Dixie Virginia Carter

Dixie Virginia Carter (May 25, 1939 – April 10, 2010) was an American actress, having appeared in films, television and on stage. She was most famous for her long-running role in the sitcom Designing Women (1986 - 1993), and was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for Desperate Housewives in 2007. In 1967, Carter married businessman Arthur Carter (no relation). They had two daughters, Mary Dixie and Ginna (who would later appear in an episode of Designing Women). Following the birth of her daughters, Carter left acting for eight years to focus on raising her children. She divorced Arthur Carter in 1977, and married Broadway and TV actor George Hearn the same year. Two years later, in 1979, she divorced Hearn. She married for the third time on May 27, 1984, to Hal Holbrook (14 years her senior), who is most noted for his appearances as Mark Twain. Carter recently renovated her old family home in McLemoresville. She and Holbrook divided their time between their homes in Beverly Hills and McLemoresville, where Carter`s elderly father, Halbert, resided with her until his death in early 2007. In 1996, Carter published a memoir entitled Trying to Get to Heaven, in which she talked frankly about her life with Hal Holbrook, Designing Women, and her plastic surgery during the show`s run. Dixie Carter died on April 10, 2010.