Last Updated:
Camilla Carr, Texas-born actress known for cult films with S.F. Brownrigg and CBS’ Designing Women, died at 83 in El Paso.
Camilla Carr is no more.
Camilla Carr lived a quiet life away from the spotlight in her later years, but her work — unsettling, fearless, and often ahead of its time — left a lasting mark on cult cinema and television. The Texas-born actress, known for her chilling performances in 1970s horror films and a deeply controversial episode of Designing Women, has died at the age of 83.
Carr passed away on Wednesday in El Paso, Texas, due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease and a dislocated hip, her son, writer, poet and painter Caley O’Dwyer, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
She was best known for her collaborations with producer-director S.F. Brownrigg, a filmmaker remembered for creating disturbing atmospheres on limited budgets. Carr appeared in three of his cult exploitation films — Don’t Look in the Basement (1973), Poor White Trash Part II (1974), also known as Scum of the Earth, and Keep My Grave Open (1977). In these films, she portrayed a violent mental patient, a manipulative hillbilly daughter, and a woman suffering from a murderous split personality who believes she is also her brother.
Beyond horror cinema, Carr made a memorable television appearance on CBS’ Designing Women in October 1987. In the episode titled They’re Killing All the Right People, written by series creator Linda Bloodworth Thomason, Carr played a Sugarbaker client whose dialogue sparked outrage and conversation. Her character remarks, “As far as I’m concerned, this disease has one thing going for it: It’s killing all the right people.”
Reflecting on the role years later, her son said, “It was a shitty character, but she did a great job for an important cause.” Bloodworth Thomason later received an Emmy nomination for the episode, which was inspired by her mother’s death after contracting AIDS through a blood transfusion.
Born on September 17, 1942, in Memphis, Texas, Carr attended Kermit High School before studying at the University of North Texas. She met her first husband, actor Hugh Feagin, while performing at Theatre Three in Dallas. The two appeared together in A Bullet for Pretty Boy (1970), a Texas-shot crime film starring Fabian as bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd. Feagin also acted alongside Carr in Don’t Look in the Basement and Poor White Trash Part II.
Carr’s film and television work also included Logan’s Run (1976), three episodes of Falcon Crest in 1988 as housekeeper Nellie Maxwell, appearances on One Day at a Time and Another World, and stage performances at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. One of her notable theatre roles was Maxine in a 1991 production of Tennessee Williams’ The Night of the Iguana.
After stepping away from acting, Carr briefly returned to the screen in 2015 for Don’t Look in the Basement 2, directed by Anthony Brownrigg, the son of S.F. Brownrigg.
In addition to acting, Carr wrote for television films and authored the 1989 comic novel Topsy Turvy Dingo Dog, which followed a B-movie actress returning to her Texas hometown for a high school reunion.
Carr was also married to Oscar-winning screenwriter Edward Anhalt, known for Panic in the Streets and Becket. Their marriage lasted from 1968 until 1976, and she was one of his five wives.
May her soul rest in peace!
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google.
February 08, 2026, 08:08 IST
Disclaimer: We do not own any of the content, ideas, images, or text presented here. All rights belong to their respective owners. For more information and to view the original source, please visit the following link: