Dixie Carter; Multifaceted Woman

Dixie Carter, best known to the public at large as an actress who charmed with her wit and femininity, was also a wife and mother, and a woman with varied interests, including the history of her family and that of her husband, Hal Holbrook.

Early Life

Born May 25, 1939 as the middle of three children in McLemoresville, Tennessee. As a young girl, Ms. Carter had dreams of becoming an opera singer, but a tonsillectomy gone awry made reaching those dreams unreal.

Ms. Carter's father owned several small retail shops; as a teen, she sometimes worked in one or another. Friends from high school remember Carter playing the trumpet--in fact, she played the trumpet each morning to begin school. Ms. Carter is fondly remembered for often making it to school just on time to climb the stairs and play her instrument to announce the beginning of the school day.

In addition to her trumpet playing and singing, Carter performed in the senior school play.

Marriages and Children

When Carter married her first husband, Arthur Carter (no blood relation), she left her blooming stage career behind to raise her two daughters, Ginna Carter and Mary Dixie Carter. That marriage ended in 1977, after Ms. Carter had returned to acting. She then met and married George Hearn, an actor on the Broadway stage. Their marriage ended in 1979.

In 1980, Ms. Carter met Hal Holbrook while working on a TV movie together. It wasn't until four years later that the pair married, each being gun-shy of marriage due to earlier relationship failures. Ms. Carter and Holbrook had been married 26 years at the time of her death.

Daughter Ginna and Mary Dixie were also drawn to acting and its related activities, with Ginna becoming an actress and Mary Dixie a screenwriter.

Family History

Ms. Carter had a close relationship with her father who died at the age of 96, just three years before Ms. Carter's own passing. She credited her father with her own beliefs in the honesty and goodness of most people.

Ms. Carter had restored her family homestead in Tennessee and was interested in Holbrook's family history as well, having jointly visited the Jason Holbrook Homestead in 2006. {Hal Holbrook and Jason Holbrook were cousins.)

Out of respect for both Ms. Carter and Holbrook, the Jason Holbrook Homestead flew the homestead's flag at half-mast.

Sources: Patriotledger.com
Tennesean.com