Remembering Dixie Carter (May 25, 1939 - April 10, 2010)

Although for many she will forever be immortalized as Julia Sugarbaker from Designing Women, Dixie Carter was an accomplished actress of stage and screen long before the '80s sitcom premiered. As her name would suggest, Dixie Virginia Carter was indeed a southern belle, and she hailed from Tennessee. She got her acting start on the stage in a Tennessee production of Carousel. Eventually, Dixie Carter moved to the Big Apple to do the soap opera circuit-she even scored a fill-in part as Dorian Lord on the ABC television soap opera One Life to Live (You can't picture it can you? Me neither, Dorian Lord is a witch - no disrespect to Robins Strasser).

Dixie Carter appeared in several low profile '80s sitcoms until she struck Hollywood gold with the mega hit TV show Diff rent Strokes. In Diff rent Strokes, Carter played Maggie McKinney, the woman who stole Phillip Drummond's heart and eventually became his wife. Her role on Diff rent Strokes was my first recollection of Dixie Carter- what proper member of Generation X will ever forget the Drummond wedding where all of the previous housekeepers gathered (including Mrs. Garrett) for the event?

Dixie Carter left Diff rent Strokes to have a starring role in a short-lived, but well received 80's TV show called Filthy Rich. Filthy Rich was pivotal to Carter's career for two reasons. The first reason was because it paired her with Delta Burke (Dixie and Delta....of course Filthy Rich was about old southern money), and the pairing highlighted their onscreen chemistry. The second reason was because it paired both actresses with Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, the producer of the show and the future producer of Dixie Carter's best known vehicle, Designing Women.

Designing Women burst onto the screen in 1986, and it soon became one of television's highest rated shows. The '80s TV show surrounded four Atlanta southern belles who made a name for themselves as interior decorators - well, three actual interior decorators as I do not think Suzanne Sugarbaker (Delta Burke) actually did any real work. Dixie Carter was cast as Julia Sugarbaker, the head of the Sugarbaker Design Firm and the sensible, matronly one of the rambunctious bunch of women that included Delta Burke as Suzanne Sugarbaker, Annie Potts as Mary Jo Shively, and Jean Smart as Charlene Frazier - from Poplar Bluff, Missouri (sorry, I had to add that part).

As Julia Sugarbaker, Dixie Carter made a huge impression on me, and many others I am sure, because she was one of the most intelligent TV characters ever created. Julia Sugarbaker was a classy lady with a stunning sense of style, a perfect amount of genuine southern charm, and she was perceptive and enlightened enough to hold her own in any given situation. Julia Sugarbaker was also a brassy, outspoken liberal who could deliver a swift insult with the cutting precision of a surgeon to those who was foolish enough to cross her with racist, homophobic, misogynistic or otherwise discriminatory nonsense. As did Jason Ashley Wright from Tulsa World, I too spent time on YouTube watching clips of Dixie Carter's admirable performance as Julia Sugarbaker; it was like reminiscing about a distant friend.

In real life, Dixie Carter was a staunch republican, but she was only slightly conservative, and she was a modern and progressive woman who believed in changing with the times. Dixie Carter was married to fellow veteran actor Hal Holbrook who had a recurring role on Designing Women as Julia Sugarbaker's boyfriend, Reese Watson. The two had been married since 1984, and the couple - Holbrook with his distinguished looks, and Carter with her delicate beauty and exquisite southern grace-were considered to be the perfect Hollywood couple. Holbrook and Carter often appeared together onscreen, but one notable performance is their last project, the 2009 film That Evening Sun. The film is about an aged man (Holbrook) who puts up a mighty battle for his homestead. In the film, Dixie Carter is Holbrook's deceased, beloved wife and she is shown in flashbacks as he reflects over his life. That Evening Sun tells a powerful story with a rich atmospheric presence, and it is a must-see for any Hall Holbrook/Dixie Carter fan.

In her lifetime, Dixie Carter touched many; she will continue to do so through re-runs of her roles throughout her 50 year career in show business. Dixie Carter died in Houston, Texas at the age of 70 on April 10, 2010 - "and that was the night the lights went out in Georgia." Rest in Peace Dixie, you are forever in our hearts.