Nell Carter
Birthday: Born in 1948-09-13 in
Deathday: 2003-01-23
Nell Carter (born Nell Ruth Hardy; September 13, 1948 – January 23, 2003) was an American singer and actress. Carter began her career in 1970, singing in the theater, and later crossed over to television. She was best known for her role as Nell Harper on the sitcom Gimme a Break! which originally 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
TV Credits
Spider-Man
Character: Glory Grant (voice)
Bitten by a neogenetic spider, Peter Parker develops spider-like superpowers. He uses these to fight crime while trying to balance it with the struggles of his personal life....
Reba
Character:
After her dentist husband of 20 years leaves her for his dental hygienist, Reba Hart's seemingly perfect world is turned upside down....
Ally McBeal
Character:
Ally McBeal is a young lawyer working at the Boston law firm Cage and Fish. Ally's lives and loves are eccentric, humorous, dramatic with an incredibly overactive imagination that's working overtime!...
227
Character:
A housewife sits on the stoop of her apartment building in a black neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and discusses all manner of things with her neighbors....
Gimme a Break!
Character: Nell Harper
Gimme a Break! is an American sitcom which aired on NBC for six seasons, October 29, 1981, until May 12, 1987. The series stars Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief and his three daughters....
Jake and the Fatman
Character:
Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. The series ran on CBS for five seasons from 1987 to 1992. Diagnosis: Murder was a spin-off of this series....
Hangin' with Mr. Cooper
Character: P.J. Moore
Hangin' with Mr. Cooper is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from 1992 to 1997, starring Mark Curry and Holly Robinson. The show took place in Curry's hometown of Oakland, California. Hangin' with Mr. Cooper was produced by Jeff Franklin Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television, and also became produced by Bickley-Warren Productions by the third season. The show originally aired on Tuesdays in prime time after sister series Full House. The show found its...
Brotherly Love
Character: Nell Bascombe
Brotherly Love is an American sitcom that ran from September 16, 1995 to April 1, 1996, on NBC, and then moved to The WB, where it aired from September 15, 1996 until May 18, 1997. The series was created by Jonathan Schmock and Jim Vallely, and produced by Witt/Thomas Productions in association with Touchstone Television and Walt Disney Television. The primary focus of the series is on the relationship of three brothers, played by Joey Lawrence, Matthew Lawrence and Andrew Lawrence....
Seven Days
Character:
"Ever wish you could live your last week all over again? Well, my name's Frank B. Parker, and I do it all the time. I work for a secret government project experimenting in time travel. When things really get screwed up, I'm the guinea pig they send back to take care of it. The catch is, I can only go back 7 days."...
Amen
Character:
Amen is an American television sitcom produced by Carson Productions that ran from September 27, 1986 to May 11, 1991 on NBC. Set in Sherman Hemsley's real-life hometown of Philadelphia, Amen stars Hemsley as the deacon of a church and was part of a wave of successful sitcoms on NBC in the 1980s which featured entirely or almost-entirely black casts. Others included The Cosby Show, A Different World, and 227....
The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo
Character:
The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo is an American action/adventure situation...
The Big Show
Character: Self
The Big Show is an American comedy-variety-musical television series produced and broadcast by NBC for several months in 1980. The series aimed to revitalize the moribund variety television genre, which had been in a downward spiral since the cancellations of The Ed Sullivan Show and The Carol Burnett Show a few years earlier. The Big Show took its title seriously, using a huge stage set and filling a 90-minute time-slot, with at least one two-hour installment broadcast. Although the first bro...
The Oscars
Character: Self
An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar....
You Take the Kids
Character: Nell Kirkland
You Take the Kids is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from December 1990 to January 1991. The series stars Nell Carter, who also performed the theme song "Nobody's Got It Easy". You Take the Kids, which was perceived as being the black answer to Roseanne due to its portrayal of a working-class African-American family, featured Carter as a crass, no-nonsense mother and wife....
Touched by an Angel
Character: Cynthia Winslow
Monica, an angel, is tasked with bringing guidance and messages from God to various people who are at a crossroads in their lives....
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Character: Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time....
People's Choice Awards
Character: Self - Presenter
An American awards show recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans....
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
Character: Mary (voice)
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child is an American anthology animated television series....
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
Character: Self
The Rosie O'Donnell Show was an American daytime television talk show hosted and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It aired for six seasons from 1996 to 2002. Topics often discussed on the show include Broadway, children, extended families and charitable works, people and organizations. The show was based out of Studio 8G at NBC's Rockefeller Center studios in New York City, NY, USA and was produced and syndicated by KidRo Productions, Telepictures Productions and Warner Bros. Te...
Great Performances
Character: Self
The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries....
Movie Credits
The Crazysitter
Character: The Warden
When a petty criminal escapes from jail, she lays low by posing as a babysitter for two semmingly precious children. But when she decides to sell them for a quick profit, she gets more than she bargained for. A wildy clever family comedy in the tradition of "Home Alone" and "Mrs. Doubtfire"....
Broadway's Lost Treasures II
Character: Performer (segment "Ain't Misbehavin'")
The annual Tony Award broadcast provides the only filmed record of Broadway's best for audiences to experience as if they were front-row-center on opening night. This second compilation of great musical moments from the Tonys features another dazzling array of stars and performances. Hosts Lauren Bacall, Bebe Neuwirth, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Jerry Orbach introduce these one-of-a-kind performances and share their personal Broadway and Tony memories....
Perfect Fit
Character: Mrs. Gordy
An aimless young man turns to murder in order to satisfy the desires of his new girlfriend, a narcissistic blue jean fetishist....
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Character: Mrs. Claus (voice)
In the tiny town of Harmony, the people have been working so hard they've forgotten music even exists! Then, three determined little orphans set out to find a gift they can give the hardworking townsfolk. And with a little night-before-Christmas advice from kindly Mrs. Santa Claus, they give the town the most amazing present anyone could imagine: Christmas caroling!...
Voices That Care
Character: Self - Choir Member
Behind the scenes making of the charity single "Voices That Care"....
Modern Problems
Character: Dorita
Jealous, harried air traffic controller Max Fielder, recently dumped by his girlfriend, comes into contact with nuclear waste and is granted the power of telekinesis, which he uses to not only win her back, but to gain a little revenge....
The Grass Harp
Character: Catherine Creek
Based on the novel by Truman Capote, this often-witty coming-of-age drama looks at a young man growing up with an unusual family in the Deep South in the 1940s. Becoming an orphan in 1935, Collin moves to his dad's cousins Verena and Dolly. Verena is a rich, bossy businesswoman. Dolly, Collin and the maid revolt, moving to a tree house....
Fakin' Da Funk
Character: Claire
Chinese kid Julian, who was adopted by the black family of Joe and Annabelle Lee and Asian exchange student May-Ling, who is housed with a black family, are trying to adapt to their mostly black neighbourhood of South Central....
Swing
Character: Grace
Anthony is caught between dreams of being a musician and pleasing his father and fiance. Encouraged by his great uncle, Anthony finds inspiration from a mysterious older woman in an other worldly night club, who teaches him to find happiness through swing dancing....
Sealed with a Kiss
Character: Mrs. Wheatley
Bennett, who's engaged to his boss's daughter, just lost a major client for his company. When a letter meant for someone else is accidentally mailed to his home, Bennett tries to return it to its author. She turns out to be Robbie, curator of the museum home of the poet Longfellow which is desperate for funding. Bennett is drawn to Robbie and decides to help her save the museum. In the process, he finds himself reevaluating his life....
The Proprietor
Character: Millie Jackson
An expatriated French novelist returns to Paris when she learns that her childhood home is being placed on the auction block....
Hair
Character: Ain't Got No' / 'White Boys
Upon receiving his draft notice and leaving his family ranch in Oklahoma, Claude heads to New York and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to boot camp....
Mother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special
Character: Mary (voice)
Whoopi Goldberg is the voice of Mother Goose in this all-star, all-rhyming tale set in multi-ethnic nursery-rhyme land....
Joan Rivers and Friends Salute Heidi Abromowitz
Character: Nell Carter
Fictional character, Heidi Abromowitz, is the butt of everyone's jokes....
