Terry Carter
Actor & Film Maker
Terry Carter best known for his roles as “Sgt. Joe Broadhurst” on the TV series McCloud and as “Colonel Tigh” on the original Battlestar Galactica died peacefully at home on April 23rd, 2024.
Mr. Carter, an American actor and filmmaker was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 16, 1928 as John Everett DeCoste, the only child of William and Mercedes DeCoste. Carter’s mother was a native of the Dominican Republic and his father was American born, of Argentine and African-American descent.
In 1956, Mr. Carter was one of the first black actors as a regular on a TV sitcom series, portraying “Private Sugarman” on Phil Silvers’ Sgt. Bilko (aka You’ll Never get Rich aka The Phil Silvers Show). In 1965, he went on to become the world’s first black TV anchor newscaster, for WBZ-TV Eyewitness News in Boston. In addition to covering crime stories and news, Mr. Carter became Boston TV’s first opening night drama and movie critic.
His first important role upon arriving in Hollywood in 1968 was as a detective named “Jaffie”, in the made-for-TV movie Company of Killers, in which he worked alongside Van Johnson and Ray Milland. During the 1970’s Carter starred in several Blaxploitation films, including the 1974 film Foxy Brown with Pam Grier. In 1975, Carter founded Meta-4 Productions, Inc., a small Los Angeles production company, through which he produced and directed more than one hundred industrial and educational films and videos for public broadcasting and for virtually every agency of the federal government.
Mr. Carter is most widely known for his prominent TV roles in the early 70’s. From 1970 to 1977 Mr. Carter co-starred as “Sergeant Joe Broadhurst” in the detective series McCloud. And he is best known internationally for his co-starring role as “Colonel Tigh” in the popular science-fiction TV series Battlestar Galactica in 1978 and traveled extensively in later years making appearances at Sci-Fi Conventions around the world, making a cameo appearance in Richard Hatch’s Trailer Battlestar Galactica: Second Coming in 1980.
In 1979 Mr. Carter formed the Council for Positive Images, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing intercultural and interethnic understanding through audiovisual communication. Under the Council’s auspices, he produced and directed many award-winning dramatic and documentary programs for PBS, focusing on cultural and historical topics.
In 1980, Carter was elected to the Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, where he served two terms. In 1983, Carter was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He served on the Documentary Committee and the Foreign Films Committee for the Oscars. That same year, Northeastern University awarded him a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications. In 1985, Carter received a Los Angeles Emmy Award for K*I*D*S, a TV miniseries he created, produced and directed. K*I*D*S was the story of a multi-racial group of teenagers struggling to cope with some of the adult-sized conflicts confronting youth in America at the time. In 1987-88, Carter produced and directed Jazz Masters, a series of video portraits of twelve great jazz artists for TV2 Denmark. In 1988, Carter produced and directed the award-winning, Emmy-nominated TV musical documentary A Duke Named Ellington about the life and work of pianist, composer, bandleader and jazz legend Duke Ellington.
In 1991, Carter was sent to China by the USIA (United States Information Agency), on a cultural lecture tour. He visited then-British Hong Kong, and Beijing, meeting Chinese filmmakers and students, and lecturing on his experience as a filmmaker in the U.S. In 1992, Carter created Katherine Dunham: Dancing with Life a 90-minute documentary for PBS about African-American anthropologist, dancer, and choreographer Katherine Dunham, whose show-stopping performances greatly influenced the evolution of American dance theatre.
Mr. Carter later retired to his home town of New York City where he lived until his passing. He is survived by his wife Selome DeCoste, his 2 children Miguel and Melinda, Selome DeCoste’s daughter, a grand daughter, and many cousins. Twice widowed, he was preceded in death by his late wifes Anna DeCoste (1964–1990) and Beate Glatved DeCoste (1991–2006)
Condolences for the family can be left here on this guest book.
A private family memorial has been planned.
