Richard Carpenter: Richard Carpenter. Soundtrack: Better Off Dead. Richard Carpenter, who was best known as 1/2 of "The Carpenters". His sister, Karen had a voice of the heart by performing big hits such as "Close To You", "Rainy Days on Mondays", "We've Only Just Begun", and other megahits. Their dominance, ran out of steam in late 1976 due to poor record sales. Karen, was struggling with her weight for years, until she...