Nell Carter | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Nell Ruth Hardy (1948-09-13)September 13, 1948 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | January 23, 2003(2003-01-23) (aged 54) |
| Resting place | Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Other names | Nell Ruth Carter |
| Education | A. H. Parker High School |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1970–2003 |
| Known for | Nell Harper –Gimme a Break! |
| Spouse(s) | [1][2] |
| Partner | Ann Kaser(?–2003)[3][4] |
| Children | 3 |
Nell Carter (bornNell Ruth Hardy;[5][6] September 13, 1948 – January 23, 2003) was an American actress and singer.
Carter began her career in 1970, singing in the theater, and later began work on television. She was best known for her role as Nell Harper on the sitcomGimme a Break!, which aired from 1981 to 1987. Carter received twoEmmy and twoGolden Globe award nominations for her work on the series. Prior toGimme a Break!, Carter won aTony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical in 1978 for her performance in theBroadway musicalAin't Misbehavin' as well as a PrimetimeEmmy Award for her reprisal of the role on television in 1982.[7]
Nell Ruth Hardy[8] was born on September 13, 1948 in Birmingham, Alabama,[9] one of nine children born to Edna Mae and Horace Hardy. She was born into aCatholic family and raisedPresbyterian.[10][11] Carter later self-identified asPentecostal[12] and as Jewish.[10]
At the age of two, Hardy witnessed her father's electrocution when he stepped on a live power line.[13][14]
As a child, she began singing on a localgospel radio show and was also a member of the church choir. At age 15, she began performing at area coffee houses, and later joined the Renaissance Ensemble that played at coffee houses andgay bars.
On July 5, 1965 at the age of 16, Hardy was raped at gunpoint by a man whom she knew. She became pregnant as a result of the rape and gave birth to daughter Tracey the next year. Finding raising a baby alone too difficult, she sent her child to live with her older sister Willie. She later claimed that Tracey was the product of a brief marriage, but she revealed the truth in a 1994 interview.[15][16]
At age 19, Hardy changed her surname to Carter and left Birmingham, Alabama, moving to New York City with the Renaissance Ensemble, where she sang in coffee shops, nightclubs and bathhouses before landing her first Broadway role in 1971.[17]
Carter made her Broadway debut in the 1971 rock operaSoon, which closed after three performances.[18] She was the music director for the 1974Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective's production ofWhat Time of Night It Is.[citation needed] Carter appeared withBette Davis in the 1974 stage musicalMiss Moffat, based on Davis' earlier filmThe Corn Is Green, but the show closed before reaching Broadway.[19]
Carter became a star for her role in the musicalAin't Misbehavin, for which she won aTony Award in 1978.[20] She later won anEmmy for the same role in a televised performance in 1982.[21]
In 1978, Carter was cast as Effie White in the Broadway musicalDreamgirls but departed the production during development to take a television role onRyan's Hope.[22] WhenDreamgirls premiered in late 1981,Jennifer Holliday had taken the lead role.[23]
Carter's additional Broadway credits includeDude and the 20th-anniversary production ofAnnie, in which she played Miss Hannigan.[24][25]
In 1979, Carter had a part in theMiloš Forman-directed musical adaptation ofHair and her voice is heard on the film's soundtrack.[26]
In 1981, she took a role on the NBCactioncomedy television seriesThe Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo[27] before landing the lead role of Nell Harper on the sitcomGimme a Break!.
Carter became best known to audiences for her lead role in the NBC television seriesGimme a Break!, in which she played a housekeeper for a widowed police chief (Dolph Sweet) and his three daughters. The show earned Carter nominations for aGolden Globe and anEmmy Award. A total of 137 episodes ofGimme a Break! were produced over a run of six seasons, airing from 1981 to 1987.
In August 1987 after the cancellation ofGimme a Break!, Carter returned to the nightclub circuit with a five-month national tour with comedianJoan Rivers.[28]
In 1989, Carter played the assistant to a banquet-hall owner in an unsuccessfulpilot for NBC titledMorton's by the Bay, which aired as a one-time special that May. In October, she performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Game 4 of the1989 World Series in San Francisco.[29]
In 1990, Carter starred in the CBS comedyYou Take the Kids. The series, which was perceived as the black answer toRoseanne with its portrayal of a working-class black family, featured Carter as a crass, no-nonsense mother and wife.[30]You Take the Kids faced poor ratings and reviews and only ran from December 1990 to January 1991.[31]
During the early 1990s, Carter appeared in low-budget movies, television specials and game shows such asMatch Game '90 andTo Tell the Truth. She costarred inHangin' with Mr. Cooper from 1993 to 1995.[32]
In the mid-1990s, Carter appeared on Broadway in a revival ofAnnie as Miss Hannigan. She was upset when commercials promoting the show used white actressMarcia Lewis as Miss Hannigan. The producers stated that the commercials, which were created during an earlier production, were too costly to reshoot. However, Carter felt that racism played a part in the decision. She told theNew York Post: "Maybe they don't want audiences to know Nell Carter is black. ... It hurts a lot. I've asked them nicely to stop it—it's insulting to me as a black woman."[24][33] Carter was later replaced bySally Struthers.[25]Carter appeared as a talkative overland bus driver in the mid-1990s filmFollow Your Heart, which was not released until 1998.[34]
In 2001, Carter appeared as a special guest star on the pilot episode ofReba and continued with the show, making three appearances in Season 1. The following year, Carter made two appearances onAlly McBeal and a guest appearance onBlue's Clues.[32]
In 2002, she rehearsed for a production ofRaisin, a stage musical based onA Raisin in the Sun in Long Beach, California. She appeared in the 2003 filmSwing. Her final onscreen appearance was in the comedy filmBack by Midnight, released in 2005, two years after her death.[32]Nell's final recording project was a duet with Jay Levy, produced by Jay Levy for the 1998 Warner/Rhino Album To Life!: Songs of Chanukah and Other Jewish Celebrations.[35]
On January 23, 2003, at the age of 54, Carter collapsed and died at her home in Beverly Hills.[36][37] Her son Joshua discovered her body that night.[10][38] Per a provision in Carter's will, no autopsy was performed. Using blood tests, X-rays and a cursory physical examination, the Los Angeles County coroner's office ruled that Carter's death was the likely result of "probable arteriosclerotic heart disease, with diabetes a contributing condition."[39]
Carter's partner Ann Kaser inherited her property and custody of her two sons.[10][40][9] Carter is interred atHillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.[41][42][43]
Carter attempted suicide in the early 1980s, and around 1985 she entered a drug-detoxification facility to break a longstanding cocaine addiction. Her brother Bernard died of complications from AIDS in 1989.[15]
Carter married mathematician and lumber executive George Krynicki, and she converted toJudaism in 1982.[10][11] She filed for divorce from Krynicki in 1989 and the divorce was finalized in 1992.
