David Carroll (actor)
David Carroll, sometimes billed as David James Carroll, was an American actor whose last, and best remembered, role was that of Baron Felix von Gaigern in Grand Hotel: The Musical. He also played the role of Anatoly Sergievsky in the original Broadway cast of Chess. 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 was born in Rockville Centre, New York, grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, and graduated from Dartmouth College, where he was an active member of the Dartmouth Players. While at Dartmouth Carroll had star roles in several college musicals and in community theater.
Carroll also received three Drama Desk Awards nominations as an Outstanding Actor in a Musical: La bohème he costarred with Linda Ronstadt, Chess, and Grand Hotel. The Original Broadway Cast recording of Chess received a 1988 Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Cast Show album. On the big screen, he had a brief scene with John Ritter in the movie Hero at Large.
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 February 14, 1991 with Wally Harper at the piano.
His long-time partner, Robert W. Homma, died on April 18, 2006.