Brooklyn resident Betty Carter was known for her incredible improvisational technique and idiosyncratic vocal style. Carter was a composer and arranger as well as an interpreter of songs. Her composition "Open the Door" became her own signature song; she recorded it several times in different arrangements and often used it to conclude her live performances. Her 1964 recording of the song was featured in the soundtrack of the 1999 film American Beauty. She was also known for her medleys of Tin Pan Alley standards, most famously her weaving together of "Body and Soul" and "Heart and Soul". The legendary songtress also helped shape the careers of many incoming musicians when she opened her own recording studio Bet-Car. In the last decade of her life, Carter finally began to receive wider acclaim and recognition. In 1987 she signed with Verve Records, who reissued most of her Bet-Car albums onCD for the first time and made them available to wider audiences. In 1988 she won a Grammy for her album Look What I Got! and sang in a guest appearance on The Cosby Show (episode "How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?"). In 1994 she performed at the White House and was a headliner at Verve's 50th anniversary celebration in Carnegie Hall. In 1997 she was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton. Carter remained active in jazz until her death from pancreatic cancer in 1998, aged 69. Betty Carter is truly a face of Brooklyn.