Carter had three children: daughter Tracey and sons Joshua and Daniel. She adopted both Joshua and Daniel as newborns over a four-month period. She attempted to adopt twice more, but both adoptions failed. In her first attempt, she allowed a young pregnant woman to move into her home with the plan that she would adopt the child, but the mother decided to keep the baby. Carter also had three miscarriages.[15]
In 1992, Carter had surgery to repair two aneurysms. She married Roger Larocque in June 1992[44] but divorced him the next year. Carter declared bankruptcy in 1995 and again in 2002.[15]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Hair | Central Park Singer | |
| 1981 | Back Roads | Waitress | |
| 1981 | Modern Problems | Dorita | |
| 1982 | Tex | Mrs. Peters | |
| 1992 | Bebe's Kids | Vivian | Voice |
| 1995 | The Crazysitter | The Warden | |
| 1995 | The Grass Harp | Catherine Creek | |
| 1995 | The Misery Brothers | Courtroom Singer | |
| 1996 | The Proprietor | Millie Jackson | |
| 1997 | Fakin' da Funk | Claire | |
| 1999 | Follow Your Heart | Bus Driver | |
| 1999 | Special Delivery | ||
| 2001 | Perfect Fit | Mrs. Gordy | |
| 2003 | Swing | Juan Gallardo | released posthumously |
| 2005 | Back by Midnight | Waitress | final film role; released posthumously |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Cindy | Olive | TV movie |
| 1978–1979 | Ryan's Hope | Ethel Green | 11 episodes |
| 1980–1981 | The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo | Sergeant Hildy Jones | 15 episodes |
| 1981–1987 | Gimme a Break! | Nellie Ruth 'Nell' Harper | 137 episodes |
| 1982 | The Billy Crystal Comedy Hour | Episode: #1.3 | |
| 1986 | Nell Carter: Never Too Old to Dream | Host | Television Special |
| 1985 | Santa Barbara | Herself | Episode 240 |
| 1986 | Amen | Bess Richards | Episode: "The Courtship of Bess Richards" |
| 1986 | Rosie | Mrs. Downey | Episode: "I Dream of Natalie" |
| 1989 | 227 | Beverly Morris | Episode: "Take My Diva...Please!" |
| 1990 | Shalom Sesame | Olive Tree (voice) | Episode: "Chanukah" |
| 1990–1991 | You Take the Kids | Nell Kirkland | 6 episodes |
| 1992 | Maid for Each Other | Jasmine Jones | TV movie |
| 1992 | Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story | Lucille Gathers | TV movie |
| 1992 | Jake and the Fatman | Ethel Mae Haven | Episode: "Ain't Misbehavin'" |
| 1993–1995 | Hangin' with Mr. Cooper | P.J. Moore | 42 episodes |
| 1995–1997 | Spider-Man: The Animated Series | Glory Grant (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 1996 | Can't Hurry Love | Mrs. Bradstock | Episode: "The Rent Strike" |
| 1997 | Brotherly Love | Nell Bascombe | Episode: "Paging Nell" |
| 1997 | Sparks | Barbara Rogers | Episode: "Hoop Schemes" |
| 1997 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | Mary (voice) | Episode: "Mother Goose" |
| 1997 | The Blues Brothers Animated Series | Betty Smythe (voice) | Episode: "Strange Death of Betty Smythe" |
| 1999 | Sealed with a Kiss | Mrs. Wheatley | TV movie |
| 2001 | Blue's Clues | Mother Nature (voice) | Episode: "Environments" |
| 2001 | Touched by an Angel | Cynthia Winslow | 2 episodes |
| 2001 | Seven Days | Lucy | Episode: "Live: From Death Row" |
| 2001 | Reba | Dr. Susan Peters | 3 episodes |
| 2001 | The Weakest Link | Herself | Classic TV Stars Edition #2 |
| 2002 | Ally McBeal | Harriet Pumple | 2 episodes |
| Year | Title | Voice |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | You Don't Know Jack Volume 2 | Herself |
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