![\"Carole](\"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-08-at-12.31.54\u202fAM-e1754638700336.png\")
<\/a>Carole Cook and Tom Troupe.<\/p><\/div>\n
My previous column was about two new show biz couples whom I admire. In the article, I also wondered where all the long-time twosomes were, (besides Mr. X and me, of course.) Well, the Troupes were the King and Queen of those! They were married for fifty-nine years<\/em>, until Carole\u2019s passing two years ago.<\/p>\n I\u2019m happy to report that I knew them a bit, if only very briefly. So I\u2019m sorry that I didn\u2019t do a tribute to Ms. Cook in this e-zine back then.\u00a0 But, because Mr. Troupe and I once had such a lovely conversation, I must laud him here. And tell you about our meeting.<\/p>\n When I was doing my TV show, Karen\u2019s Restaurant Revue<\/em>, I was asked to be a judge for a cooking contest a popular Creole-Cajun restaurant in town. I usually had a friend with me at every event, (as I always still do, because I want to share my advantages in life,) but, because of circumstances, and being reliable enough to not cancel when my friend did that night, I showed up alone. That was a tad uncomfortable for me, but two other judges took me under their wings and hung-out with me all night, even after some of the others befriended me, as well. And the kind duo was\u2014you guessed it\u2014Tom and Carole!<\/p>\n Karen Salkin, (second from left,) Carole Cook, (center, with the bright red hair,) and Tom Troupe, (standing to Carole’s left.)<\/p><\/div>\n Carole was always the life of the party, and this night was no exception. But my convo with Tom that night has always stuck with me. He asked me a simple question, which no one else ever has. He inquired, \u201cSo, Karen, tell me\u2014who are your favorite actor and actress?\u201d I didn\u2019t have to think twice\u2014I readily answered, \u201cAnthony Hopkins and Gene Tierney!\u201d He was definitely a bit taken aback that a young girl had such surprising answers\u2014they were both far from my generation! He said, \u201cGreat choices!,\u201d and then asked me why I chose them. He seemed generally entertained as I went on and on about my love of those two.<\/p>\n [Side note: I had met Mr. Hopkins a few years earlier, at a party at Lynn Redgrave\u2019s house, when he wasn\u2019t as famous and revered as he is now, and I told him that he was my fave. Instead of just a quick, \u201cThank you,\u201d he thoughtfully asked me which of his roles I most especially liked. And when I told him it was that of Bruno Hauptmann in the TV movie, The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case<\/em>, he seemed genuinely pleased. There\u2019s something about that older group of actors that can never be replicated, in my humble opinion.]<\/p>\n I\u2019ve always been grateful to Tom and Carole for making my night at that eatery so easy. And memorable!<\/p>\n<\/a>