Dixie Carter
Encyclopedia
Dixie Virginia Carter (May 25, 1939 – April 10, 2010) was an American
film, television and stage actress, best known for her role as Julia Sugarbaker in the CBS
sitcom Designing Women
(1986–1993). She is also known for her roles as Randi King on the CBS
legal drama
Family Law
(1999-2002), Assistant District Attorney, Brandy Henderson on the CBS soap The Edge of Night
(1974-1976), and as Gloria Hodge on the ABC
series Desperate Housewives
(2006-2007).
, and spent many of her early years in Memphis
. She attended college at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College
). She was a graduate of Memphis State
with a degree in English.
At school, she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta
sorority. In 1959, Carter competed in the Miss Tennessee
pageant, where she placed first runner-up to Mickie Weyland. Ms. Carter won the Miss Volunteer beauty pageant at the University of Tennessee in the same year.
. She moved to New York City
in 1963 and got a part in a production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale
.
After an eight-year hiatus from acting, she returned to the craft in 1974, when she filled in for actress Nancy Pinkerton as Dorian Cramer on One Life to Live
, while Pinkerton was on maternity leave. She subsequently was cast in the role of Assistant D.A. Olivia Brandeis "Brandy" Henderson on the soap opera
The Edge of Night
, on which she appeared from 1974 to 1976. (She went along with the show when it switched from CBS to ABC.) Carter took the role even though some advised her that doing a daytime soap might negatively affect her career. However, it was with this role that Carter was first noticed, and after leaving Edge of Night in 1976, she relocated from New York to Los Angeles and pursued prime-time television roles.
She appeared in series such as Out of the Blue
, On Our Own
, Diff'rent Strokes
, The Greatest American Hero
(playing a KGB
spy), and Filthy Rich (1982). Carter's appearance in Filthy Rich paved the way for her best-known role, that of interior decorator Julia Sugarbaker in the 1980s/1990s television program Designing Women
, set in Atlanta, Georgia
. Filthy Rich had been created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
, who also went on to create Designing Women. (Filthy Rich also featured fellow Designing Women cast member Delta Burke
in its cast.) Hal Holbrook
, her real-life husband, had a recurring role as Reese Watson, and Carter's daughters, Ginna and Mary Dixie, also had guest-star roles as Julia Sugarbaker's nieces, Jennifer and Camilla.
Coincidentally, actress Mary Ann Mobley
who replaced Dixie as Maggie on Diff'rent Strokes, guest starred on Designing Women, as Karen, a snide head of a historical society who put Julia's home on a tour of homes, and ended up angering Julia.
Famous for portraying strong-minded Southern women, Carter provided the voice of Necile in Mike Young Productions' direct-to-video 2000 cartoon feature The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
. She was also in the voice cast of My Neighbors the Yamadas, the English-language dub of Studio Ghibli's 1999 anime movie My Neighbors the Yamadas
.
From 1999 to 2002, she portrayed Randi King on the legal drama Family Law
, portraying a lawyer for the first time since she was Brandy Henderson on The Edge of Night. In 2004, she made a guest appearance on Law and Order: SVU, playing a defense attorney named Denise Brockmorton in the episode called Home, in which she defended the paranoid mother of two children (Diane Venora
) who had manipulated her older son to kill the younger son, after breaking her home rules.
Carter starred in several Broadway musicals and plays. She appeared on and off-Broadway as well, playing the role of Melba Snyder in the 1976 Circle in the Square revival of Pal Joey
and diva
Maria Callas
in Terrence McNally
's Master Class
, a role created by Zoe Caldwell
.
In 2006–07 Carter found a resurgence of fame with a new generation of fans portraying the disturbed Gloria Hodge on Desperate Housewives
. Creator Marc Cherry
started out in Hollywood as Carter's assistant on the set of Designing Women. Her first and only Emmy Awards nomination was for the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards
under the category of Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Gloria Hodge.
Carter gave an interview in 2006 for the feature length documentary, That Guy: The Legacy of Dub Taylor, which received support from Taylor's family and many of Dub's previous co-workers, including Bill Cosby
, Peter Fonda
, Don Collier, Cheryl Rogers-Barnett and many others. The project was scheduled to have its World Premiere at Taylor's childhood hometown of Augusta, Georgia
on April 14, 2007.
