Oct 19, 2023
Carol Duvall Dead: HGTV’s “Queen Of Crafts” Was 97
Carol Duvall, known as HGTV’s “Queen of Crafts” and beloved host of The Carol Duvall Show, which ran on the network for more than a decade, died July 31 in Traverse City, Michigan, the New York Times
Carol Duvall, known as HGTV’s “Queen of Crafts” and beloved host of The Carol Duvall Show, which ran on the network for more than a decade, died July 31 in Traverse City, Michigan, the New York Times reports. She was 97. DuVall passed at an assisted living facility, where she had lived for several years, her family told the Times.
Duvall began her decades-long career on local television in Grand Rapids and Detroit, MI eventually rising to national prominence with her arts-and-crafts programming with shows on ABC and HGTV.
Known for her warm presence and sunny outlook, her first broadcasting stint came in 1951 at WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, where she hosted a children’s program. She went from there to WWJ-TV in Detroit where she spent the next 18 years in a variety of positions, including news anchor, co-producer and host of her first craft-focused program Here’s Carol Duvall. That led to her first national show on ABC, working as a craft person The Home Show (aka Home), which ran from 1988-1994.
When The Home Show ended in 1994, its host Robb Weller formed a production company with Gary Grossman which developed The Carol Duvall Show. It ran on HGTV from 1994 until 2005, then on DIY Network from 2005-2009.
HGTV paid tribute to Duvall on Instagram:
A post shared by HGTV (@hgtv)
Duvall was known for creating crafts that anyone could do with materials found in their home. She created a picture frame from a plastic foam tray and covering it in colorful fabric. She penned the 2007 book Paper Crafting with Carol Duvall, which provided step-by-step instructions for more than fifty paper projects. The book includes a “Rock, Paper, Scissors” chapter, with the instructions, “find a smooth stone, cut up some colorful paper or family pictures with scissors, and glue them on the rock.” She also wrote 1972’s Wanna Make Something Out of It?
Duvall was also a regular contributor on Lifetime shows Our Home and Handmade by Design.
Duvall’s popular videos can be found on YouTube and Pinterest. The Carol Duvall Show is available to stream on Discovery+, and episode segments are available on HGTV.
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