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Nell Carter

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Nell Carter (born Nell Ruth Hardy;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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 sitcom Gimme a Break!, which aired from 1981 to 1987. Carter received two Emmy and two Golden Globe award nominations for her work on the series. Prior to Gimme a Break!, Carter won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical in 1978 for her performance in the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin' as well as a Primetime Emmy Award for her reprisal of the role on television in 1982.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early lifeEdit

Nell Ruth Hardy<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> was born on September 13, 1948 in Birmingham, Alabama,<ref name=alabama>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> one of nine children born to Edna Mae and Horace Hardy. She was born into a Catholic family and raised Presbyterian.<ref name=jweekly>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name= diesat54>Template:Cite news</ref> Carter later self-identified as Pentecostal<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and as Jewish.<ref name=jweekly/>

At the age of two, Hardy witnessed her father's electrocution when he stepped on a live power line.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="legacy">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

As a child, she began singing on a local gospel 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 and gay 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 Tracy 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 Tracy was the product of a brief marriage, but she revealed the truth in a 1994 interview.<ref name="gold">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

CareerEdit

Broadway workEdit

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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Carter made her Broadway debut in the 1971 rock opera Soon, which closed after three performances.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She was the music director for the 1974 Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective's production of What Time of Night It Is.Template:Citation needed Carter appeared with Bette Davis in the 1974 stage musical Miss Moffat, based on Davis' earlier film The Corn Is Green, but the show closed before reaching Broadway.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Carter became a star for her role in the musical Ain't Misbehavin, for which she won a Tony Award in 1978.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She later won an Emmy for the same role in a televised performance in 1982.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1978, Carter was cast as Effie White in the Broadway musical Dreamgirls but departed the production during development to take a television role on Ryan's Hope.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> When Dreamgirls premiered in late 1981, Jennifer Holliday had taken the lead role.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Carter's additional Broadway credits include Dude and the 20th-anniversary production of Annie, in which she played Miss Hannigan.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Film and televisionEdit

In 1979, Carter had a part in the Miloš Forman-directed musical adaptation of Hair and her voice is heard on the film's soundtrack.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1981, she took a role on the NBC action comedy television series The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> before landing the lead role of Nell Harper on the sitcom Gimme a Break!.

Gimme a Break!Edit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Carter became best known to audiences for her lead role in the NBC television series Gimme 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 a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award. A total of 137 episodes of Gimme a Break! were produced over a run of six seasons, airing from 1981 to 1987.

In August 1987 after the cancellation of Gimme a Break!, Carter returned to the nightclub circuit with a five-month national tour with comedian Joan Rivers.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Further television workEdit

In 1989, Carter played the assistant to a banquet-hall owner in an unsuccessful pilot for NBC titled Morton'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 the 1989 World Series in San Francisco.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1990, Carter starred in the CBS comedy You Take the Kids. The series, which was perceived as the black answer to Roseanne with its portrayal of a working-class black family, featured Carter as a crass, no-nonsense mother and wife.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> You Take the Kids faced poor ratings and reviews and only ran from December 1990 to January 1991.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

During the early 1990s, Carter appeared in low-budget movies, television specials and game shows such as Match Game '90 and To Tell the Truth. She costarred in Hangin' with Mr. Cooper from 1993 to 1995.<ref name="imdb" />

In the mid-1990s, Carter appeared on Broadway in a revival of Annie as Miss Hannigan. She was upset when commercials promoting the show used white actress Marcia 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 the New 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."<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Carter was later replaced by Sally Struthers.<ref name=":1" />

Later yearsEdit

In 2001, Carter appeared as a special guest star on the pilot episode of Reba and continued with the show, making three appearances in Season 1. The following year, Carter made two appearances on Ally McBeal and a guest appearance on Blue's Clues.<ref name="imdb"/>

In 2002, she rehearsed for a production of Raisin, a stage musical based on A Raisin in the Sun in Long Beach, California. She appeared in the 2003 film Swing. Her final onscreen appearance was in the comedy film Back by Midnight, released in 2005, two years after her death.<ref name="imdb">[https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0141846 

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DeathEdit

On January 23, 2003, at the age of 54, Carter collapsed and died at her home in Beverly Hills.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her son Joshua discovered her body that night.<ref name=jweekly/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Carter's partner Ann Kaser inherited her property and custody of her two sons.<ref name=jweekly/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=alabama/> Carter is interred at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Personal lifeEdit

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.<ref name="gold"/>

Carter married mathematician and lumber executive George Krynicki, and she converted to Judaism in 1982.<ref name=jweekly/><ref name=diesat54/> She filed for divorce from Krynicki in 1989 and the divorce was finalized in 1992.

Carter had three children: daughter Tracy 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.<ref name="gold" />

In 1992, Carter had surgery to repair two aneurysms. She married Roger Larocque in June 1992<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> but divorced him the next year. Carter declared bankruptcy in 1995 and again in 2002.<ref name="gold" />

Stage creditsEdit

FilmographyEdit

FilmEdit

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 released posthumously

TelevisionEdit

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

Video gamesEdit

Year Title Voice
1996 You Don't Know Jack Volume 2 Herself

AwardsEdit

Year Award Category Title Result
1978 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical Ain't Misbehavin' Template:Win
Theatre World Award Template:N/a Template:Win
Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Musical Template:Win
1982 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Individual Achievement – Special Class Template:Win
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Gimme a Break! Template:Nom
Golden Globe Award Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy Template:Nom
1983 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Template:Nom
1984 Golden Globe Award Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy Template:Nom

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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