Nell Carter Biography

Nell Ruth Hardy, better known as Nell Carter, was an American actress and singer who garnered fame for portraying Nell Harper in the NBC sitcom ‘Gimme a Break!’ Her other important TV roles include Ethel Green in ‘Ryan’s Hope’, Sgt. Hildy Jones in ‘The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo’, and P.J. Moore in ‘Hangin' with Mr. Cooper’. An Alabama native, Hardy was part of her church choir and performed on a gospel radio show as a child. When she was 19 years old, she relocated to New York and performed at various coffee shops before landing her first Broadway role in 1971. In the ensuing seven years, she established herself on stage both as a singer and actor. In 1978, she made her transition to television with the telefilm ‘Cindy’. Carter made her big screen debut in 1979 in the musical comedy ‘Hair’, performing the tracks ‘Ain't Got No’ and ‘White Boys’. Over the course of her three-decade-long career, she had appeared in films like ‘The Proprietor, ‘Perfect Fit’, and ‘Back by Midnight’. The last film was released posthumously, about two years after her death.