Back Roads
Character: Waitress
A prostitute and a drifter find themselves bound together as they make their way through the rural South, doing what they have to do to survive....
Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story
Character: Lucille Gathers
Chronicling the short but eventful life of Hank Gathers (played by Donny B. Lord as a child and Victor Love as a young adult), this fact-based drama chronicles the hoopster's rise from the inner city of Philadelphia to a starring role on Loyola Marymount's basketball team before a heart condition cut his career short. Nell Carter plays Hank's supportive mom, and George Kennedy portrays a neighborhood priest who inspired the boy....
Night of 100 Stars II
Character: Self
This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities....
The Misery Brothers
Character: Courtroom Singer
Screwball sex comedy focusing on two brothers....
Ain't Misbehavin'
Character: Performer
Ain't Misbehavin' is the televised version of the 1978 Tony Award-winning Broadway sensation celebrating the music, life and times of Thomas "Fats" Waller — featuring 29 songs written or inspired by him. The telecast won Emmy Awards for Nell Carter and André De Shields....
Cindy
Character: Olive
A revisionist twist on Cinderella with an all-black cast and set in Harlem during WWII. Cindy is a country bumpkin who moves from South Carolina to live with her father and his new family. When her stepmother and two stepsisters refuse to take her to the Sugar Hill Ball, her draft-dodging, chauffeur neighbor whips up a little "magic" and at the ball she catches the eye of the richest man in Harlem....
Maid for Each Other
Character: Jasmine Jones
In this hilarious crime caper, a rich woman (Nell Carter) and her maid (Dinah Manoff) happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time -- and now, they're hotfooting it away from vicious mobsters who want to fit them for a couple pairs of cement overshoes. Can they stay free -- and alive -- long enough to gather evidence against the mobsters?...
Baryshnikov on Broadway
Character: Self
Mikhail Baryshnikov and his guests perform numbers from over a dozen renowned Broadway musicals including Oklahoma!, Fiddler on the Roof, Can-Can, The King and I, Cabaret, Where's Charley, Hello Dolly, Ain't Misbehavin', Guys and Dolls, The Boyfriend, Kiss Me Kate and A Chorus Line....
My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies
Character: Self - Performer
On Sept. 28, 1998, some of the greatest divas in musical theater -- including Marin Mazzie, Judy Kuhn and Audra McDonald -- took the stage at New York City's Carnegie Hall to belt out songs that made them famous. Julie Andrews hosted the event. Showstoppers include Liza Minnelli performing "Some People"; Andrea McArdle singing "Look for the Silver Lining" and "Tomorrow"; and Bebe Neuwirth and Karen Ziemba teaming for "Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag." Originally broadcast on PBS's "Great Performances" (s...
The Best of Broadway
Character: Herself
Tom Bosley hosts a tribute to the American musical theater taped before a live audience featuring dozens of stars recreating their original performances. Among the show-stoppers are Chita Rivera's Spanish Rose dance in "Bye, Bye, Bireie," Ray Walston as the Devil in "Damn Yankees," Nell Carter singing the Fats Waller classic "Cash for Trash" from "Ain't Misbehavin," Glynis Johns with "Send in the Clowns" from "A Little Night Music," Barry Bostwick from "Grease," and many more....
The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story
Character:
Documents the race riot of 1921 and the destruction of the African-American community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. With testimony by eyewitnesses and background accounts by historians....
Back By Midnight
Character: Waitress
The warden of a small, rundown, minimum-security prison plots revenge against the the prison's dishonest owner by having four inmates break out and plan a department store robbery to spruce up the prison's faculties....
Bebe's Kids
Character: Vivian (voice)
When Robin meets the lovely Jamika he thinks he's in heaven. But when he meets her friend Bebe's children, whom she is looking after, he knows he's in hell....
Night of 100 Stars
Character: Self
The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The event, for which ticket-buyers paid up to $1,000 a seat (tax-deductible as a contribution to the Actors' Fund) was billed as "The Night of 100 Stars" but, actually, around 230 stars took part. And most of the audience of 5,800 had no idea in advance that they were paying to see a TV taping, complete with long waits for set and cost...