Rosanna Carter

Rosanna Rolle Carter (September 20, 1918 – December 30, 2016) was a Bahamian American actress whose career spanned stage, film, and television. Born in Nassau, Bahamas, to Jonathan and Elizabeth (née Dames) Rolle, she was one of 18 children. Her father relocated to Florida to work for the railway, and the family followed in 1920, settling in Pompano Beach. Carter was the older sister of actress Esther Rolle and the younger sister of actress Estelle Evans.

Carter's stage career took root during the Harlem Renaissance, when she performed at the New Lafayette Theater as one of the Lafayette Players. In the 1970s, she became a member of the Negro Ensemble Company. Her Broadway work extended from 1974 to 1981 and included three productions: My Sister, My Sister (1973), Inacent Black (1980), and The American Clock (1980). In 1977, she received an AUDELCO Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her work in the play Unfinished Women.

On screen, Carter appeared in the 1980 film Night of the Juggler and in John Sayles's 1984 science fiction film The Brother from Another Planet, which its director described as an allegory of immigration. Her television work included a 1979 appearance filming episodes of PBS's Getting to Know Me and a 1974 guest role as Cora on her sister Esther Rolle's sitcom Good Times. She guest starred as Mrs. McNeill on Tales from the Darkside in 1985 and appeared as Rosanna in a 1992 episode of The Cosby Show. Her 1993 guest role in I'll Fly Away earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, an award ultimately won by Elaine Stritch for her work on Law & Order. Carter appeared on Law & Order on three separate occasions between 1990 and 1997, with her final appearance coming in the show's eighth-season premiere, in which she played Mrs. Hemmerick.

In 1974, a police car struck Carter's automobile from behind, causing it to collide with a parked bus. Seven years later, a Bronx Supreme Court jury awarded her one million dollars for her injuries, impairment of earning capacity, and lost wages.