Terry Carter

Carter was born and raised in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, and lived beside a synagogue in a mostly Italian neighborhood. Raised in a bilingual home, his mother, Mercedes, was a native of the Dominican Republic, His parents raised him to engage on social issues. With his father, he first walked a picket line at age 8. Following his initial Northeastern stint, Carter also completed two years of coursework at St. John's University's School of Law (which either waived the requirement of a Bachelor's degree for Carter or had not yet implemented that prerequisite for admission prior to the widespread implementation of the graduate-level Juris Doctor in lieu of the nominally undergraduate Bachelor of Laws) before leaving to become an actor. Along the way, he worked nights as a jazz pianist. ==Stage and screen career==

1950s-1960s acting While studying at St. John's law school, Carter accidentally encountered actors Howard Da Silva and Morris Carnovsky, who convinced Carter that he had the makings of an actor. After his second year of law school, Carter dropped out of school to pursue acting full time. where he became an anchor-reporter. He was their first black TV news anchor, and the first in New England. Some sources said he was the world's first black TV newsman. During his three-year stint, he also served as the station's first opening-night movie and theater critic. His departure left Boston without any black TV news reporters. 1970s-1980s acting Returning to acting in 1970, Carter primarily portrayed clean-cut, no-nonsense, authority figures. In his longest-running role, starting in 1970, Carter starred in the TV detective series McCloud as NYPD Sergeant Joe Broadhurst, partner of the title character played by Dennis Weaver. Carter's role lasted for seven years. In 1970, he starred with Van Johnson and Ray Milland in the TV movie Company of Killers. In 1973, he played the lead role in the early Blaxploitation film Brother on the Run. In a seminal hit of the genre, Foxy Brown (played by Pam Grier), he played her boyfriend. By contrast, in the 1974 children's film Benji, he played the part of Police Officer Tuttle. The same year he starred in the blaxploitation horror film Abby along with William Marshall and Carol Speed. Carter is best known internationally for his late-1970s co-starring role as Colonel Tigh in the science-fiction TV series Battlestar Galactica. He was originally cast as Lieutenant Boomer, but was cut following a roller skating accident that fractured his ankle. After replacing Carter with Herb Jefferson, Jr., producer Glen A. Larson instead offered Terry Carter the role of Colonel Tigh, second in command of the ragtag fleet of starships, giving the series the distinction for the time of having more than one regular African-American character in the principal cast. 1990s and later acting He played the role of CIA chief "Texas Slim" in Hamilton, a multinational action-adventure Swedish film (1999). More recently, Carter had a recurring role in Hotel Caesar, Norway's most popular soap opera, as Solomon Tefari, an Ethiopian businessman and father of one of the main characters. ==Production career==

In 1975, Carter started a small Los Angeles corporation, Meta/4 Productions, Inc. Carter was president of Council for Positive Images, Inc., a non-profit organization he formed in 1979, dedicated to enhancing intercultural and interethnic understanding through audiovisual communication and within media. Under the council's auspices, Carter produced and directed award-winning dramatic and documentary programs for presentation on PBS and distribution worldwide. In the 1980s, Carter created, directed and produced the TV miniseries K*I*D*S, about a diverse group of teens, struggling with the intense conflicts facing American youth of the era. In 1985, the series was awarded a Los Angeles Emmy Carter's 1988 PBS documentary for the American Masters series -- A Duke Named Ellington, about the life of jazz legend Duke Ellington -- was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Informational Special. ==Industry leadership and final career==

Carter was a Governor on the board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (who award The Emmys), serving two terms. In 1983, he was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, serving on the foreign films committee and the documentary committee for the Academy Awards ("The Oscars"). In the early 1990s, the United States Information Agency sent him on a goodwill tour of China to liaise with China's students and filmmakers. He spent the last years of his career working in Scandinavia. In 2013, he retired to New York City. ==Death==

Carter died in New York City on April 23, 2024, at the age of 95. Mr. Carter retired to his home town of New York City where he lived until his death. He is survived by his wife Selome DeCoste, his two children Miguel and Melinda, Selome DeCoste’s daughter, a grand daughter, and many cousins. Twice widowed, he was preceded in death by his late wives Anna DeCoste (1964–1990) and Beate Glatved DeCoste (1991–2006) ==Selected projects==

• Katherine Dunham Technique – Library of Congress • : A 2-½ hour presentation of the dance technique of anthropologist-choreographer Katherine Dunham. Funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, this video documentary is designed to serve as a study guide for dance teachers, scholars and dancers, as part of the Katherine Dunham Legacy Project of the Library of Congress. In 2012, Terry Carter released The Katherine Dunham Technique as a DVD. • A Duke Named Ellington - WNET-TV (PBS), American Masters Series (1988) • : This Emmy-nominated two-hour musical documentary features Ellington, reminiscing and performing, as soloist and with his orchestra. A Duke Named Ellington offers a retrospective of Ellington's half-century career, focusing primarily on his music and method, his artistic accomplishments and his role in the development of modern music. A Duke Named Ellington had its world premiere on the PBS American Masters series, to critical acclaim. A Duke Named Ellington was selected as the official US entry in international television festivals in countries such as the People's Republic of China, France, Spain, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Poland, and Bulgaria. A Duke Named Ellington has been telecast in most countries of Europe, as well as in Japan, Australia, and South Africa. The program has been awarded the CINE Golden Eagle and the Golden Antenna. A Duke Named Ellington was nominated for an Emmy Award as "Outstanding Informational Special". In 2007, Carter released A Duke Named Ellington, the documentary he produced for PBS American Masters in 1988, as a DVD. • Once Upon A Vision - KET-TV (PBS) (1991) • : This one-hour television documentary reveals the history of Berea, Kentucky, a unique 19th Century inter-racial colony founded in the midst of the slave-holding South. Before the Civil War, a group of abolitionists and former slaves began building a community based on unconditional racial and gender equality and participatory democracy. For more than half a century, withstanding persecution from slavers, pro-slavery politicians, and the Ku Klux Klan, these poor white and black settlers lived, and died for, their vision of multi-racial democracy. This program has become part of the secondary-school American History curriculum in Kentucky. Hosted and narrated by historian and author Alex Haley. • JazzMasters - TV2/Denmark (1988) • : This series of 13 television portraits features musical artists in the world of jazz. An international co-production, JazzMasters was the first program series ever commissioned by TV2/Denmark. The JazzMasters series has been telecast in Scandinavia, France, Poland, Bulgaria and Japan. The series features programs about Chet Baker, Kenny Drew, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Bobby Hutcherson, Carmen McRae, Palle Mikkelborg, James Moody, Clark Terry, Randy Weston, Niels Henning Ørsted-Pedersen, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. • K*I*D*S - KCET-TV (PBS), US Department of Education (1984) • : This dramatic television miniseries was designed for public broadcasting to promote interracial and interethnic understanding among adolescents. K*I*D*S is the story of a multi-racial group of teenagers struggling to cope with some of the adult-sized conflicts confronting youth in America today. Endorsed by the National Education Association, K*I*D*S, accompanied by a teachers' guide, was also distributed on videocassette to secondary schools throughout the nation. K*I*D*S received an Emmy award in Los Angeles as "Best Series for Children and Youth". ==Awards==

• Emmy Award, Los Angeles, Best Series for Children and Youth, 1985, for K*I*D*S • Golden Antenna, 1989, for A Duke Named Ellington • Award for Excellence, L. A. Film Review Board, 1977, for Child Abuse & Neglect Series ==References==