Her final film was That Evening Sun
, which she filmed on site with her husband Hal Holbrook
in East Tennessee in the summer of 2008. The film was produced by Dogwood Entertainment (a subsidiary of DoubleJay Creative) and is based on a short story by William Gay
. That Evening Sun premiered at South By Southwest
, where it competed for the narrative feature grand jury prize.
In 1967, Carter married businessman Arthur Carter
(no relation). They had two daughters (who would later appear in an episode of Designing Women), Mary Dixie and Ginna. Following the birth of her daughters, Carter left acting for eight years to focus on raising her children.
She divorced Arthur Carter in 1977, and married Broadway
and TV actor George Hearn
the same year. Two years later, in 1979, she divorced Hearn. She married for the third time on May 27, 1984, to Hal Holbrook
(14 years her senior), who is most noted for his appearances as Mark Twain
. Carter renovated her old family home in McLemoresville. She and Holbrook divided their time between their homes in Beverly Hills, California
, and McLemoresville, Tennessee
, where Carter's elderly father, Halbert, resided until his death in early 2007, at age 96.
In 1996, Carter published a memoir titled Trying to Get to Heaven, in which she talked frankly about her life with Hal Holbrook, Designing Women, and her plastic surgery
during the show's run. She acknowledged, along with other celebrities, having used HGH (Human Growth Hormone
) for its anti-aging properties.
. She was interviewed by Bill O'Reilly
along with Pat Boone
at the 2000 Republican National Convention
. Although her Designing Women character, Julia Sugarbaker, was known for her liberal political views and subsequent monologues, Carter disagreed with many of her character's left-of-center commentaries and made a deal with the producers that for every speech she had to make with which she disagreed, Julia would get to sing a song in a future episode. Carter once jokingly described herself as "the only Republican in show business". She was also a strong supporter of the gay community.
. Her death was announced by her husband, actor Hal Holbrook
, who stated the cause as complications from endometrial cancer
which was diagnosed earlier in 2010. In addition to Holbrook, she is survived by her daughters from her first marriage: Ginna Carter (of Los Angeles) and Mary Dixie Carter (of Brooklyn
) as well as a sister, Melba Helen Heath (of San Anselmo, California
) and several nephews and nieces. In addition to family, her funeral, held on April 15, 2010, was attended by Designing Women
co-stars Delta Burke
, Annie Potts
and Jean Smart
. Dixie Carter was interred in her hometown, McLemoresville, Tennessee
.
The Dixie Carter Performing Arts and Academic Enrichment Center (informally called "The Dixie") in Huntingdon, Tennessee
is named in honor of Carter.
A public service announcement made by Carter in 2003 describing and offering outreach to sufferers of Spasmodic Torticollis / Cervical Dystonia
began appearing in New York and New Jersey, and then across the United States in 2010.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film, television and stage actress, best known for her role as Julia Sugarbaker in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom Designing Women
Designing Women
Designing Women is an American television sitcom that centered on the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on the CBS television network from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The show was created by head writer...
(1986–1993). She is also known for her roles as Randi King on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
legal drama
Legal drama
A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include courtroom dramas and legal thrillers, and come in all forms, including novels, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law...
Family Law
Family Law (TV series)
Family Law is a television drama starring Kathleen Quinlan as divorced lawyer Lynn Holt, who attempted to start her own law firm after her lawyer husband took all their old clients...
(1999-2002), Assistant District Attorney, Brandy Henderson on the CBS soap The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
(1974-1976), and as Gloria Hodge on the ABC
ABC Network
ABC Network may refer to any of the following:*American Broadcasting Company, a private television network in the United States.*Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, regional radio and television broadcaster in Japan....
series Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
(2006-2007).
Early life
Carter was born in McLemoresville, TennesseeMcLemoresville, Tennessee
McLemoresville is a town in Carroll County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 352 at the 2010 census. It is notable primarily as the birthplace, and final resting place, of television star Dixie Carter.-Geography:...
, and spent many of her early years in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. She attended college at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College
Rhodes College
Rhodes College is a private, predominantly undergraduate, liberal arts college located in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Originally founded by freemasons in 1848, Rhodes became affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in 1855. Rhodes enrolls approximately 1,700 students pursuing bachelor's and master's...
). She was a graduate of Memphis State
University of Memphis
The University of Memphis is an American public research university located in the Normal Station neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee and is the flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system....
with a degree in English.
