HOLLYWOOD LOST one of its “Designing Women” last week with the passing of Dixie Carter at age 70. Her former “Designing” co-star and friend Annie Potts said Carter was “the kind of wife and mother that every mother hopes their daughter will become, and the kind of friend that is absolutely irreplaceable. She loved fiercely and was adored in return. To have known her a little was a delight to all. To have known her well, a treasure beyond reckoning. And now, a loss beyond measure.”

As a young child, Dixie quickly found her love of performing singing at Sunday school. A botched tonsillectomy derailed her dreams as an opera singer. She made her professional debut in a stage performance of “Carousel” in Memphis, near her hometown of McLemoresville, Tennessee. With sights on New York, she was cast in New York Shakespeare Festival’s “A Winter’s Tale.” Soon after, she took a hiatus to marry (the first of three) and had two daughters. She returned to acting in the ABC soap operas, “One Life to Live” and “The Edge of Night.” Theatre work followed and she won a Theatre World Award in 1976 for “Jesse and the Bandit Queen”and received a Drama Desk nomination for her performance in Off-Broadway’s “Fathers and Sons” in 1979. She also appeared in Broadway musicals, 1974's “Sextet” and a 1976 revival of “Pal Joey.” She married her second husband, stage actor George Hearn in 1977; the marriage ended after two years.

In the early 1980s, Carter co-starred in a TV movie with actor Hal Holbrook. The co-stars married and went on to work together often in their careers. In 1985, she landed her star-making role in “Designing Women” as the sultry and sassy Julia Sugarbaker who delivered some of TV’s funniest tirades with a southern accent leaving everyone in her path stunned and, in her mind, enlightened. For seven seasons, she was the show’s sole authoritative force espousing Julia’s liberal-leaning philosophy. Unlike her character, Carter was a conservative and referred to herself as “the only Republican in Hollywood.” It was during her “Designing” years that I had the opportunity to meet Dixie at a party she hosted at the Hancock Park in Los Angeles. Always the southern belle, her home she shared with Holbrook was warm, cozy and full of southern accents and antiques. She was a gracious hostess and seemed to float on air. We chatted in the dining room and somehow talked about her passion for yoga. Carter seemed a little shy – very unJulia – but wowed later her guests with fun and some naughty selec- tions from her enchanting cabaret show she had begun in the 80s’ and continued to perform in NY and LA.

Carter returned to Broadway treating audiences to her tour de force performance as the third and last Maria Callas in “Master Class” and Mrs. Meers in “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” To honor her cultural contributions to her hometown, The Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center (The Dixie) in Huntingdon, Tennessee opened in November of 2005. More TV followed and, in 2006, “Desperate Housewives” creator Marc Cherry (her former “Designing” assistant) cast her in a seven-episode arc as Marcia Cross’ wicked mother in-law which garnered her an Emmy nomination. Last year, she appeared opposite Holbrook in the film “That Evening Sun.”

While family, friends and fans mourn her loss, heaven is now brighter with its newest shining star.