Carol Sutton (actress)

Carol Joan Sutton (née Dickerson; December 3, 1944 – December 10, 2020) was an American actress of theater, film and television.

She was best known for her appearances in the films Steel Magnolias, Monster's Ball, and Ray.

Carol Dickerson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

She attended the Xavier University Preparatory School and then later enrolled at Xavier University of Louisiana, but dropped out of the latter after marrying Archie Sutton, whom she later divorced.

She worked for Total Community Action and earned certification in early childhood development from Texas Southern University in Houston.

She was also a parishioner at St Francis De Sales Catholic Church in New Orleans.

Her brother Oris Buckner III was a New Orleans homicide detective who revealed widespread corruption and racism in the New Orleans police department.

She joined the Dashiki Project Theatre in the 1960s.

Her acting debut came in the 1974 television film The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.

Sutton devoted much of her career to the theater and also served as an acting teacher in her hometown.

She recorded a large number of supporting roles in American film and television, participating in productions such as The Pelican Brief, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, American Horror Story: Coven, True Detective, Kidnap, The Last Exorcism, Outer Banks and Killer Joe.

In 2012, Sutton received a New Orleans Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2019, Sutton played Lena Younger in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry.

Sutton died from complications of COVID-19 on December 10, 2020, seven days after her 76th birthday, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in New Orleans.

She is interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The sixth episode of the second season of Outer Banks, titled "My Druthers", is dedicated in her memory.