Actress Nell Carter, best known for her role as the matronly housekeeper in the 1980s television sitcom Gimme a Break, died on Thursday of natural causes. Carter, who had diabetes, struggled daily with a weight problem and underwent brain surgery in 1992 to remove an aneurysm. She won a Tony award for Ain't Misbehavin' and garnered an Emmy in 1982 for the TV version. But Carter found her widest audience in her starring role in the six-year-long sitcom Gimme a Break, in which she also sang the title song. The NBC comedy ran from 1981 to 1987, and garnered two more Emmy nominations for Carter.
Passage: Nell Carter, 54
Actress Nell Carter, best known for her role as the matronly housekeeper in the 1980s television sitcom Gimme a Break, died on Thursday of natural causes. Carter, who had diabetes, struggled daily with a weight problem and underwent brain surgery in 1992 to remove an aneurysm. She won a Tony award for Ain't Misbehavin' and garnered an Emmy in 1982 for the TV version. But Carter found her widest audience in her starring role in the six-year-long sitcom Gimme a Break, in which she also sang the title song. The NBC comedy ran from 1981 to 1987, and garnered two more Emmy nominations for Carter.
