Photo of Dixie Carter Dixie Carter

Best known for her role as the classy and outspoken Julia Sugarbaker on the sitcom "Designing Women," Dixie Carter carved out a prolific career on the stage and screen, along with a successful side gig as a cabaret performer. Born May 25, 1939, in McLemoresville, Tenn., Carter graduated from the University of Memphis and in 1963 moved to the Big Apple.

After a promising start onstage, Carter took an eight-year hiatus to raise two daughters and returned to acting at age 35, when she began working in television, appearing on such shows as "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Filthy Rich." It was on the latter that she worked with the team that would create her hit series "Designing Women," which ran from 1986 to 1993.

Carter's later TV credits include "Family Law" and an Emmy-nominated guest turn on "Desperate Housewives." She was wed to actor Hal Holbrook from 1984 until her death on April 10, 2010.

Dixie Carter in Designing Women

Designing Women

1986 TV-PG

This Southern-fried, ladies-first sitcom was a lasting hit after its 1986 debut, fueled by the catty wit of Dixie Carter and Delta Burke as the Sugarbaker sisters, and Annie Potts and Jean Smart as their staff at the Sugarbaker interior design firm. Despite the crackling sarcasm, the women also loyally support one another as they struggle through the classic challenges of life, from family to romance to breast augmentation and bankruptcy.

  • Dixie Carter in That Evening Sun That Evening Sun
  • Dixie Carter in Going Berserk Going Berserk
  • Dixie Carter in Diff'rent Strokes Diff'rent Strokes
  • Dixie Carter in My Neighbors the Yamadas My Neighbors the Yamadas
  • Dixie Carter in Comfort and Joy Comfort and Joy
  • Dixie Carter in Dazzle Dazzle
  • Dixie Carter in The Big Day The Big Day