At school, she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Delta Delta , also known as Tri Delta, is an international sorority founded on November 27, 1888, the eve of Thanksgiving Day. With over 200,000 initiates, Tri Delta is one of the world's largest NPC sororities.-History:...
sorority. In 1959, Carter competed in the Miss Tennessee
Miss Tennessee
The Miss Tennessee competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Tennessee in the Miss America pageant.-History:...
pageant, where she placed first runner-up to Mickie Weyland. Ms. Carter won the Miss Volunteer beauty pageant at the University of Tennessee in the same year.
Career
In 1960, Carter made her professional stage debut in a Memphis production of CarouselCarousel (musical)
Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
. She moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1963 and got a part in a production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale
The Winter's Tale
The Winter's Tale is a play by William Shakespeare, originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, some modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some critics, among them W. W...
.
After an eight-year hiatus from acting, she returned to the craft in 1974, when she filled in for actress Nancy Pinkerton as Dorian Cramer on One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
, while Pinkerton was on maternity leave. She subsequently was cast in the role of Assistant D.A. Olivia Brandeis "Brandy" Henderson on the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
, on which she appeared from 1974 to 1976. (She went along with the show when it switched from CBS to ABC.) Carter took the role even though some advised her that doing a daytime soap might negatively affect her career. However, it was with this role that Carter was first noticed, and after leaving Edge of Night in 1976, she relocated from New York to Los Angeles and pursued prime-time television roles.
She appeared in series such as Out of the Blue
Out of the Blue (1979 TV series)
Out Of The Blue is an American fantasy sitcom that aired on ABC during the fall of 1979. It is chiefly notable as having featured a Mork & Mindy crossover, and for the controversy surrounding its status as a spin-off of Happy Days....
, On Our Own
On Our Own (1977 TV series)
On Our Own is a television series broadcast on CBS as part of their 1977-78 schedule. It featured Maria Bonino and Julia Peters, two employees in the Bedford Advertising Agency in New York who also share an apartment. Toni McBain was their boss, while April Baxter and Phil Goldstein were their...
, Diff'rent Strokes
Diff'rent Strokes
Diff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986...
, The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama television series that aired for three seasons from 1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981...
(playing a KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
spy), and Filthy Rich (1982). Carter's appearance in Filthy Rich paved the way for her best-known role, that of interior decorator Julia Sugarbaker in the 1980s/1990s television program Designing Women
Designing Women
Designing Women is an American television sitcom that centered on the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on the CBS television network from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The show was created by head writer...
, set in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. Filthy Rich had been created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
Linda Bloodworth-Thomason is an American writer and television producer....
, who also went on to create Designing Women. (Filthy Rich also featured fellow Designing Women cast member Delta Burke
Delta Burke
Delta Ramona Leah Burke is an American television and film actress. Her television work includes a leading role as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the CBS sitcom Designing Women...
in its cast.) Hal Holbrook
Hal Holbrook
Harold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...
, her real-life husband, had a recurring role as Reese Watson, and Carter's daughters, Ginna and Mary Dixie, also had guest-star roles as Julia Sugarbaker's nieces, Jennifer and Camilla.
Coincidentally, actress Mary Ann Mobley
Mary Ann Mobley
Mary Ann Mobley is a former Miss America, actress, and television personality.-Career:After serving her reign as Miss America 1959, Mobley embarked on a career in both film and television...
who replaced Dixie as Maggie on Diff'rent Strokes, guest starred on Designing Women, as Karen, a snide head of a historical society who put Julia's home on a tour of homes, and ended up angering Julia.
Famous for portraying strong-minded Southern women, Carter provided the voice of Necile in Mike Young Productions' direct-to-video 2000 cartoon feature The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a 1902 children's book, written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark.-Infancy, Youth, Motivation:...
. She was also in the voice cast of My Neighbors the Yamadas, the English-language dub of Studio Ghibli's 1999 anime movie My Neighbors the Yamadas
My Neighbors the Yamadas
is an anime film directed by Isao Takahata and released by Studio Ghibli on July 17, 1999. The movie is a family comedy that is presented in a comic strip style which is unusual since all the other Studio Ghibli movies are presented in the traditional anime style of Studio Ghibli...
.
