what in the sam blue hoot hollerin shitfire hell ever happend to..

Discussions about comedians and comedy in general go here.

Moderators: bingolong, Jennifer, tamra

Forum rules
Spam is not allowed. All spammers will be blocked and reported to appropriate agencies.
Post Reply
Murphdogg
Foot Kisser
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Sep 18, 2004 12:30 pm
Contact:

what in the sam blue hoot hollerin shitfire hell ever happend to..

Post by Murphdogg »

Nel Carter from the show Gimme a Break?
Shane God Damned Murphy

shanescomedy.com
Murphdogg
Foot Kisser
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Sep 18, 2004 12:30 pm
Contact:

Re: what in the sam blue hoot hollerin shitfire hell ever happend to..

Post by Murphdogg »

Murphdogg,
okay I feel like a real shitass now I just googled her and found out she's dead. here is what I read about her career

She appeared alongside Bette Davis in the 1974 stage musical Miss Moffat, based on Davis' earlier film The Corn is Green. The show closed before making it to Broadway.

She broke into stardom in the musical Ain't Misbehavin, for which she won a Tony Award in 1978. She also won an Emmy for the same role in a televised performance in 1982. Additional Broadway credits included Dude and Annie.

In 1979 she had a part in the Miloš Forman-directed musical film adaptation of Hair. Her vocal talents are showcased throughout the motion picture soundtrack. One of the more memorable moments in the film involves her rendition of the song "White Boys" where she can be seen dancing playfully as she performs the song.

In 1978, Carter was cast as Effie White in the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, but departed the production during development to take a television role on the ABC-TV soap opera, Ryan's Hope in New York. When Dreamgirls premiered in late 1981, Jennifer Holliday had taken over the lead. Carter also took a role on television's The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, before landing a steady role as housekeeper Nell Harper on the sitcom Gimme a Break!, for which she earned Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations. The popular show lasted from 1981 to 1987.

After the show began, Carter's life took a turbulent turn. She married mathematician and lumber executive George Krynicki, and converted from Presbyterian to Judaism in 1982. She attempted suicide in the early 1980s, and entered a drug detoxification facility around 1985. Her brother Bernard died of AIDS in 1989.

Carter had three children, a daughter Tracey and two sons Daniel and Joshua. She adopted both her sons as newborns over a four month period. She attempted to adopt twice more but both adoptions fell through. In one case she brought home a child, Mary, but the birth parents demanded money before they would sign the adoption papers. In her final attempt, she allowed a young pregnant woman to move into her house with the plan to adopt the child but the mother decided to parent her child.

During this period Carter appeared in low-budget films, TV specials, and on game shows such as Match Game and To Tell the Truth. However, she also co-starred in Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, a sitcom that ran for several years as part of ABC's successful TGIF programming block.

In 1992, she had surgery to remove aneurysms. She had divorced Krynicki and married Roger Larocque that same year. In 1993 she divorced Larocque. She declared bankruptcy in 1995 (and again in 2002). She also endured three miscarriages.

Appearing emotional and tearful on an episode of the Sally Jessy Raphael Show, Carter explained how she went to a Liza Minnelli concert during a very turbulent time of her life. Carter told Raphael how Minnelli, seeing Carter in an agonized state, ran offstage to tell her sister, Lorna Luft, to go out and take Carter backstage so that she could get some help. Minnelli and Luft helped get Carter into rehab for her cocaine problems which she conquered.

In the mid-90's, Carter appeared on Broadway in a revival of Annie as Miss Hannigan. She was very upset when commercials promoting the show used a different actress, Marcia Lewis, who is white, as Miss Hannigan. The producers claimed that the commercials, which were made during an earlier production, were too costly to reshoot. Carter felt that racism played a part in the decision. "Maybe they don't want audiences to know Nell Carter is black," she told the New York Post. However, the ads did mention that Carter was in the show. "It hurts a lot," Carter told the Post. "I've asked them nicely to stop it — it's insulting to me as a black woman." Carter was later replaced by Sally Struthers.

She also appeared as a panelist on Match Game.
Shane God Damned Murphy

shanescomedy.com
KMommy
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 7:51 pm
Contact:

Re: what in the sam blue hoot hollerin shitfire hell ever happend to..

Post by KMommy »

Murphdogg,

I was watching one of those True Hollywood Stories(I think that was the name of it) on Nel. One of the things she said was that her character on Gimme A Break was never a housekeeper/maid. She thought it was odd how people just assumed that but it was explained in the first episode. Nel was the best friend of the mother of the children on the show. The mother past away and she had ask Nel's character to help raise her children. I was also surprised to learn that when she died there was a women listed as her spouse. Nel was a lesbian. I guess it was a big secret because I don't ever recall there being any reports about that at the time.
_______________________________________
All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small...
Post Reply