Terry Carter, who portrayed Pvt. Sugie Sugarman on The Phil Silvers Show, the sidekick of Dennis Weaverâs character on McCloud and Colonel Tigh on the original version of Battlestar Galactica, has died. He was 95. Carter died Tuesday at his home in Manhattan, his son, Miguel Carter DeCoste confirmed. Carter appeared three times on Broadway early in his career and produced and directed a documentary on jazz legend Duke Ellington for PBSâ American Masters series in 1988. As Col. Tigh on one of my favourite tv shows of all time, he was the no-nonsense, loyal to a fault deputy to the show’s patriarch Commander Adama (the late Lorne Greene).
The Brooklyn native, born John Everett DeCoste, appeared on all four seasons (1955-59) of CBSâ The Phil Silvers Show (also known as Sgt. Bilko) as Pvt. Sugarman, the only Black regular on the comedy. He then played Sgt. Joe Broadhurst alongside Weaverâs Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud on NBCâs McCloud from 1970-77 and Tigh in the 1978 Battlestar Galactica movie and 1978-79 ABC series. From 1965-68, he served as the first Black news anchor on a New England TV station, WBZ-TV in Boston. Carter formed his own production company in 1975 and made documentaries, including one on dancer-choreographer Katherine Dunham that premiered in 2013.
His acting rĂ©sumĂ© included the films Parrish (1961), starring Claudette Colbert and Karl Malden; Benji (1974), written and directed by Joe Camp; and Foxy Brown (1974), starring Pam Grier. He also had TV gigs on Naked City, The Defenders, Combat!, That Girl, Brackenâs World, Mannix, Julia, The Jeffersons, Falcon Crest, The Fall Guy, Mr. Belvedere and 227. Survivors include his third wife, Selome; his children, Miguel and Melinda; and his stepdaughter, Hiwot.