From 1999 to 2002, she portrayed Randi King on the legal drama Family Law
Family Law (TV series)
Family Law is a television drama starring Kathleen Quinlan as divorced lawyer Lynn Holt, who attempted to start her own law firm after her lawyer husband took all their old clients...
, portraying a lawyer for the first time since she was Brandy Henderson on The Edge of Night. In 2004, she made a guest appearance on Law and Order: SVU, playing a defense attorney named Denise Brockmorton in the episode called Home, in which she defended the paranoid mother of two children (Diane Venora
Diane Venora
Diane Venora is an American stage, television, and film actress.-Early life:Venora was born Diana Venora in East Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of Marie and Robert P. Venora, who owned a dry cleaning establishment. Diane graduated from East Hartford High School, class of 1970. During her...
) who had manipulated her older son to kill the younger son, after breaking her home rules.
Carter starred in several Broadway musicals and plays. She appeared on and off-Broadway as well, playing the role of Melba Snyder in the 1976 Circle in the Square revival of Pal Joey
Pal Joey
Pal Joey is a 1940 epistolary novel by John O'Hara, which became the basis of the 1940 stage musical comedy and 1957 motion picture of the same name, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart....
and diva
Diva
A diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
in Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally is an American playwright who has received four Tony Awards, an Emmy, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Hull-Warriner Award, and a citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has been a member of the Council of the...
's Master Class
Master Class
Master Class is a play by Terrence McNally, with incidental music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Vincenzo Bellini.The play originally was staged by the Philadelphia Theatre Company and the Mark Taper Forum. After twelve previews, the Broadway production, directed by Leonard Foglia, opened...
, a role created by Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Caldwell, OBE is an Australian-born actress.-Early life:She was born as Ada Caldwell in Melbourne, Australia and was raised in the suburb of Balwyn in Yongala Street. Her father, Edgar, was a plumber and her mother, Zoe, was a taxi dancer. Caldwell's mother, Zoe, had a Peugeot of 1950 vintage...
.
In 2006–07 Carter found a resurgence of fame with a new generation of fans portraying the disturbed Gloria Hodge on Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
. Creator Marc Cherry
Marc Cherry
Marc Cherry is an American writer and producer, best known for creating the show Desperate Housewives.-Early life and career:...
started out in Hollywood as Carter's assistant on the set of Designing Women. Her first and only Emmy Awards nomination was for the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards
59th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 2007 and were televised live on Fox at 8:00 p.m. EDT for the first time in high definition...
under the category of Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Gloria Hodge.
Carter gave an interview in 2006 for the feature length documentary, That Guy: The Legacy of Dub Taylor, which received support from Taylor's family and many of Dub's previous co-workers, including Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
, Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...
, Don Collier, Cheryl Rogers-Barnett and many others. The project was scheduled to have its World Premiere at Taylor's childhood hometown of Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
on April 14, 2007.
Her final film was That Evening Sun
That Evening Sun (film)
That Evening Sun is a 2009 film based on a 2002 short story I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down by William Gay. The movie, produced by Dogwood Entertainment, stars Hal Holbrook as Abner Meecham and is directed by Scott Teems who also wrote the screenplay...
, which she filmed on site with her husband Hal Holbrook
Hal Holbrook
Harold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...
in East Tennessee in the summer of 2008. The film was produced by Dogwood Entertainment (a subsidiary of DoubleJay Creative) and is based on a short story by William Gay
William Gay (author)
William Gay is an American writer of novels and short stories.-Life and career:Gay was born in Hohenwald, Tennessee, which he still calls home. After high school, Gay joined the United States Navy and served during the Vietnam War...
. That Evening Sun premiered at South By Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
, where it competed for the narrative feature grand jury prize.
Personal life
Arthur L. Carter
Arthur L. Carter is an investment banker, publisher, and artist.He graduated from Brown University in 1953 with a degree in French literature....
(no relation). They had two daughters (who would later appear in an episode of Designing Women), Mary Dixie and Ginna. Following the birth of her daughters, Carter left acting for eight years to focus on raising her children.
She divorced Arthur Carter in 1977, and married Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and TV actor George Hearn
George Hearn
George Hearn is an American actor and singer, primarily in Broadway musical theatre.-Early years:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Hearn studied philosophy at Southwestern at Memphis, now Rhodes College before he embarked on a career in the theater, training for the stage with actress turned acting...
the same year. Two years later, in 1979, she divorced Hearn. She married for the third time on May 27, 1984, to Hal Holbrook
Hal Holbrook
Harold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...
