Dixie Carter

Dixie Carter, who gained television fame as Julia Sugarbaker on the long-running CBS sitcom "Designing Women," has died. She was 70. Carter died Saturday morning at a Houston hospital of complications from cancer, said Steve Rohr, publicist for Carter and her husband, actor Hal Holbrook. "This has been a terrible blow to our family," Holbrook said in a written statement. "We would appreciate everyone understanding that this is a private family tragedy." Carter had a long career as a stage actress and cabaret singer.

Dixie Carter, who gained television fame as Julia Sugarbaker on the long-running CBS sitcom "Designing Women," has died. She was 70. Carter died Saturday morning at a Houston hospital of complications from cancer, said Steve Rohr, publicist for Carter and her husband, actor Hal Holbrook. "This has been a terrible blow to our family," Holbrook said in a written statement. "We would appreciate everyone understanding that this is a private family tragedy." Carter had a long career as a stage actress and cabaret singer.

A Tennessee program is granting $1 million for construction of a performing arts center named for native daughter Dixie Carter, the former star of "Designing Women." The center will be located in the historic court square of Huntingdon, where Carter went to high school. It will include a theater, lobby, gallery and reception area.

Replace: It'll be one "Designing Women" star replacing another next month when Dixie Carter takes over for Delta Burke as a white slave trader in Broadway's "Thoroughly Modern Millie."

No one can ever accuse Dixie Carter of holding anything back. Halfway through her opening night set at Feinstein's at the Cinegrill on Tuesday, she was rolling around on top of the grand piano, raging through one emotional overload after another as she sang the slippery saga of "Bruce," a fashion-impaired transvestite.

How's this for a spotlight item in an evening of cabaret: actress Dixie Carter singing and playing harmonica on Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice It's All Right," then, for good measure, adding "Just Like a Woman" and Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire." Hard to imagine? Yes, but that's exactly what happened Thursday night during the opening performance of Carter's three-night run at the Founders Hall Cabaret Club in the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Replace: It'll be one "Designing Women" star replacing another next month when Dixie Carter takes over for Delta Burke as a white slave trader in Broadway's "Thoroughly Modern Millie."

Congratulations to "Designing Women" for their outstanding Oct. 5 program on AIDS. It was done with grace and dignity--not to mention reinforcing the necessary information. The writer deserves kudos for keeping humor skillfully intertwined and the women did a beautiful job! They are all exceptional anyway, but Mary Jo (Annie Potts) and Julia (Dixie Carter) were delicious in that episode. Rose Holmes, Claremont

Before "American Idol," before "Star Search," irrepressible cable-access host and man about town Skip E. Lowe will tell you, there was Skip E. Lowe's Undiscovered Talent Showcase. The showcase, which seems to be open to all comers, was host on a recent Monday at Cafe Roma in Beverly Hills to acts that included a Dixie Carter look-alike who danced and lip-synced to a Gypsy Rose Lee tune, a linebacker-size singing drag queen called Gigi from Paris, a calypso act, and an octogenarian tap dancer.

Both my wife, Dixie Carter, and I enjoyed reading Rosenfield's article on show business couples. There was a reference, however, that worries me a great deal--especially when my sailing friends read it. I am quoted as saying that, "I sailed around the world alone." I didn't. To someone who doesn't know that I am a sailor or care about such things, it doesn't matter. But I greatly fear that a number of people whose opinion I value will read this totally erroneous statement and think I have turned into a fool.

No one can ever accuse Dixie Carter of holding anything back. Halfway through her opening night set at Feinstein's at the Cinegrill on Tuesday, she was rolling around on top of the grand piano, raging through one emotional overload after another as she sang the slippery saga of "Bruce," a fashion-impaired transvestite.

Before "American Idol," before "Star Search," irrepressible cable-access host and man about town Skip E. Lowe will tell you, there was Skip E. Lowe's Undiscovered Talent Showcase. The showcase, which seems to be open to all comers, was host on a recent Monday at Cafe Roma in Beverly Hills to acts that included a Dixie Carter look-alike who danced and lip-synced to a Gypsy Rose Lee tune, a linebacker-size singing drag queen called Gigi from Paris, a calypso act, and an octogenarian tap dancer.

A Tennessee program is granting $1 million for construction of a performing arts center named for native daughter Dixie Carter, the former star of "Designing Women." The center will be located in the historic court square of Huntingdon, where Carter went to high school. It will include a theater, lobby, gallery and reception area.

Dixie Carter holds her tongue as one of her "Family Law" cast mates repeatedly flubs a line. The scene involves a volatile moral debate among the partners of Holt & Associates concerning an elderly client's decision to assist in the death of his terminally ill wife.

How's this for a spotlight item in an evening of cabaret: actress Dixie Carter singing and playing harmonica on Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice It's All Right," then, for good measure, adding "Just Like a Woman" and Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire." Hard to imagine? Yes, but that's exactly what happened Thursday night during the opening performance of Carter's three-night run at the Founders Hall Cabaret Club in the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

We were up before dawn drinking coffee, feeling the usual stress but uncharacteristically glum. We didn't have a Valentine. We were the perfect candidate to try "Dixie's Carter's Yoga for You Unworkout II" ($19.98), since the exercise video promised "to reduce your stress and refresh your attitude" while toning the body. We sat on the living room floor, next to the two cats, and watched for 50 minutes. Turns out, we loved that tape.

We were up before dawn drinking coffee, feeling the usual stress but uncharacteristically glum. We didn't have a Valentine. We were the perfect candidate to try "Dixie's Carter's Yoga for You Unworkout II" ($19.98), since the exercise video promised "to reduce your stress and refresh your attitude" while toning the body. We sat on the living room floor, next to the two cats, and watched for 50 minutes. Turns out, we loved that tape.

Dixie Carter holds her tongue as one of her "Family Law" cast mates repeatedly flubs a line. The scene involves a volatile moral debate among the partners of Holt & Associates concerning an elderly client's decision to assist in the death of his terminally ill wife.

Congratulations to "Designing Women" for their outstanding Oct. 5 program on AIDS. It was done with grace and dignity--not to mention reinforcing the necessary information. The writer deserves kudos for keeping humor skillfully intertwined and the women did a beautiful job! They are all exceptional anyway, but Mary Jo (Annie Potts) and Julia (Dixie Carter) were delicious in that episode. Rose Holmes, Claremont

Both my wife, Dixie Carter, and I enjoyed reading Rosenfield's article on show business couples. There was a reference, however, that worries me a great deal--especially when my sailing friends read it. I am quoted as saying that, "I sailed around the world alone." I didn't. To someone who doesn't know that I am a sailor or care about such things, it doesn't matter. But I greatly fear that a number of people whose opinion I value will read this totally erroneous statement and think I have turned into a fool.