Veteran Entertainment Reporter Jimmy Carter Passes

/by

Jimmy Carter

Beloved veteran Nashville-based entertainment reporter Jimmy Carter passed away on Oct. 13. He was 73.

Carter worked in journalism and broadcasting for over 50 years, providing an inside look and red carpet coverage and interviews at awards shows, film premieres and other Music Row events. Over 20 of those years were spent working as WSMV-TV Channel 4’s entertainment reporter, as well as in Nashville radio for decades, often as a frequent reporter on WSM’s Coffee, Country & Cody. He also served as a correspondent for years for the nationally syndicated country radio and TV shows Crook & Chase, and interviewed an array of artists and celebrities throughout his career including Dolly Parton, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks and countless more.

The Montgomery, Alabama native attended Auburn University, where he helped launch campus station WEGL-FM before working in radio, TV and production roles. His expansive resume included early work as a street reporter covering civil rights, hurricanes and controversial politics in his home state of Alabama; as a UPI award-winning TV news producer at NBC’s Birmingham station; and as producer of The Scene at Six on WSM-TV. As Executive Producer at CBS’s Houston station, his work included coverage of everything from NASA to major airline crashes and Texas politics.

Carter received a regional Emmy for his public service TV work and multiple Emmy nominations for his news, children’s, sports and public affairs specials. He was the recipient of an IRIS award for his special on the Iroquois Steeplechase, and his affiliation with Barbara Mandrell productions as a writer/producer resulted in two of the highest-rated specials in The Nashville Network’s history.

His work covering Hollywood for the Crook and Chase shows took him all over the world, from James Bond premieres in London to the Academy Awards in Hollywood, where he interviewed major film stars of the last 40 years including Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Jack Lemmon, Robert Redford, Kevin Costner and Sylvester Stallone, among others. Carter also shared Nashville news and entertainment stories on his YouTube channel in recent years, which had nearly 22,000 subscribers.

Funeral arrangements for Carter are pending.

Lorie Hollabaugh
Latest posts by Lorie Hollabaugh (see all)