Pam Carter, actress
deb...@comcast.net
March 2, 2005
'Brilliant' local actress Pam Carter, 50, dies
BY BETSIE FREEMAN
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
She just won a role in "Three Tall Women" at the Blue Barn Theatre,
another credit in a large body of work on Omaha stages.
Pam Carter
But Pam Carter won't be able to take that part. The 50-year-old Omaha
actress died Monday at the Nebraska Medical Center. A heart aneurysm is
suspected, but there will be an autopsy.
Her death is a huge loss for the local theater community, friends and
colleagues said. Her role in the coming Blue Barn play won't be recast.
"Nobody can replace Pam," said Susan Clement-Toberer, artistic director
of the Blue Barn and a longtime friend.
"She was brilliant, whether she was doing a comedic role or a dramatic
role. You got Pam Carter involved and you hit pay dirt,"
Clement-Toberer said.
Carter won three Fonda-McGuire Awards for outstanding season
achievement at the Omaha Community Playhouse, where she had been acting
since the 1970s. She also won several Theater Arts Guild awards,
including best actress honors. Her final appearance at the playhouse
was in last fall's "Wonder of the World."
She also had small roles in two films, Alexander Payne's "Election" and
"Citizen Ruth."
Through her own production company, Carter cast and directed several
nationally syndicated cartoons, including "Archie's Weird Mysteries"
for Warner Bros. and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" for Nickelodeon.
Her "Liberty Kids" series, broadcast on PBS with Walter Cronkite as
narrator, was nominated for an Emmy Award.
She also worked as a stockbroker, a clothing saleswoman and as
education outreach director for the Nebraska Humane Society, using her
dog, Buddy, as a teaching tool.
But it always came back to acting and producing, Clement-Toberer said.
Survivors include a son, Michael Hartig, a junior at Central High
School; sisters Nancy Andrews of Atlanta and Annie Triba of Omaha; and
brothers David Carter of Omaha and Paul Carter of the Kansas City area.
Visitation begins at 5 p.m. Thursday at Countryside Community Church,
87th and Pacific Streets. A funeral service follows at 7 p.m.