Dixie Carter

Dixie Carter portrayed main antagonist Gloria Hodge in Season 3 of Desperate Housewives.

Biography
Dixie is the middle of three children. Her father owned several small retail stores. Early on, she dreamed of being an opera singer, but a botched tonsillectomy at age 7 spoiled any chances for that dream. Still, she sang regularly and studied classical music. She can play the piano, trumpet, and the harmonica. She graduated from Memphis State with an English degree. In 1960, she made her professional debut in a local production of "Carousel". Three year's later, she moved to New York and landed a role in Joseph Papp's production of Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale". When she married businessman, Arthur Carter, she left the stage for eight years to raise two daughters, Ginna Carter - now an actress and Mary Dixie Carter, a screenwriter. At age 35, she returned to acting, but found that no agent wanted to give her a chance. When offered a role in "On Our Own" in L.A., she immediately uprooted her family to move there. A second marriage to Broadway actor, George Hearn, quickly ended.

Carter died on April 10, 2010, in Houston, Texas.

Career

 * The Doctors
 * Out of the Blue
 * Filthy Rich
 * Diff'rent Strokes
 * Designing Women
 * Fired Up
 * Ladies Man
 * Family Law
 * Hope & Faith
 * Desperate Housewives
 * The Evening Sun