Mr. Carter, an American actor and filmmaker was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 16, 1928 as John Everett DeCoste, the only child of William and Mercedes DeCoste. Carter’s mother was a native of the Dominican Republic and his father was American born, of Argentine and African-American descent.
In 1956, Mr. Carter was one of the first black actors as a regular on a TV sitcom series, portraying “Private Sugarman” on Phil Silvers’ Sgt. Bilko (aka You’ll Never get Rich aka The Phil Silvers Show). In 1965, he went on to become the world’s first black TV anchor newscaster, for WBZ-TV Eyewitness News in Boston. In addition to covering crime stories and news, Mr. Carter became Boston TV’s first opening night drama and movie critic.
His first important role upon arriving in Hollywood in 1968 was as a detective named “Jaffie”, in the made-for-TV movie Company of Killers, in which he worked alongside Van Johnson and Ray Milland. During the 1970’s Carter starred in several Blaxploitation films, including the 1974 film Foxy Brown with Pam Grier. In 1975, Carter founded Meta-4 Productions, Inc., a small Los Angeles production company, through which he produced and directed more than one hundred industrial and educational films and videos for public broadcasting and for virtually every agency of the federal government.
Mr. Carter is most widely known for his prominent TV roles in the early 70’s. From 1970 to 1977 Mr. Carter co-starred as “Sergeant Joe Broadhurst” in the detective series McCloud. And he is best known internationally for his co-starring role as “Colonel Tigh” in the popular science-fiction TV series Battlestar Galactica in 1978 and traveled extensively in later years making appearances at Sci-Fi Conventions around the world, making a cameo appearance in Richard Hatch’s Trailer Battlestar Galactica: Second Coming in 1980.
In 1979 Mr. Carter formed the Council for Positive Images, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing intercultural and interethnic understanding through audiovisual communication. Under the Council’s auspices, he produced and directed many award-winning dramatic and documentary programs for PBS, focusing on cultural and historical topics.
In 1980, Carter was elected to the Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, where he served two terms. In 1983, Carter was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He served on the Documentary Committee and the Foreign Films Committee for the Oscars. That same year, Northeastern University awarded him a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications. In 1985, Carter received a Los Angeles Emmy Award for K*I*D*S, a TV miniseries he created, produced and directed. K*I*D*S was the story of a multi-racial group of teenagers struggling to cope with some of the adult-sized conflicts confronting youth in America at the time. In 1987-88, Carter produced and directed Jazz Masters, a series of video portraits of twelve great jazz artists for TV2 Denmark. In 1988, Carter produced and directed the award-winning, Emmy-nominated TV musical documentary A Duke Named Ellington about the life and work of pianist, composer, bandleader and jazz legend Duke Ellington.
In 1991, Carter was sent to China by the USIA (United States Information Agency), on a cultural lecture tour. He visited then-British Hong Kong, and Beijing, meeting Chinese filmmakers and students, and lecturing on his experience as a filmmaker in the U.S. In 1992, Carter created Katherine Dunham: Dancing with Life a 90-minute documentary for PBS about African-American anthropologist, dancer, and choreographer Katherine Dunham, whose show-stopping performances greatly influenced the evolution of American dance theatre.
Mr. Carter later retired to his home town of New York City where he lived until his passing. He is survived by his wife Selome DeCoste, his 2 children Miguel and Melinda, Selome DeCoste’s daughter, a grand daughter, and many cousins. Twice widowed, he was preceded in death by his late wifes Anna DeCoste (1964–1990) and Beate Glatved DeCoste (1991–2006)
Condolences for the family can be left here on this guest book.
A private family memorial has been planned.
The true measure of life, someone once said, should be its quality, not its longevity. By any gauge, so far, I have had a full and happy life. At this writing, I'm past the halfway mark of my projected stay on this planet. (My goal is 150 years.) As Robert Browning wrote, "a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?"
When I began my acting career, I felt I would be content working on the stage for the rest of my life. I remember saying that if I could earn $100 a week as an actor, I would be fulfilled. Circumstance, happenstance and inflation conspired over the years to pull that dream into an unrecognizable shape. Duke Ellington once described "luck" as being in the right place at the right time with the right stuff for the right people. I couldn't agree more. I have been lucky.