(14 years her senior), who is most noted for his appearances as Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
. Carter renovated her old family home in McLemoresville. She and Holbrook divided their time between their homes in Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
, and McLemoresville, Tennessee
McLemoresville, Tennessee
McLemoresville is a town in Carroll County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 352 at the 2010 census. It is notable primarily as the birthplace, and final resting place, of television star Dixie Carter.-Geography:...
, where Carter's elderly father, Halbert, resided until his death in early 2007, at age 96.
In 1996, Carter published a memoir titled Trying to Get to Heaven, in which she talked frankly about her life with Hal Holbrook, Designing Women, and her plastic surgery
Plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...
during the show's run. She acknowledged, along with other celebrities, having used HGH (Human Growth Hormone
Growth hormone
Growth hormone is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction and regeneration in humans and other animals. Growth hormone is a 191-amino acid, single-chain polypeptide that is synthesized, stored, and secreted by the somatotroph cells within the lateral wings of the anterior...
) for its anti-aging properties.
Political views
Carter was also a registered Republican who described her political views as libertarianLibertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
. She was interviewed by Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
along with Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
at the 2000 Republican National Convention
2000 Republican National Convention
The 2000 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States convened at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 31 to August 3, 2000. The 2066 delegates assembled at the convention nominated Texas Governor George W. Bush as the Republican candidate for U.S....
. Although her Designing Women character, Julia Sugarbaker, was known for her liberal political views and subsequent monologues, Carter disagreed with many of her character's left-of-center commentaries and made a deal with the producers that for every speech she had to make with which she disagreed, Julia would get to sing a song in a future episode. Carter once jokingly described herself as "the only Republican in show business". She was also a strong supporter of the gay community.
Death and legacy
Carter died on April 10, 2010, in Houston, TexasHouston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. Her death was announced by her husband, actor Hal Holbrook
Hal Holbrook
Harold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...
, who stated the cause as complications from endometrial cancer
Endometrial cancer
Endometrial cancer refers to several types of malignancies that arise from the endometrium, or lining, of the uterus. Endometrial cancers are the most common gynecologic cancers in the United States, with over 35,000 women diagnosed each year. The incidence is on a slow rise secondary to the...
which was diagnosed earlier in 2010. In addition to Holbrook, she is survived by her daughters from her first marriage: Ginna Carter (of Los Angeles) and Mary Dixie Carter (of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
) as well as a sister, Melba Helen Heath (of San Anselmo, California
San Anselmo, California
San Anselmo is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, in the western United States. San Anselmo is located west of San Rafael, at an elevation of 46 feet . It is located about north of San Francisco. Neighboring towns include San Rafael to the east, Fairfax to the west, and Ross to the...
) and several nephews and nieces. In addition to family, her funeral, held on April 15, 2010, was attended by Designing Women
Designing Women
Designing Women is an American television sitcom that centered on the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on the CBS television network from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The show was created by head writer...
co-stars Delta Burke
Delta Burke
Delta Ramona Leah Burke is an American television and film actress. Her television work includes a leading role as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the CBS sitcom Designing Women...
, Annie Potts
Annie Potts
Anne Hampton "Annie" Potts is an American film and television actress. She is known for her roles in the 1980s popular films such as Ghostbusters , Pretty in Pink , Jumpin' Jack Flash , Who's Harry Crumb? and Ghostbusters II . Potts is also known as a voice-actress...
and Jean Smart
Jean Smart
Jean E. Smart is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is known for her comedic roles, one of the best known being her role as Charlene Frazier Stillfield on the CBS sitcom Designing Women. She later gained critical acclaim for dramatic work, with her portrayal of Martha Logan on 24...
. Dixie Carter was interred in her hometown, McLemoresville, Tennessee
McLemoresville, Tennessee
McLemoresville is a town in Carroll County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 352 at the 2010 census. It is notable primarily as the birthplace, and final resting place, of television star Dixie Carter.-Geography:...
.
The Dixie Carter Performing Arts and Academic Enrichment Center (informally called "The Dixie") in Huntingdon, Tennessee
Huntingdon, Tennessee
Huntingdon is a town in Carroll County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 4,349 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Carroll County.-Geography:Huntingdon is located at ....
is named in honor of Carter.
