'Designing Women' Actress Dixie Carter Dies

LOS ANGELES April 10 (Reuters) - Actress Dixie Carter, who
played an outspoken liberal on the sitcom "Designing Women" and
received an Emmy nomination for a guest role on "Desperate
Housewives," has died, according to TV gossip show
"Entertainment Tonight." She was 70.


Media Details about the time, place and cause were not
immediately known. "This has been a terrible blow to our family," actor Hal
Holbrook, Carter's husband since 1984, was quoted as telling
"Entertainment Tonight." "We would appreciate everyone
understanding that this is a private family tragedy." "Designing Women," which ran on CBS for seven seasons from
1986, revolved around the lives of four women and a man at an
interior design firm in Atlanta. Carter's sharp-tongued
character, Julia Sugarbaker, was an advocate of liberal causes
and women's rights. In 2007, Carter received an Emmy nomination for a stint as
the devious mother-in-law of Marcia Cross' character, Bree
Hodge, on "Desperate Housewives." The Tennessee native also appeared in the 1980s sitcom
"Diff'rent Strokes" towards the end of its run, playing the
wife of Conrad Bain's character Philip Drummond. The role was
later assumed by Mary Ann Mobley after it switched networks. In addition to her 85-year-old husband, Carter is survived
by her daughters from her first marriage, Mary Dixie and Ginna,
"Entertainment Tonight" said.(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Sandra Maler)