In 1956, strolling on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, I ran into a friend, fellow actor Ned Glass, who was a regular cast member of the hit comedy TV series You'll Never Get Rich (later known as the Sgt. Bilko Show and then The Phil Silvers Show). Ned told me that they were casting for the new season and that I should make sure to call for a casting appointment. I did just that, and landed a role that lasted me three great years.
Walking up Broadway in midtown Manhattan in 1965, I ran into an old acquaintance, producer Chet Collier, who informed me that Westinghouse Broadcasting was looking for someone to become the nation's first Black TV news anchor. That chance encounter landed me a three-year contract in Boston.
In 1970, as I was having lunch one day in the Universal Studios commissary in Studio City, a casting director I knew saw me and said "I didn't know you were in town!" When I explained that I was now living in L.A., he said "Call me!" I did, and the result was an offer to play a principal role in McCloud. My agent had already submitted me for two other series pilots: Douglas Selby, D.A. and San Francisco International, either of which was mine for the asking. But McCloud's star was Dennis Weaver, whose work I had seen and admired in the Bonanza TV series and especially in Orson Welles' now-classic film, Touch Of Evil. I made what turned out to be the right choice. The McCloud series lasted seven wonderful years; those other series projects never got beyond the pilot stage. Being in the right place at the right time, etc. served me rather well...
I firmly believe that, in one way or another, we are all connected. What we do affects people we know, as well as many we don't know, directly or indirectly, in ways we can hardly imagine. John Donne's observation that "no man is an island" resonates strongly with me. I believe we are one, with all the interpersonal responsibility and compassion that such an idea implies.
Some years ago, I attended a conference in Washington, DC. A young Black man came up to me, shook my hand warmly and said "I want to thank you!" I was thoroughly confused since I had never laid eyes on this fellow before. He saw my puzzlement and went on to explain: "I used to watch Battlestar Galactica as a kid and I admired the authority you brought to the role of 'Colonel Tigh'. I wanted to be like you. So I chose my career path, studied hard and became an aeronautical engineer. It never would have happened if it weren't for you!
I have also experienced other kinds of connectedness. The incident in which I broke my ankle while out roller-skating at the beachfront in Venice, California brought two strokes of good luck:
My loss of the role of "Lt. Boomer" in Battlerstar Galactica: When the producers were told my leg was in a plaster cast, the call for my replacement as "Boomer" went out immediately. Among the many young actors who responded was Herb Jefferson, Jr. But Herb was already in a TV show. Herb tells me that the Galactica producers compelled him to resign from his other gig before they would even audition him for the role of "Boomer". He decided to take the plunge, gambling on the chance that he might land the role. And he got it. So, for Herb, that was good luck, stroke one.
To tell the truth, at the age of 50, I didn't feel fully inspired by the demands of the "Boomer" character: jaunty, gung-ho, impetuous. When producers Glen Larson and Leslie Stevens later offered me instead the role of "Col. Tigh", I knew immediately, upon re-reading the script, that that character was where my head and heart were: passionate, dedicated, loyal, and observant of the Big Picture. For me this was good luck, stroke two.
Had I not stepped into that damned hole in the sidewalk when I was out roller-skating with my daughter, we might not be commemorating that TV event of more than a quarter century ago.
... All things, by immortal power,
Near or far,
Hiddenly to each other linkèd are,
That thou canst not stir a flower
Without troubling a star ...
(Excerpt from "The Mistress of Vision", Francis Thompson, 1908)
When the wonderful, resourceful and clever creators of this website asked me to participate in its making, I immediately saw it as something more than a premature epitaph and less than an overdue autobiography. But, just as they say about that tree falling in the forest, if I have lived the life I lived and no one knows about it, have I really lived it?