A public service announcement made by Carter in 2003 describing and offering outreach to sufferers of Spasmodic Torticollis / Cervical Dystonia
Spasmodic torticollis
Spasmodic torticollis is a chronic neurological movement disorder causing the neck to involuntarily turn to the left, right, upwards, and/or downwards. The condition is also referred to as "cervical dystonia". Both agonist and antagonist muscle contract simultaneously during dystonic...
began appearing in New York and New Jersey, and then across the United States in 2010.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| late 1970s | The Doctors | ||
| 1974-1976 | The Edge of Night The Edge of Night The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984... |
A.D.A Olivia Brandeis Henderson | |
| 1977 | The Andros Targets | Rita | 1 episode " The Killing of a Porno Queen" |
| 1977-1978 | On Our Own On Our Own (1977 TV series) On Our Own is a television series broadcast on CBS as part of their 1977-78 schedule. It featured Maria Bonino and Julia Peters, two employees in the Bedford Advertising Agency in New York who also share an apartment. Toni McBain was their boss, while April Baxter and Phil Goldstein were their... |
April Baxter | 22 episodes |
| 1979 | Out of the Blue Out of the Blue (1979 TV series) Out Of The Blue is an American fantasy sitcom that aired on ABC during the fall of 1979. It is chiefly notable as having featured a Mork & Mindy crossover, and for the controversy surrounding its status as a spin-off of Happy Days.... |
Marion Richards | 12 episodes |
| 1980 | OHMS OHMS (1980 film) OHMS is a 1980 American film. It stars Leslie Nielsen.... |
Nora Wing | |
| 1981 | The Killing of Randy Webster | Billie Webster | |
| 1982 | Cassie & Co. | Evelyn Weller | 1 episode "The Golden Silence" |
| Bret Maverick Bret Maverick Bret Maverick is an American Western series starring James Garner in the role that made him famous in the 1957 series Maverick: a professional poker player traveling alone year after year through the Old West from riverboat to saloon... |
Hallie McCulloch | 1 episode "Hallie" | |
| Best of the West Best of the West Best of the West is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 1981 through August 1982.-Synopsis:The Old West spoof featured the misadventures of Sam Best, a Civil War veteran who becomes a marshal in Copper Creek after accidentally scaring off an incompetent gunfighter called the Calico... |
Mae Markham | 1 episode "The Pretty Prisoner" | |
| Quincy, M.E. Quincy, M.E. Quincy, M.E., also called Quincy, is a United States television series from Universal Studios that aired from October 3, 1976, to September 5, 1983, on NBC... |
Dr. Alicia Ranier | 1 episode "The Face of Fear" | |
| The Greatest American Hero The Greatest American Hero The Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama television series that aired for three seasons from 1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981... |
Samantha O'Neill | 1 episode " Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell" | |
| Lou Grant Lou Grant (TV series) Lou Grant is an American television drama series starring Ed Asner in the titular role as a newspaper editor. Unusual in American television, this drama series was a spinoff from a sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Aired from 1977 to 1982, Lou Grant won 13 Emmy Awards, including "Outstanding Drama... |
Jessica Lindner | 1 episode "Suspect" | |
| 1982-1983 | Filthy Rich Filthy Rich (1982 TV series) Filthy Rich is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from August 1982 to July 1983. Starring Dixie Carter and Delta Burke, the series satirized prime-time soap operas such as Dallas and Dynasty.-Plot:... |
Carlotta Beck | 15 episodes |
| 1983 | Going Berserk Going Berserk Going Berserk is a 1983 comedy film starring John Candy, Joe Flaherty, and Eugene Levy and directed by David Steinberg.- Plot :John Bourgignon is an amiable chauffeur and would-be drummer who is engaged to the daughter of an extremely disapproving United States senator... |
Angela | |
| 1984-1985 | Diff'rent Strokes Diff'rent Strokes Diff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986... |
Maggie McKinney | 28 episodes |
| 1986 | Crazy Like a Fox Crazy Like a Fox (TV series) Crazy Like a Fox is an American television series set in San Francisco, California, that aired on CBS from December 30, 1984 to May 3, 1986.-Overview:... |
1 episode "Fox on the Range" | |
| 1986-1993 | Designing Women Designing Women Designing Women is an American television sitcom that centered on the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on the CBS television network from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The show was created by head writer... |
Julia Sugarbaker | 163 episodes |
| 1994 | A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle Perry Mason (TV series) Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner... |
