Ralph Carter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ralph Carter
Ralph Carter in scene with Esther Rolle on "Good Times", 1976
Born	May 30, 1961 (1961-05-30) (age 47) New York, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, Singer
Religious beliefs	Christianity

Ralph Carter (born May 30, 1961 in New York, New York) is an American actor.

Carter is best known for his work as a child and teenager, both in the Broadway musical Raisin (based on the Lorraine Hansberry drama A Raisin in the Sun) and as the character Michael Evans, the youngest member of the Evans family, on the 1970s sitcom Good Times. For his work in Raisin, Carter was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Musical). He has the distinction of having appeared in two Galt MacDermot flop musicals in the same season, Dude, for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Performer, and Via Galactica. In 1975, Carter recorded a disco album called "When You're Young and In Love." The title song, along with another called "Extra, Extra" were hits at disco clubs and charted highly. Carter also sang the title song of his album in one of the episodes of Good Times.

On June 28, 2006, Carter appeared at the BET Awards in a mini-Good Times reunion, joining former cast members Jimmie Walker (J.J.), Bern Nadette Stanis (Thelma) and Janet Jackson (Penny) in playing their respective roles. The reunion included neither John Amos (James) — although Amos has remained friendly with the cast, appearing in other Good Times reunion events — nor Ja'net Du Bois (Willona Woods). Cast member Esther Rolle (Florida) had died in 1998. The entire surviving original cast (excluding Janet Jackson and Ben Powers) appeared together at the 2006 TV Land Awards on March 19, 2006, in Santa Monica, California.