Carol and similarly outspoken liberal mom Maude often clash.
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 Adrienne Barbeau as Carol on "Maude" | ||||
| Personal Information | ||||
| Gender: | Female | |||
| Character description: |
Although liberal like her outspoken mother, often clashes with her on certain issues | |||
| Spouse(s): | Pete Traynor (ex-husband) | |||
| Domestic partner(s): | Chris (boyfriend) | |||
| Children: | Phillip Traynor (son) | |||
| Character information | ||||
| Appeared on: | ||||
| Episodes appeared in: | ||||
| Character played by: | Adrienne Barbeau / Marcia Rodd | |||
Carol Traynor is a character who first appeared in the Season 2 (episode #24) episode of All in the Family titled "Maude", which would serve as a backdoor pilot for a series spinoff, the CBS-TV sitcom series Maude. The part of Carol is played in the AITF episode by Marcia Rodd, and in the Maude TV series by Adrienne Barbeau, who would appear in a total of 95 episodes of that series.
About Carol[]
Carol is Maude's daughter from her first marriage, however in the first episode of Maude it’s stated that she was born to Maude and her second husband (this was changed later in the series). She divorced and has one child from her first marriage, like Maude. Carol and her son, Phillip (played by Brian Morrison and later by Kraig Metzinger), both live with the Findlays. Her husband was called Pete, although he was a different-named man (played by actor Charles Siebert) when he was finally seen in a later season episode.
Though single, Carol maintains her reputation of dating many men. She dates various men throughout early seasons, initially forming a serious (but brief) relationship with a man named Chris (played by Fred Grandy). She would break up with him later.
Like her mother, Carol is an outspoken liberal feminist who is not afraid to speak her mind, though they often clash on certain issues, such as men, dating, and relationships, as they've both been divorced (Maude twice) before, and also as the generation gap between the two often comes into play, as well, as Maude still tries to connect with Carol, who's just about liberal and outspoken as her mother is on the current events.
Whenever she gets mad at her mother, she would call her by her given name, "Maude", although most of the time, she calls her mother. Although she would be on her mother's side in arguments, she would also get along with Maude's nemesis, Arthur Harmon, although at times, his overly moralistic and pious nature would grate on her nerves.
Mistakes[]
• In the first episode “Maude’s Problem”, she tells the psychiatrist that Carol is from her second marriage. However, in a later episode, when Carol is riding on a bicycle meant for Philip, expressing she didn’t have a bicycle when she was eight years old, Maude says that by that age Carol had already had three fathers, implying she had been married three times by then. This wouldn’t make sense because if Carol was born during Maude’s second marriage, Maude’s first spouse wouldn’t be considered a “father” figure at all, in fact Carol likely would have never met Maude’s first husband. In addition in the first season in 1972 Carol is stated to be twenty-seven years old, making her birth year 1945 which lines up to when Maude married Fred Barney, her first husband.