Richard Carpenter Of The Carpenters
How He Rose To Fame And Life After

Richard Carpenter, along with his sister Karen, were The Carpenters, one of the lead acts in 1970's music. Richard was a musical prodigy and attended Cal State Long Beach.

How did this down-to-earth child from New Haven, Connecticut become one of the most famous musicians of all time?

From a very early age, Richard Carpenter showed an interest in music. He was constantly playing his father's old records, and methodically organizing them into play lists.

When he began playing the piano by ear, it was obvious that he had a flourishing, unique talent. He began taking accordian and piano lessons under the direction of Henry "Will" Wilczynski, and later at Yale Music School with Professor Seymour Fink.

With Richard's father (Harold Carpenter) itching to get out of the cold winters in the northern climate, the family decided to move to Southern California.

Of course, there was also the ulterior motive that Richard might have a better chance at a professional career in music if he was close to Hollywood.

Richard Carpenter - California State University Long Beach

After graduation from high school in 1964, Richard Carpenter attended California State University Long Beach. It was there that he met bass and tuba player, Wes Jacobs.

Together, with Karen Carpenter on drums, they formed the Richard Carpenter Trio and began making demo tapes of their music.

Karen's smooth, velvet voice did not go unnoticed. Shortly after forming the Trio, and joining forces with the now defunct Magic Lamp records, they won a Battle Of The Bands talent competition.

Karen And Richard Carpenter - Anorexia And Dieting

During her first year of college, Karen started to become uncomfortable with her weight and body image. Her obsessive dieting and increasingly unhealthy appearance, due to anorexia, were a source of tension between the siblings.

Out of concern for Karen, he (and the rest of the family) tried every tactic possible to try to "encourage" Karen to eat - even yelling and bribery.

Richard did not believe that Karen had a mental illness. In his mind, he saw Karen's issues as "weight problems" driven by some kind of genetic defect.

In the 1970's not much was known about anorexia nervosa, and if the medical community didn't know much, you can image just how little the average person knew -- if they had even heard of the term anorexia nervosa at all.

Richard Carpenter, Philanthropist - Carpenter Performing Arts Center

In 1994, the Richard Carpenter Performing Arts Center opened on the campus of California State University Long Beach.

Supported by a generous donation from Richard, the 1,074 seat theater was modeled after the New York State Theater of the Arts at Lincoln Center.

The venue is host to many different comedy, dance, family, and music events, and offers something for everyone.

In 2007, Richard and his wife were named Ventura County's Philanthropists Of The Year after donating approximately three million dollars to the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

Read more about Richard and his contribution to The Carpenters music.

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