In the 1980s, Nell Carter was the heart of the NBC sitcom Gimme a Break!, which ran for six seasons. She played Nell Harper, a singer who becomes a housekeeper for a single father who is the town’s chief of police, as he does his best to raise his three daughters.
It was during those first few seasons that Gimme a Break! really flourished and allowed Carter to truly shine as an actress. At that point in her career, little was known by the public about her past or how difficult her journey had been to get where she was.