Nell Carter born Nell Ruth Hardy September 13 1948 January 23 2003 was an American singer and actress Carter began her career in 1970 singing in the theater and later crossed over to television She was best known for her role as Nell Harper on the sitcom Gimme a Break which originally aired from 1981 to 1987 Carter received two Emmy and two Golden Globe award nominations for her work on the series Prior to Gimme a Break Carter won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical in 1978 for her performance in the Broadway musical Aint Misbehavin as well as a Primetime Emmy Award for her reprisal of the role on television in 1982