Born to clothing designer Helena Reilly and Abbey Theatre playwright Paul Vincent Carroll,[1] she was the youngest of three sisters.

Her elder sisters were Theresa Elizabeth Perez (1924–2001), a classically trained musician and the producer/founder of the People's Pops Concerts in Phoenix, Arizona, and journalist Kathleen Moira Carroll (1927–2007).

Prompted by producer Al Simon and casting director Caro Jones, Carroll moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s and appeared in numerous films and television programs, including the lively Aunt Kate in John Huston's Academy Award-nominated film The Dead, based on the short story by James Joyce.

Other works in Hollywood included The Friends of Eddie Coyle starring Robert Mitchum, The Jerk, directed by Carl Reiner and starring Steve Martin, The Mambo Kings, the Warren Beatty remake of Love Affair, the 1979 NBC mini-series Backstairs at the White House,[7] and such television programs as Kojak, General Hospital, The Edge of Night, Loving Couples, Laverne and Shirley, Murder She Wrote, WKRP in Cincinnati and Married... with Children.

[8] Carroll resided in Los Angeles, and died in Marina del Rey, California from heart failure on 31 March 2013 at the age of 84.