Posted by Barry, Suave MF at host-4-17-193-113.lordbissell.com on January 23, 2003 at 14:51:47:
In Reply to: Aren't you assuming a lot? posted by miss d on January 23, 2003 at 14:45:03:
I read the news report (below). Pay close attention to the 3rd, 4th & 8th paragraphs.
Singer Actress Nell Carter Dies at Age 54
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress and singer Nell Carter, best known for her role as the matronly housekeeper in the 1980s television sitcom "Gimme a Break," died on Thursday of natural causes at the age of 54, her publicist said.
Carter collapsed at her Beverly Hills home in the early morning and was found by one of her adopted sons, spokesman Roger Lane said.
The cause of death was not immediately established but Lane noted that Carter suffered from diabetes and had battled for years with her weight.
"Obviously she was overweight and with diabetes that is always a concern. It can put a strain on the heart. We are waiting to hear the exact cause," Lane said.
The diminutive, 4-foot, 11-inch actress began her showbusiness life as a nightclub performer and won a Tony award in 1978 for her role in the Broadway musical "Ain't Misbehavin."'
But it was her starring role in the six-year-long sitcom "Gimme a Break," in which she also sang the title song, that gave her her widest audience.
She headlined in a multiracial production of "Hello Dolly" on the West Coast in 1991 and played the villainous Miss Hannigan in a 1996-97 touring revival of the stage musical "Annie."
Carter spoke openly of her weight problems and later of her struggle with substance abuse.
"Let me tell you. Rich is not better. Rich means you have to stay there to maintain it. You have to put on more faces to pretend who you are and you have more people in your face. And when the money is not there anymore, they're not either," Carter said in a 1995 newspaper interview.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Carter was the fifth of nine children, and at the age of two she witnessed the death of her father when he stepped on a live power line.
She converted to Judaism before her first marriage to businessman Georg Krynicki. The marriage ended in divorce in 1992, when Carter wed Canadian record producer Roger Larocque. The couple later divorced.
Carter leaves a daughter and two adopted teenage sons.