Whatever Happened to Caroline Ellis – Joy from ‘The Bugaloos’

Caroline Ellis from The Bugaloos — Everett Collection

What To Know

Caroline Ellis, who played Joy on the 1970s children’s show The Bugaloos, was selected from a large pool of British musicians.
After The Bugaloos, Ellis continued acting in TV and film before stepping back in the early 1980s to focus on her family life.

Dave Sundstrom is a pop-culture entertainment enthusiast and host of The Good Stuff on YouTube.

I don’t know what it was about The Bugaloos, but for whatever reason, as a preteen growing up in the seventies, this show completely fascinated me. I love the theme song. Talk about an earworm! Like all shows from Sid and Marty Krofft, the program itself was absolutely bonkers. And then there was Caroline Ellis, who played Joy, the only female musician in the band. Her life has been an interesting one, and if you’re willing to hang out with me for just a few minutes, I’ll do my best to bring you up to speed.

Airing on Saturday mornings from 1970 to 1972, The Bugaloos chronicled the adventures of four British teenagers who lived in a magical, faraway place called Tranquility Forest. Now, for some strange reason, they chose to wear insect-themed outfits with antennae and wings that somehow allowed them to fly. Episode after episode, the Bugaloos would thwart the evil deeds of the villainous Benita Bizarre, played by comedian Martha Raye.

The Bugaloos were actually meant to be the Krofft brothers’ answer to The Monkees. Casting calls went out across all parts of the United Kingdom, searching for talented and good-looking musicians to join a band. At first, there was no mention that this band was going to be part of a Saturday morning kids’ program. Perhaps because of that, the producers were beset with talented musicians auditioning for the roles.

In fact, one of the musicians who auditioned and did not get a part in the show was Phil Collins. Of course, Phil would join Genesis just a few months later. Can you imagine how music history would’ve changed if Phil had become a Bugaloo? I shudder to think about the great music that may have never happened.

Because the Bugaloos were influenced by the success of The Monkees, they had an album. It was actually a pretty good one, but it didn’t have the kind of success that The Monkees had. A single was released, but it didn’t even crack the Billboard Top 100. Still, like I said earlier, the theme song is absolutely great; one of the best out there, if you ask me.

But enough about the Bugaloos. We’re here to talk about Joy. Oops, I mean Caroline.

Prior to The Bugaloos, Caroline had appeared in a U.K. television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes titled The Boscombe Valley Mystery. After that show ended, she starred in a handful of episodes of a British kids’ TV show called Freewheelers. Then, a few years later, Caroline found herself beating out a crazy number of British musicians, including Phil Collins, to become a Bugaloo.

Reminiscing about her time on the show with Chuck Miller over on Deadsplinter, Caroline told him this, “It was for me, a dream come true, to be working in Hollywood doing what I loved best and being paid for it. As a cast and team, we all got on very well. We were there to do a job and a lot of money had been invested in us. We all wanted it to be successful.”

Talking about her co-star, Martha Raye, she described her as “outrageous” noting that Martha often had her in fits of laughter.

THE BUGALOOS, (standing): Caroline Ellis, Wayne Laryea, John McIndoe, (sitting): John Philpott, 1970-72

Everett Collection

After The Bugaloos ended, Caroline continued to find work in both movies and TV shows. However, by the early eighties, she made the decision to take a step back from acting so that she could focus on her new marriage and, later on, a daughter.

Caroline and her little family moved to Spain, where the climate was similar to what she’d experienced in California while filming The Bugaloos. Although her marriage would not last, Caroline’s love for Spain and its people would endure. She thought it was the perfect place to raise her daughter, and because of that, she became a realtor and began helping others find a place to call home, just like she had.

Caroline has never turned her back on those fans who loved her as Joy. For those folks who want to stay up to date with what’s going on in her world, she’s fairly active on Facebook. That is where she let fans know she would be attending a very special Krofft Kon event back in 2022.

I was there when she made a video call all the way from Spain. It was so wonderful to see her live. Along with Sid and Marty, Butch Patrick, good old Eddie Munster himself, was on stage to visit with Caroline as well. Butch, who starred in the Sid and Marty Krofft show Lidsville, had a confession for Caroline. Butch told her that he really wasn’t interested in attending Krofft Kon; however, he changed his mind after the event organizers promised him that he would get a chance to talk to Caroline.