Svelte and stunning Texas-born Karen Sharpe was put into ballet shoes as a youngster. Her initial excursion to California was, at age 12, with the interest of becoming a professional ice skater, but the lure of being a movie star intervened. Her training as a teenager in the theater paid off and, in 1952, she appeared in 'Stanley Kramer' . Kramer passed away on February 19, 2001. Since then, the ever-busy and vivacious Karen has maintained the Stanley Kramer Library. In addition, she also established the Stanley Kramer Award at the Producer's Guild, and the Stanley Kramer Fellowship Award in Directing at UCLA in 2001. Both of these awards honor socially conscious young filmmakers.
Her mother put her in ballet and dancing as a child.
In the pilot for "Johnny Ringo" , her role, Laura Thomas, was played by Marilyn Erskine , future husband Stanley Kramer s first wife.
Although Karen made her film debut in The Sniper (1952) , she didnt meet its producer, Stanley Kramer , until she co-starred in Jerry Lewis s Paramount vehicle The Disorderly Orderly . Kramer was shooting Ship of Fools on the Paramount lot at the same time. They married in 1966.
Jan Sterling became a friend and mentor of Karens after meeting on the set of the The Vanquished . They later appeared together in the films The High and the Mighty and Man with the Gun .
In later years, Karen took an active part alongside husband Stanley Kramer in their production company, International Films, and was in charge of the Kramer Library Group. One of their projects was a 1990s remake of High Noon (1952) .
Mother, with Stanley Kramer , of daughters Jennifer Kramer and Kat Kramer.
Stepmother of Larry Kramer and Casey Kramer.
