Carol Merrill (born approx. 1941 in
Frederic, Wisconsin,
U.S.) was a model
[[1]] for the television
game show Let's Make a Deal during the show's original run between 1963 and 1977.
Modeling
While on
Let's Make a Deal, Merrill would model the various prizes, present money to contestants, and perform various other tasks as an assistant to host
Monty Hall. On
Let's Make a Deal, Merrill was frequently referred to by Monty Hall by her full name, and thus became one of the first game show models to be known as such, rather than the customary first-name-only naming convention used by such shows as
The Price Is Right. This allowed Merrill to gain wider recognition than other game show models of the time, and her celebrity status has led to many guest appearances on talk shows such as
The Late Show with David Letterman,
Good Morning America, and
Geraldo.
[1] As Hall once put it,
"I never said 'door' without saying 'Carol Merrill.' 'Let's see what Carol Merrill has behind door No. 2.' 'What Carol Merrill has in the box.' So she and Jay Stewart, my announcer, became stars. Everywhere we went, people would say, 'How's Carol?' 'How's Jay?'"[1]
Acting
In addition to her 14-year stint with
Let's Make a Deal, Merrill was a model on the short-lived TV series
Your Surprise Package[2], and for one episode of the TV series
Burke's Law, both during 1963.
[[3]] She also played several other small roles in various films in the 1960s and early 1970s.