Terry Carter, 'Battlestar Galactica' and 'McCloud' Star, Has Died
The Emmy-nominated producer became one of the first Black actors as a regular on a TV sitcom series and was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1983.
Terry Carter, the actor best known for portraying Colonel Tigh on the original Battlestar Galactica, has died. Carter passed away "peacefully" at his home in New York Tuesday morning, according to a statement shared on the actor's official website. He was 95. Although a cause of death was not disclosed, Carter's manager Ken Leicht told Entertainment Weekly that the actor "had been ill for some time."
Born John Everett DeCoste in Brooklyn, New York on December 16, 1928 to parents of Dominican, Argentine and African American descent, Carter graduated from Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan in 1946 and went on to attended Northeastern University and study law at St. John's University. After meeting well-known theatre actors Howard Da Silva and Morris Carnovsky, Carter changed course and began to pursue acting as a career, studying acting with Da Silva, according to his biography. He took on the stage name Terry after the hero of the popular newspaper cartoon Terry & the Pirates by Milton Caniff, later dropping DeCoste for Carter after growing tired of people asking him about his "foreign-sounding last name."
Carter went on to launch his acting career in 1952 when he landed a leading role in Edward Chodorov's Decision at the Greenwich Mews Theatre in Greenwich Village. He landed his first Broadway role in 1954 in the play Mrs. Patterson. He went on to make his Hollywood debut and become one of the first Black actors as a regular on a TV sitcom series in 1956 when he portrayed Private Sugarmanon Phil Silvers' Sgt. Bilko (also known as The Phil Silvers Show). He appeared in over 90 episodes before the show ended in 1959. Six years later, in 1965, he became the world's first Black TV anchor newscaster, for WBZ-TV Eyewitness News in Boston.
Throughout his decades-long career, Carter added numerous acting credits to his name, though he is most remembered for his starring role on the original Battlestar Galactica. The actor starred as Colonel Tigh on the sci-fi series, which ran for a single season from 1978 to 1979. He is also well-known for his role as Sergeant Joe Broadhurst opposite Dennis Weaver in the 1970 crime drama series McCloud, which earned six Emmy nominations during its 1970 to 1977 run.
His other credits include the 1970's TV movie Company of Killers and the 1974 film Foxy Brown, as well as appearances on classic shows like That Girl, Julia, The Jeffersons, Falcon Crest, Mr. Belvedere, and 227. He also produced and directed the 1988 Emmy-nominated TV musical documentary A Duke Named Ellington and earned a Los Angeles Emmy for K*I*D*S, a miniseries he created, directed, and produced.
Outside of acting and directing, Carter the non-profit organization he Council for Positive Images, Inc. in 1979 and served two terms on the board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 1983, he was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is survived by his wife, Etaferhu Zenebe-DeCoste, two children, Miguel and Melinda, and a granddaughter.
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