Born in Coahoma, Mississippi, Carr received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Vanderbilt University in 1925 and a Bachelor of Laws from Yale Law School in 1926.

He was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of California from 1933 to 1936, and then a special assistant to the United States Attorney General until 1940.

He was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of California from 1943 to 1946.

[1] Carr was nominated by President John F. Kennedy on July 12, 1962, to the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, to a new seat authorized by 75 Stat.

He was reassigned by operation of law on September 18, 1966, to the United States District Court for the Central District of California, to a new seat authorized by 80 Stat.