Wally & Alma - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

CosmicCharlie · 05-09-2026, 10:16 PM

She was in 7 Episodes ! playing different characters +-

Cindy Carol as Alma Hanson (Carol Sydes)

Wally and Alma / Wally's Girl Trouble /....
I really think she is cute !
She Became Gidget in Gidget Goes to Rome /Also on My 3 Sons
Really snuggles you to Wally
And her mom is Wilma Flintstone ! Jean Vander Pyl
Short Career

The dainty, brown-eyed 1960s starlet best known for being the third iteration of Gidget was born Annette Carol Sydes, one of four offspring to high-school English teacher Thomas Sydes and his wife Ruth (née Meadows). In her mid-teens, Carol made several TV commercials for diverse products, ranging from Frisky Cat Foods and Noxzema skin cleanser to Fritos Corn Chips. Though her father disapproved of her acting aspirations, she persisted, and she accidentally finagled a guest spot in the TV series Medic (1954) for which her older brother (Anthony Sydes) was auditioning. Cast in bit parts for her first two years in showbiz, she appeared several times on the sitcom Leave It to Beaver (1957) (still credited as Carol Sydes), then became a fixture on The New Loretta Young Show (1962) as one of the lead character's seven children. Though the series was axed after 26 episodes, Carol managed to get selected from among 500 other applicants by producer Jerry Bresler for the coveted role of diminutive surfing beach-bunny Gidget for the feature film Gidget Goes to Rome (1963) (Deborah Walley, who had been Gidget's second screen incarnation, had become unavailable because she had married and was starting a family). Signed to a seven-year contract by Columbia at a respectable starting salary of $300 per week, Carol underwent the usual studio publicity campaign and had her hair color changed to blonde and her name to the sweeter-sounding Cindy Carol.

She had just one significant moment on the big screen, as Pandora Leaf, the crafty 18-year-old daughter of a college professor (James Stewart) in the family comedy Dear Brigitte (1965), although most of the plaudits in the junior acting stakes went to Bill Mumy as Pandora's mathematically-gifted brother. Carol's swan song was a recurring role on the daytime soap Never Too Young (1965), which was aimed at the teenage market. She retired from acting in 1966 and, as Carol Annette Connelly, devoted herself to raising a family. Her second husband, actor Christopher Connelly, died from lung cancer in December 1988, at only 47.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0138955/?ref_=ttfc_fcr_3_7

Coffeecup · 05-23-2026, 08:42 PM

I will look for her if I ever see Gidget goes to Rome.

Dude111 · 05-23-2026, 10:15 PM

Thats impressive,she must have loved the 2 boys so much

Coffeecup · 05-24-2026, 02:09 PM

I wonder if 2nd husband Chris Connelly was Ryan O'Neal's Brother on Peyton Place. This Chris did a tv version of Paper Moon with ? Jodie Foster.

Tankeryanker · 05-24-2026, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coffeecup

I will look for her if I ever see Gidget goes to Rome.

Its on youtube and Tubi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soio1Sxzq-o

stevea · 05-24-2026, 10:40 PM

I do remember her from an earlier Beaver, too -- another girl, Penny, who was pursuing Wally in season 1. The other appearances were minor.

05-09-2026, 10:16 PM	#1
CosmicCharlie Member Senior Member Join Date: Jan 14, 2019 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 2,416	Wally & Alma She was in 7 Episodes ! playing different characters +- Cindy Carol as Alma Hanson (Carol Sydes) Wally and Alma / Wally's Girl Trouble /.... I really think she is cute ! She Became Gidget in Gidget Goes to Rome /Also on My 3 Sons Really snuggles you to Wally And her mom is Wilma Flintstone ! Jean Vander Pyl Short Career The dainty, brown-eyed 1960s starlet best known for being the third iteration of Gidget was born Annette Carol Sydes, one of four offspring to high-school English teacher Thomas Sydes and his wife Ruth (née Meadows). In her mid-teens, Carol made several TV commercials for diverse products, ranging from Frisky Cat Foods and Noxzema skin cleanser to Fritos Corn Chips. Though her father disapproved of her acting aspirations, she persisted, and she accidentally finagled a guest spot in the TV series Medic (1954) for which her older brother (Anthony Sydes) was auditioning. Cast in bit parts for her first two years in showbiz, she appeared several times on the sitcom Leave It to Beaver (1957) (still credited as Carol Sydes), then became a fixture on The New Loretta Young Show (1962) as one of the lead character's seven children. Though the series was axed after 26 episodes, Carol managed to get selected from among 500 other applicants by producer Jerry Bresler for the coveted role of diminutive surfing beach-bunny Gidget for the feature film Gidget Goes to Rome (1963) (Deborah Walley, who had been Gidget's second screen incarnation, had become unavailable because she had married and was starting a family). Signed to a seven-year contract by Columbia at a respectable starting salary of $300 per week, Carol underwent the usual studio publicity campaign and had her hair color changed to blonde and her name to the sweeter-sounding Cindy Carol. She had just one significant moment on the big screen, as Pandora Leaf, the crafty 18-year-old daughter of a college professor (James Stewart) in the family comedy Dear Brigitte (1965), although most of the plaudits in the junior acting stakes went to Bill Mumy as Pandora's mathematically-gifted brother. Carol's swan song was a recurring role on the daytime soap Never Too Young (1965), which was aimed at the teenage market. She retired from acting in 1966 and, as Carol Annette Connelly, devoted herself to raising a family. Her second husband, actor Christopher Connelly, died from lung cancer in December 1988, at only 47. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0138955/?ref_=ttfc_fcr_3_7 Attached Images

05-23-2026, 08:42 PM	#2
Coffeecup coffeecup. Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 17, 2003 Location: snoozeville Posts: 3,176	I will look for her if I ever see Gidget goes to Rome.

05-23-2026, 10:15 PM	#3
Dude111 Forum Legend Join Date: Nov 05, 2013 Posts: 35,339	Thats impressive,she must have loved the 2 boys so much

05-24-2026, 02:09 PM	#4
Coffeecup coffeecup. Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 17, 2003 Location: snoozeville Posts: 3,176	I wonder if 2nd husband Chris Connelly was Ryan O'Neal's Brother on Peyton Place. This Chris did a tv version of Paper Moon with ? Jodie Foster.

05-24-2026, 10:40 PM	#6
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,168	I do remember her from an earlier Beaver, too -- another girl, Penny, who was pursuing Wally in season 1. The other appearances were minor.