Carole Shelley was a British-American actress.

Shelley made her Broadway debut as Gwendolyn Pigeon in the original 1965 production of The Odd Couple (starring Art Carney and Walter Matthau). She reprised the role for the 1968 film version (with Jack Lemmon replacing Carney), and for several episodes of the first season of the subsequent television series (starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman).

Shelley received her first Tony Award nomination in 1975 for her performance as Jane in Absurd Person Singular. Shelley won the 1979 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role as Mrs. Kendal in The Elephant Man, and was nominated for the Tony Award as Featured Actress in a Play in 1987 for her performance in Stepping Out as Maxine.

In 2003, Shelley created the role of Madame Morrible in the original Broadway cast of the musical Wicked, a role which she later reprised in the show's national touring company in 2005, and in 2006 in the Chicago production.

Her work in television includes episodes of The Avengers, One Life to Live, The Odd Couple, All My Children, The Cosby Show, Monsters, Frasier, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Third Watch.

Shelley died August 31, 2018, in New York City, New York. She was 79.