Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 4, 1994 TAG: 9406040073
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB THOMAS Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
The Carter saga boasts a string of paradoxes, from singing in the Presbyterian church choir to embracing Judaism, from hitting the heights on Broadway and TV to sliding into booze and drugs.
Coming off six high-rated seasons of "Gimme a Break," Carter opted a year ago to join the cast of a marginal ABC sitcom "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper." Whether it was because of her addition, or a revamped concept, the show's ratings improved. It has been slotted for a third season at 9:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on Friday nights.
"Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" stars Mark Curry as a laid-back high school teacher and former basketball star, and Holly Robinson as his platonic roommate (in the first season, he had two not-so-platonic roommates). Carter joined the cast as P.J. Moore, Curry's principal and nemesis.
Stars are not supposed to audition for roles, especially nonstarring ones. Nell Carter did.
"And I was terrible," she confides with her characteristic laugh. "I was very nervous coming back, period. I think I drove the producers crazy for the first 12 out of 13 (segments). And on the 13th, I had a plane to catch, so I just kept my mouth closed.
"I'm sure I drove them crazy, because I said, `Is this what you want?' `How do you want this?' The character hadn't been defined in the original script. I didn't know where to go with her. I thought it was going one way but, as happened, it went another, so I was totally blind and stupid.
"Then I decided: The directors are making all that money - let 'em direct. The show is making all that money - producers, please produce for me. The writers are making money - please write for me. I'm making my money - let me act, please. As long as you try to get along cohesively, it'll work."
Carter had high praise for Curry ("I think he's funnier on the set than he is on TV") and Robinson ("She's a very underrated actress").
"They never throw tantrums," said Carter. Has she ever done so? "I've heard I've thrown tantrums. Sometimes, it's good to let your temper go."
Many entertainers welcome TV series, so they stay home with their families. Not Carter.
"I like being on the road," she said, having recently returned from a round-the world trip during which she entertained on the QE2 and toured Kenya and South Africa.
"Right now, my boys are 4 years old, so they can go along with me. And when I want to get away on my own, I simply drive them to their godfather's and leave them there," she said.
The unconventional Carter, who has a daughter in her 20s, adopted unrelated baby boys at a time when she was undergoing a divorce from Austrian businessman George Krynicki. Both her personal and professional lives were on the skids. Two years later, she underwent surgery twice in two months to remove aneurysms from her brain.
"That was not an unhappy time in my life," she reflected, explaining that the experience helped her discover who her friends really were.
Many of those she described as "born-again Christians" never called. But Angie Dickinson made repeated visits to the hospital, and Sally Jessy Raphael, Joan Rivers and Carol Burnett called frequently.
"The illness was the best thing that happened to me," Carter insisted. "The best. It brought me down to earth. The people who had been with me before the drugs, during the drugs, after the marriage, who held me, took me to therapy, they are the ones who take care of me now. And I take care of them."
Nell Carter grew up singing in Birmingham, Ala., first in the church choir, then on the gospel circuit. Nightclubs followed, then Broadway, where she won a Tony in 1978 for belting out Fats Waller tunes in "Ain't Misbehavin."'
With her 4-feet-11 solid frame and mighty voice, she appeared in other musicals and on the screen in "Hair" and "Back Roads."
Television provided her biggest audience. Her first series was the Claude Akins cop comedy "Lobo." "Gimme a Break" brought her stardom as Nellie Ruth Harper, housekeeper for three orphaned sisters in a small California town.
Viewing her tumultuous life, Carter comments: "The lowest points in my life were the death of my brother and my father. I did stupid things each time. I'm not even embarrassed by the drugs. I did that. Anyone who wants to put me down because of it, well - I did it, I'm still here. God forgave me. If you can't, get out of the way. I don't care."
by CNB