Louise Archer | |
| Gambler V: Playing for Keeps | Lillie Langtry | ||
| Christy Christy (TV series) Christy is an American drama series which aired on CBS from April 1994 to August 1995, for twenty episodes.Christy was based on the novel Christy by Catherine Marshall, the widow of Senate chaplain Peter Marshall... |
Julia Huddleston | 1 episode "The Sweetest Gift" | |
| 1995 | Dazzle | Lydie Kilkullen | |
| Diagnosis: Murder Diagnosis: Murder Diagnosis: Murder is a mystery/medical/crime drama television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan, a medical doctor who solves crimes with the help of his son, a homicide detective played by his real-life son Barry Van Dyke. The series began as a spin-off of Jake and the Fatman... |
D.A. Patricia Purcell | 1 episode "Murder in the Courthouse" | |
| 1996 | Gone in the Night Gone in the Night Gone in the Night is a 1996 television movie based around the Jaclyn Dowaliby murder case, with Shannen Doherty and Kevin Dillon as Cynthia and David Dowaliby.- The Dowaliby Case :... |
Ann Dowaliby | |
| 1997 | Fired Up Fired Up (TV series) Fired Up is a short-lived 1997–1998 situation comedy airing on NBC. It lasted for two seasons and 28 episodes. The series, the first from Grammnet Productions, starred Sharon Lawrence and Leah Remini. The series was about a self-centered promotions executive and her mouthy assistant... |
Rita | 2 episodes "The Mother of All Gwens" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Turkey" |
| 1999-2000 | Ladies Man | Peaches | 9 episodes |
| 1999-2002 | Family Law Family Law (TV series) Family Law is a television drama starring Kathleen Quinlan as divorced lawyer Lynn Holt, who attempted to start her own law firm after her lawyer husband took all their old clients... |
Randi King | 68 episodes |
| 1999 | My Neighbors the Yamadas My Neighbors the Yamadas is an anime film directed by Isao Takahata and released by Studio Ghibli on July 17, 1999. The movie is a family comedy that is presented in a comic strip style which is unusual since all the other Studio Ghibli movies are presented in the traditional anime style of Studio Ghibli... |
voice: English version | |
| 2000 | The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus | Necile | voice |
| 2001 | The Big Day | Carol | |
| 2003 | Comfort and Joy Comfort and Joy (2003 film) Comfort and Joy is a TV movie directed by Maggie Greenwald, originally airing on the Lifetime cable network in 2003. It starred Nancy McKeon as Jane Berry. The life of Jane Berry was all materialist, until one Christmas Eve, she is involved in a car accident that changes her life forever... |
Frederica | |
| 2004 | Sudbury | TV pilot | |
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced... |
Denise Brockmorton | 1 episode "Home" | |
| 2005 | Hope & Faith Hope & Faith Hope & Faith is an American sitcom that aired for three seasons on ABC from September 26, 2003, to May 2, 2006. For its first two seasons the show was part of a revived TGIF comedy block.... |
Joyce Shanowski | 1 episode " A Room of One's Own" |
| 2006-2007 | Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W... |
Gloria Hodge | 7 episodes |
| 2008 | Our First Christmas | Evie Baer | |
| 2009 | That Evening Sun That Evening Sun (film) That Evening Sun is a 2009 film based on a 2002 short story I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down by William Gay. The movie, produced by Dogwood Entertainment, stars Hal Holbrook as Abner Meecham and is directed by Scott Teems who also wrote the screenplay... |
Ellen Meecham | |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Series or Play | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Theatre World Award Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:... |
Outstanding Actress | Jesse and the Bandit Queen | |
| 1979 | Drama Desk Award Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category... |
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play was first awarded at the 1974–1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since... |
Fathers and Sons | |
| 1989 | Los Angeles Women in Film Festival | Excellence in TV Episodic Comedy | Designing Women Designing Women Designing Women is an American television sitcom that centered on the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on the CBS television network from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The show was created by head writer... |
|
| 2007 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | 'Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W... |
|
| 2009 | SXSW Film Festival | Best Ensemble Cast | That Evening Sun That Evening Sun (film) That Evening Sun is a 2009 film based on a 2002 short story I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down by William Gay. The movie, produced by Dogwood Entertainment, stars Hal Holbrook as Abner Meecham and is directed by Scott Teems who also wrote the screenplay... |