Carl Worner - Actor/singer/songwriter/playwright/inventor.

A reporter from the arts section of the NJ Daily Record newspaper called Carl a Renaissance Man. Born in Glen Ridge, NJ Carl started to listen to music when he was 4 years old, according to his mother. He played the same 45's over and over again and to this day he still loves music but he has a larger collection of records now. In 1975 he recorded his first song for free in an 8-track recording studio because the owner of the studio believed in his talents as a gifted singer/songwriter. Other local musicians believed it as well and used his vocal skills for their recordings in the studio.

In 1977 he was cast out of thousands of actors to perform a variety of character roles in the Broadway revival of Hair. He was naked in that show but they paid him for it. Since then he has never appeared nude in any other productions. Carl has appeared fully costumed in dozens of plays in regional theatres playing lead roles in Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, No Exit, Night Must Fall, I Never Sang For My Father, Picasso At The Lapin Agile and Soundheim's musical Assassins. Click here to see pics of Carl in the Theatre. Preferring to do darker plays Carl is proud to have been a stage actor choosing only plays that interests him. He appeared in only one film, Night of The Zombies in which he played a talking zombie of course.

In 1979 Carl placed an ad in the Aquarian Weekly, a NJ based music publication seeking musicians to form a rock band. The band he formed was The Elektrics and within a year of its formation Carl and The Elektrics were signed to a multi-album deal with Capitol Records. As lead vocalist and songwriter for the band, Carl and The Elektrics recorded two albums, Current Events in 1980 and State of Shock in 1981, both were critically well received. A review in Rolling Stone magazine gave their second album 3 and a half stars. The Elektrics opened for artists like The Motels, The Shirts, The Psychedelic Furs, Iggy Pop and Alice Cooper and they toured the east coast with Robert Palmer. Capitol Records wanted a third record from the group but by that time the band was breaking up. In 1991 Carl reunited with Elektrics guitarist Marco Delmar and co-produced with him a new record entitled Walking On The Palm. It has never been released but Carl is making plans to release it on this website.

In 1993 Carl formed The Insomniac Players, a group of NJ actors that perform contemporary radio plays. As artistic director, producer and writer for the group, Carl recorded 6 radio plays. Two of his plays were broadcast on National Public Radio.s NPR Playhouse series. The radio plays will be available for purchase in a boxed set on this website and features songs co-written and performed by Carl and members of the group. Carl is also a playwright and has written several comedies for the stage, one of which is a new age comedy entitled Life With Nostradamus which was performed at the American Theatre of Actors in NYC. He has also co-written a rock musical with long time friend and collaborator composer Roger Mantell entitled Sandcastles which was given a workshop performance at the Mazer Theater in NYC.

He is currently performing an unplugged style show of new and old songs he has written and forming a new rock and R&B's band. He is also writing a screenplay and a treatment for a sci-fi mini series. He hosts his own free form radio show on the internet: www.homegrownradionj.com can now be heard every other Monday evening from 7-9:30 PM. His variety show includes comedy bits, in-depth interviews and music of all styles. Check out Carl's CD's page to purchase his various CD.s. As for his inventions, that's top secret!