Dixie Carter, a true designing woman, has died at the age of 70 on April 10 after a long battle with Endometrial Cancer. Carter had a long career in playing mature dynamic women from early on in her career. She cut her teeth on and off-Broadway in several productions such as “The Winter’s Tale.†Through the years, Carter periodically returned to the stage to star in “Pal Joey,†“Lady Windermere’s Fan†and “Be My Baby†(in which she costarred with her husband Hal Holbrook). However, it was television where her audiences knew her best.
After being noticed from a two-year stint on the soap opera “The Edge of Night†in the early seventies, Carter co-starred in several television movies and films. She was also in several series including “Different Strokes,†but she did not reach iconic status until she hit gold with the show “Designing Women.†As Julia Sugarbaker,owner of her own design firm in Atlanta, Georgia, Carter was an opinionated feminist who would keep those around her and anyone who dared to be racist or misogynistic in her presence in check, with her dry wit and a tongue sharper than any knife. Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and her husband Bill (who together produced the show) would write Carter the best lines. Her speeches, particularly in the episode “Reservations for Eight†from season two are one of the highlights of the seven-year series. Ironically, her views in real life seemed in opposition to Julia’s, which caused fans of hers to confuse her with the liberalism of her best known character.
Throughout the ‘90s and into the 2000s Carter had been steadily working. Between her television stints, she had a successful cabaret act that took advantage of her solid singing voice. However, a new set of fans were introduced to her when she portrayed Gloria Hodge on “Desperate Housewives†where she received an Emmy nomination. As the season unfolded viewers discovered that Gloria orchestrated her son Orson’s (Kyle MacLachan) rape, and attempted to kill his wife Bree. Carter played up her character with every bit of campiness and inebriated-like class that only she could. Few if any other actress would be able to pull off all the over-the-top schemes Gloria Hodge did and still be believable.
Carter’s last film “That Evening Sun†featured her husband of 26 years. Based on the short story named “I Hate to See The Evening Sun Go Down,” she starred as Ellen Meecham – Abner Meecham’s (Hal Holbrook) deceased wife.
Carter’s death leaves a vacuum in the world of theater, film and television that can never be filled.
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