Dixie Carter

A Southern-born leading lady and singer with hazel eyes and dark brown hair, Dixie Carter made her first professional appearances at Memphis' highly regarded Front Street Theater, playing soprano leads in "Carousel", "Oklahoma!", "Brigadoon", "The King and I", "The Student Prince", "The New Moon" and "Babes in Arms", as well as performing with the Memphis Shakespeare Festival. She made her Off-Broadway debut as Perdita in a New York Shakespeare Festival production of "A Winter's Tale" (1963) but left her promising career to marry and have children. Returning to the stage after an eight-year absence, Carter co-starred on Broadway in the musical "Sextet" (1974) and played Melba in the Circle in the Square revival of "Pal Joey" (1976) while playing Brandy Harrison on the long-running daytime serial "The Edge of Night" (first CBS, then ABC) from 1974-1976. She also worked frequently at Joseph Papp's Public Theater, winning a Theatre World Award for "Jesse and the Bandit Queen" (1976), and later at Lincoln Center, where she appeared in the musicals "The King & I", "Carousel" and "The Merry Widow".

Beginning in 1977, Carter appeared as a series regular in "On Our Own" (CBS), "Out of the Blue" (ABC), "Filthy Rich" (CBS) and "Different Strokes" (NBC), finally achieving her greatest success on the CBS comedy hit, "Designing Women", bringing her dusky, tongue-in-cheek drawl, glaring eyes and mature charm to the role of Julia Sugarbaker, the most sensible and vocally liberal of that show's four decorator divas. Carter met her current husband Hal Holbrook while starring opposite him in the CBS movie "The Killing of Randy Webster" (1981), and he had a recurring role on "Designing Women" as her romantic interest. They also co-starred in "A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle" (NBC, 1994). In addition to her many musical theater credits, Carter has excelled as a cabaret performer, playing NYC's Cafe Carlyle every year but one since 1989 and singing at the White House in November of 1993, the tape of that performance airing on PBS as "Cabaret" (1994). Carter's early ambition to sing opera came to naught, but she sort of realized her dream of being an opera singer by taking over the part of the great diva Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's "Master Class" (1997), the only spring she missed her engagement at the Carlyle.

• Born:
  May 25, 1939 in McLemoresville, Tennessee
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Singer

Family

• Mother: Virginia Carter.

Milestones

• 1961 Made stage debut as Julie in "Carousel" at the Front Street Theatre in Memphis
• 1963 Made off-Broadway debut as Perdita in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of "A Winter's Tale"
• 1974 First appeared on television in the role of Brandy Henderson on long-running soap opera, "The Edge of Night"
• 1974 Co-starred on Broadway in the musical "Sextet"
• 1976 Appeared as Melba in New York stage revival of "Pal Joey"
• 1979 Portrayed Aunt Marion on short-lived ABC comedy, "Out of the Blue"
• 1980 Played Hannah Mae Bindler in New York stage production of "A Couple of White Chicks Sitting Around Talking"
• 1981 Met future husband Hal Holbrook while starring opposite him in the CBS movie "The Killing of Randy Webster"
• 1983 Film debut in supporting role (as Angela) in feature comedy, "Going Berserk"
• 1983 Made London stage debut as Liz Conlon in "Buried Inside Extra" at the Royal Court Theatre
• 1989 Began annual nightclub engagements singing at the Cafe Carlyle in New York City
• 1990 Spats between Carter (siding with the producers of "Designing Women") and co-star Delta Burke garnered attention (date approximate)
• 1992 Released "Dixie Carter's Unworkout" exercise tape
• 1993 Performed live at the White House, singing three songs as part of "Cabaret", which aired on PBS in 1994
• 1994 Acted with husband Holbrook in "A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle" (NBC)
• 1994 Portrayed Lillie Langtry in "The Gambler V: Playing For Keeps", a CBS miniseries starring Kenny Rogers
• 1997 First played Sharon Lawrence's mother in an episode of the NBC sitcom "Fired Up"
• 1997 Replaced Patti LuPone in "Master Class" in the role of Maria Callas on Broadway
• 1999 Was a regular cast member of the CBS drama "Family Law"
• 1999 Had recurring role as Lawrence's mother in the CBS sitcom "Ladies Man"
• 2006 Had a recurring role on "Desperate Housewives" (ABC) as Orson's mother played by Kyle MacLachlan; reuniting her with creator Marc Cherry who was once her personal assistant
• Acted role of copywriter April Baxter on CBS sitcom, "On Our Own"
• First series with producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, acting the role of Carlotta Beck on CBS comedy "Filthy Rich"; Delta Burke also prominent in cast
• Left stage for eight years to marry and have children
• Performed with the New York Shakespeare Festival in such productions as "Jesse and the Bandit Queen", "Fathers and Sons" and "Taken in Marriage"
• Played interior decorator Julia Sugarbaker on successful CBS sitcom, "Designing Women"; reunited with Bloodworth-Thomason and Burke
• Played recurring role of Maggie McKinney, Mr. Drummond's girlfriend, on NBC's popular sitcom, "Different Strokes"; role later played by Mary Ann Mobley