In Memoriam: Dixie Carter Dead at 70

One of my favorites is gone:  Dixie Carter, wife of Hal Holbrook and immortalized in many minds by her role as Julia Sugarbaker in Designing Women, died Saturday morning.  Where and how she died has not been made public, but her husband said in a written statement, "This has been a terrible blow to our family.  We would appreciate everyone understanding that this is a private family tragedy."

How sad.  Joe.My.God. has some Julia clips over on his site if you want to see them.

Update:  Carter died of enodmetrial cancer in Houston, the New York Times reports.

Also, from Box Turtle Bulletin, this excerpt of an interview Carter - a Republican - gave to MetroWeekly in 1998:

MW: Let me be more specific. What about the possibility of gay marriage?

Carter:  That’s hard for me, because I’m very old fashioned, very old-timey. So that idea is hard for me. On the other hand, maybe the most loving marriage that I’ve ever seen is a gay marriage. It has not been codified as such by the church, but it is a marriage. And has been for years and years and years. But to answer your question, I have to work through what marriage means — and the first thing in my mind goes to is that marriage is for the procreation of the race. It’s a sacrament to unite people so that they can begin a family and have children. But Hal Holbrook and I got married at an age past when we can expect to have children. So here I am in a very happy marriage that I think is fine. So if I feel that way about my marriage to Hal, why would I have a problem with a gay marriage? Still, it’s hard for me. I’m very traditional.