{"id":400086,"date":"2026-01-11T00:01:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T00:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/400086\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T00:01:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T00:01:07","slug":"the-thing-actor-was-69","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/400086\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Thing’ Actor Was 69"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tT.K. Carter, the actor known for the horror classic \u201cThe Thing<\/a>\u201d and the television series \u201cPunky Brewster<\/a>,\u201d has died. He was 69. <\/p>\n

\n\tCarter died Friday at his home in Duarte, Calif., the actor\u2019s publicist Tony Freeman shared with Variety in a statement. A cause of death was not disclosed, but no foul play is suspected.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cT.K. Carter was a consummate professional and a genuine soul whose talent transcended genres,\u201d said Freeman. \u201cHe brought laughter, truth, and humanity to every role he touched. His legacy will continue to inspire generations of artists and fans alike.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tCarter made his professional acting debut in 1976 on NBC\u2019s \u201cPolice Woman\u201d and went on to make guest appearances on series such as \u201cQuincy, M.E.\u201d and \u201cGood Times.\u201d He appeared in multiple films before his breakthrough role as Naul, the roller-skating chef, in John Carpenter\u2019s 1982 horror film \u201cThe Thing.\u201d He later landed a recurring role as Mike Fulton on the sitcom \u201cPunky Brewster,\u201d appearing from 1985 to 1986.<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom 1993 to 1994, Carter played Clarence Hull on \u201cThe Sinbad Show\u201d for 24 episodes. In the 1996 original \u201cSpace Jam,\u201d he voiced the character Monstar Nawt. <\/p>\n

\n\tBorn Thomas Kent Carter on Dec. 18, 1956, in New York City, he was raised in Southern California\u2019s San Gabriel Valley. He began performing stand-up comedy at an early age. <\/p>\n

\n\tHis additional film and television credits include \u201cJust Our Luck,\u201d \u201cTurbo Teen,\u201d \u201cRunaway Train,\u201d \u201cThe Steve Harvey Show,\u201d \u201cJem,\u201d \u201cHe\u2019s My Girl,\u201d \u201cGood Morning, Miss Bliss,\u201d \u201cSki Patrol,\u201d \u201cA Rage in Harlem,\u201d \u201cFamily Matters,\u201d \u201cA Different World,\u201d \u201cWhat a Cartoon!,\u201d \u201cRush Hour,\u201d \u201cThe Corner,\u201d \u201cDomino,\u201d \u201cEverybody Hates Chris,\u201d \u201cHow to Get Away With Murder,\u201d \u201cThe L.A. Riot Spectacular,\u201d \u201cSaints & Sinners\u201d and more. <\/p>\n

\n\tCarter\u2019s more recent roles included Russ in the 2020 film \u201cThe Way Back,\u201d starring Ben Affleck; Uncle Jimmy in 2022\u2019s \u201cFake Friends\u201d; Cliff in the comedy series \u201cDave\u201d; and Pike in the crime show \u201cThe Company You Keep,\u201d starring Milo Ventimiglia and Catherine Haena Kim. <\/p>\n

\n\tCarter is survived by his mother and children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"T.K. Carter, the actor known for the horror classic \u201cThe Thing\u201d and the television series \u201cPunky Brewster,\u201d has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,206,193167,193047],"class_list":{"0":"post-400086","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-punky-brewster","11":"tag-the-thing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}