She was much loved by Memphians and contributed greatly to the theaters in our area. Here is a lovely article about her today in the Memphis paper.
LOS ANGELES -- "Designing Women" actress Dixie Carter, who used her charm and stately beauty in a host of roles on Broadway and television, has died. She was 70.
Publicist Steve Rohr, who represents Carter and her husband, actor Hal Holbrook, said Carter died Saturday morning. He would not disclose where she died or the cause of death. Carter and Holbrook lived in the Los Angeles area.
Dixie Carter Remembered
"This has been a terrible blow to our family," Holbrook told Entertainment Tonight.
Carter was born in McLemoresville, Tenn., north of Jackson, and spent many of her early years in Memphis.
In 1960, Carter made her professional stage debut in a Memphis production of "Carousel." She moved to New York City in 1963 and got a part in a production of Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale."
She later appeared in Broadway productions of "Thoroughly Modern Millie," "Master Class," "Pal Joey" and "Sextet."
She married businessman Arthur Carter and they had two daughters. Their common surname was a coincidence. After the marriage ended, she returned to acting, getting roles in the soap operas "One Life to Live" and "The Edge of Night."
She married actor George Hearn in 1977. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1979.
Moving to Los Angeles, Carter had recurring roles in several TV shows but her big break came when she was cast as Julia Sugarbaker in "Designing Women." The show enjoyed a seven-year run (1986-93) and made Carter a household name.
Her character Julia was nicknamed "the Terminator" for her cutting tirades. Many of the earliest monologues were witty and full of common sense, and Julia espoused very liberal ideals. This became reinforced as the series progressed, and she even toasted Bill Clinton in one episode.
Carter was a Republican, a rarity in liberal Hollywood. So she made a deal with show's producers. For every liberal tirade she had to deliver, she'd get to sing a song in an upcoming episode.
Carter wrote a popular memoir, "Trying To Get To Heaven: Opinions of a Tennessee Talker," published in 1996.
In 2006 and 2007, Carter returned to TV, playing Gloria Hodge on "Desperate Housewives" and earning an Emmy nomination for her work on the series.
Carter was noted for her portrayals of Southern women and is known for her Southern pride, which is evident in her product endorsements, like her appearances in commercials for Southern Bell (later BellSouth).
She and Holbrook met while filming the CBS-TV movie, "The Killing of Randy Webster," released in 1981.
"When we first met, I was so impressed with him," Carter recalled. "But Hal took a dislike to me ... Probably my Southern politeness, which he thought was kind of phony. It was only near the end of the shoot, when I was sick as a dog with the flu and I stopped trying to charm him, that he got over that dislike, and we started to laugh together."
They married Mary 27, 1984. It was the third marriage for both.
At Holbrook's urging, she created a well-received Cabaret act in which she sang old standards.
Carter was last seen on stage in "Southern Comforts" in 2006, in which she starred with Holbrook in Coconut Grove, Florida.
Carter recently renovated her old family home in McLemoresville. She and Holbrook divided their time between their homes in Beverly Hills and McLemoresville.
In 2005, the Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center opened in Huntingdon, Tenn. She and Holbrook worked closely with city officials on the design and construction of the theater.
Dixie Virginia Carter
Born: May 25, 1939 in McLemoresville, Tenn.
Education: She attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College), before graduating from Memphis State (now University of Memphis) with a degree in English.
Personal: She had two daughters with her first husband, Mary Dixie Carter and Ginna Carter, both actresses.
Worth noting: In 1993, she received the Distinguished Achievement Award in Creative and Performing Arts from the University of Memphis.
