Dixie Carter Dies at 70

At the age of 70, actress Dixie Carter, best known for her portrayal of Southern interior designer Julia Sugarbaker on the sitcom Designing Women, died Saturday morning. She held the role from 1986 to 1993 after beginning her acting career on stage in the 1960 production of Carousel. She has also appeared in soap operas and, in 2007, received an Emmy nomination for guest-starring on Desperate Housewives as Gloria, the deranged mother of Kyle MacLachlan’s character, Orson Hodge. “This has been a terrible blow to our family,” said Carter’s husband, actor Hal Holbrook. “We would appreciate everyone understanding this is a private family tragedy.”