Both roles earned him Tony Award nominations for Best Actor in a Musical: in 1988 for Chess and again in 1990 for Grand Hotel.
Carroll also received three Drama Desk Awards nominations as an Outstanding Actor in a Musical: La bohème (1984) he costarred with Linda Ronstadt, Chess (1988), and Grand Hotel (1990).
Suffering from AIDS, he died of a pulmonary embolism in the restroom of the New York City BMG/RCA studio while attempting to record the cast album for Grand Hotel.
The album had been delayed for years because of rights issues and legal disputes over the score.
For the cast recording Brent Barrett ultimately performed the role of the Baron, but Carroll was featured on a bonus track: singing the Baron's solo number "Love Can't Happen", recorded during his cabaret performance at Steve McGraw's on 14 February 1991 with Wally Harper at the piano.