When I began my acting career, I felt I would be content working on the stage for the rest of my life. I remember saying that if I could earn $100 a week as an actor, I would be fulfilled. Circumstance, happenstance and inflation conspired over the years to pull that dream into an unrecognizable shape. Duke Ellington once described "luck" as being in the right place at the right time with the right stuff for the right people. I couldn't agree more. I have been lucky.
In 1956, strolling on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, I ran into a friend, fellow actor Ned Glass, who was a regular cast member of the hit comedy TV series You'll Never Get Rich (later known as the Sgt. Bilko Show and then The Phil Silvers Show). Ned told me that they were casting for the new season and that I should make sure to call for a casting appointment. I did just that, and landed a role that lasted me three great years.
Walking up Broadway in midtown Manhattan in 1965, I ran into an old acquaintance, producer Chet Collier, who informed me that Westinghouse Broadcasting was looking for someone to become the nation's first Black TV news anchor. That chance encounter landed me a three-year contract in Boston.
In 1970, as I was having lunch one day in the Universal Studios commissary in Studio City, a casting director I knew saw me and said "I didn't know you were in town!" When I explained that I was now living in L.A., he said "Call me!" I did, and the result was an offer to play a principal role in McCloud. My agent had already submitted me for two other series pilots: Douglas Selby, D.A. and San Francisco International, either of which was mine for the asking. But McCloud's star was Dennis Weaver, whose work I had seen and admired in the Bonanza TV series and especially in Orson Welles' now-classic film, Touch Of Evil. I made what turned out to be the right choice. The McCloud series lasted seven wonderful years; those other series projects never got beyond the pilot stage. Being in the right place at the right time, etc. served me rather well...
I firmly believe that, in one way or another, we are all connected. What we do affects people we know, as well as many we don't know, directly or indirectly, in ways we can hardly imagine. John Donne's observation that "no man is an island" resonates strongly with me. I believe we are one, with all the interpersonal responsibility and compassion that such an idea implies.
Some years ago, I attended a conference in Washington, DC. A young Black man came up to me, shook my hand warmly and said "I want to thank you!" I was thoroughly confused since I had never laid eyes on this fellow before. He saw my puzzlement and went on to explain: "I used to watch Battlestar Galactica as a kid and I admired the authority you brought to the role of 'Colonel Tigh'. I wanted to be like you. So I chose my career path, studied hard and became an aeronautical engineer. It never would have happened if it weren't for you!
I have also experienced other kinds of connectedness. The incident in which I broke my ankle while out roller-skating at the beachfront in Venice, California brought two strokes of good luck:
My loss of the role of "Lt. Boomer" in Battlerstar Galactica: When the producers were told my leg was in a plaster cast, the call for my replacement as "Boomer" went out immediately. Among the many young actors who responded was Herb Jefferson, Jr. But Herb was already in a TV show. Herb tells me that the Galactica producers compelled him to resign from his other gig before they would even audition him for the role of "Boomer". He decided to take the plunge, gambling on the chance that he might land the role. And he got it. So, for Herb, that was good luck, stroke one.
To tell the truth, at the age of 50, I didn't feel fully inspired by the demands of the "Boomer" character: jaunty, gung-ho, impetuous. When producers Glen Larson and Leslie Stevens later offered me instead the role of "Col. Tigh", I knew immediately, upon re-reading the script, that that character was where my head and heart were: passionate, dedicated, loyal, and observant of the Big Picture. For me this was good luck, stroke two.
Had I not stepped into that damned hole in the sidewalk when I was out roller-skating with my daughter, we might not be commemorating that TV event of more than a quarter century ago.
... All things, by immortal power,
Near or far,
Hiddenly to each other linkèd are,
That thou canst not stir a flower
Without troubling a star ...
(Excerpt from "The Mistress of Vision", Francis Thompson, 1908)
When the wonderful, resourceful and clever creators of this website asked me to participate in its making, I immediately saw it as something more than a premature epitaph and less than an overdue autobiography. But, just as they say about that tree falling in the forest, if I have lived the life I lived and no one knows about it, have I really lived it?