Spector wrote specifically to showcase Connors' singing voice, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1958.[2] After their initial hit, the trio disbanded because of the failure of their follow-up singles, and the fact that Spector preferred working behind the scenes to performing.

Some years later she legally changed her name to Carol Connors. She co-wrote (with Ayn Robbins and Bill Conti) "Gonna Fly Now", the theme song from the film Rocky, which earned her an Academy Award nomination.[1] Carol Connors sang the theme to the film Orca, called "We Are One".

Other songwriting credits include the Rip Chords' 1964 hit "Hey Little Cobra", plus the 1980 Billy Preston/Syreeta Wright duet "With You I'm Born Again"; the 1994 title track "For All Mankind" on the debut album of Italian singer Guendalina Cariaggi, which was used as the theme song for a documentary produced by Pier Quinto and Lara Cariaggi, on the legends of soccer and the FIFA World Cup;[3] for "Madonna in the Mirror", the finale song on A&E's 15 Films About Madonna;[4] and three songs – "Condi, Condi", "I Think of You so Fondly", and "Chill, Condi, Chill" – for Courting Condi (2008).

Connors also wrote and performed songs for several films. The 1967 beach-party film Catalina Caper features her song "Book of Love" (not to be confused with the Monotones' song), co-written with Roger Christian, which she performed backed by the Cascades. She co-composed three songs for the soundtrack of the 1977 Disney film, The Rescuers: "Tomorrow Is Another Day", "The Journey" and "Someone's Waiting for You". In 1983 Connors was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award, for the 'Worst Original Song' for "It's Wrong for Me to Love You", from Butterfly, which she co-composed with Ennio Morricone.

In 2011, she skydived and performed a concert to raise awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project.[5]

A Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her in 1999.[6]

Connors lives in Beverly Hills, California.[1]

She testified at the O. J. Simpson trial in 1995. She had seen Simpson at a charity event the night before his ex-wife's murder.