英语文摘:"Designing Women" star Dixie Carter dies at 70

BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Dixie Carter, the "Designing Women" star who earned millions of fans, died Saturday at the age of 70. Her publicist did not disclose where she died or the cause of death.

"This has been a terrible blow to our family," Carter’s husband Hal Holbrook said in a written statement. "We would appreciate everyone understanding that this is a private family tragedy."

Carter's career spanned multiple decades on television and on the stage. She was most famous for playing wisecracking Southerner Julia Sugarbaker on "Designing Women," a CBS sitcom about the lives of four women at an interior design firm in Atlanta that ran from 1986 to 1993.

The role came just one year following a two-season gig on NBC's 'Diff'rent Strokes,' as aerobics instructor Maggie McKinney.

She was nominated for an Emmy in 2007 for her role of Gloria Hodge, the surly mother-in-law to Marcia Cross's Bree on "Desperate Housewives."

Her additional television roles included 'On Our Own,' 'Filthy Rich,' 'Lou Grant,' 'One Life to Live' and 'Out of the Blue.'

In addition to Holbrook, Carter is survived by daughters Mary Dixie and Ginna.