Janet Carroll

Janet Carroll, American actress and singer (died 2012)

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Born: December 24, 1940
Died: May 22, 2012
Zodiac sign: Capricorn
Birth year: 1940

About Janet Carroll

Janet Carroll (born Janet Thiese; December 24, 1940 – May 22, 2012) was an American film, stage and television character actress. Carroll's career spanned more than four decades and included major and supporting roles in Broadway musicals, television and Hollywood films. She is perhaps best-known for her portrayal of the oblivious mother of Joel (Tom Cruise) in the 1983 film Risky Business.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Janet Carroll was born

Janet Carroll was born in 1940. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1940

#1 song"In the Mood" – Glenn Miller
Top movieRebecca
Best-selling bookFor Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentFirst televised college basketball game
Top headlineWinston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister
Technology milestoneFirst McDonald's restaurant opens
Defining fadSwing music hits its peak
Notable inventionJeep (military vehicle)
World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
Sports championCincinnati Reds (World Series)
U.S. population132.2M

1940 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Janet Carroll's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1940	2026
Gas	$0.18	$3.45/gal
Average home	$5,300	$435,000
Average income	$3,100	$67,500
Minimum wage	$0.30	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.25	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	132.2M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, MusicBrainz, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.