Growing Up in Her Brother’s Shadow
Karen Carpenter was born on March 2, 1950, in New Haven, Connecticut. Her only sibling, Richard, was three years older and idolized by their parents, Agnes and Harold. Despite being close in age, the two siblings were worlds apart. Richard spent most of his time playing the piano in the privacy of his room, whereas Karen would be outside playing baseball and goofing around.
The Carpenter family circa 1971. Photo by Globe Photos / Mediapunch / Shutterstock
It was hard to miss how much her mother favored the young piano prodigy and how little affection she showed her only daughter. They even moved the whole family to California in 1963 to pursue Richard’s music career, which wasn’t a very appealing idea for a 13-year-old who had to leave her friends.