Carter grew up in a small Texas town with no apparent hints of a regional accent, a result he credits to the voices he heard on TV. Ironically, after graduating from Southwest Texas State University, his career in television began by playing northern teenagers in two series, Szysznyk and The White Shadow. He also made guest appearances on such series as M*A*S*H, Good Times, Lou Grant, and Hill Street Blues. Interestingly, Carter ended his acting career in a role requiring a rich Jamaican accent, playing Orderly John in the film Whose Life Is It Anyway?

Carter gave up acting to become one of television’s most sought-after dramatic directors. Following his role of James Hayward on The White Shadow, he had directed episodes of the series: “White Shadow was what did it. Just being on that set. My film school was the set” (Hughes, p. 1). But after a string of successful pilots for award-winning television dramas such as St. Elsewhere, Miami Vice, I’ll Fly Away, and Equal Justice, he became known as Thomas Carter, “television pilot king.” He also directed the pilots for Call to Glory and Midnight Caller and episodes for such television series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bret Maverick, Remington Steele, Amazing Stories, and Fame. Despite these successful TV ventures, Carter still proclaimed, “I look at television and I don’t see myself” (Gunther, p. C22), referring to a dearth of middle-class, mainstream, African-American characters on television. His production company created and produced episodes of excellent television series such as Equal Justice (1990–91). Though short-lived, this series included African-American characters such as Michael James, superbly played by Joe Morton.

By the mid-1990s, Carter had reached a high point and created Under One Roof, the first hour-long series to focus on the daily lives of an extended African-American family. The pilot received strong support at the African American Filmmakers Foundation in 1994. Picked up by CBS a year later, the series debuted in March as a mid-season replacement. Under One Roof received considerable attention, and as creator and executive producer Carter acknowledged the historical significance of the series: “No African American family with this kind of breadth and complexity has even been shown on a weekly drama. Never has there been one with the amount of talent and experience that has gone into this show” (Braxton, p. 7). Although Carter wanted stories that applied to people, not races, he also wanted an African-American family that debunked the misconception that blacks live lives that are vastly different from those of white people. He chose, however, not to dwell on the show’s historical importance, concentrating instead on making an honest, revealing, and compelling drama.

Under One Roof starred James Earl Jones, Joe Morton, and Vanessa Bell Calloway, who, like Morton, had also appeared in Equal Justice. Like Equal Justice, Under One Roof was long on quality but short on viewers. Although CBS did not renew the series after its six-episode run, Carter credited the network for putting the show on the schedule.

Carter’s awards include a Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Shows for Hill Street Blues (1981). He has received two Emmys, one for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for Equal Justice (1990), the other for Outstanding Made for Television Movie for Don King: Only in America (1998), which also received a Peabody Award. He has been nominated for the Emmy Award six times.

Carter is an advocate for increased African-American participation in Hollywood. He believes the resistance to telling stories about African-American experiences results from decision makers at studios and networks whose perceptions are dominated by the limitations of their own experiences with white society. Yet he remains optimistic, in part because of his own success as a pioneer: “When more Blacks in the industry reach my position—where they can breed familiarity with the real power brokers—then we’ll get more significant shots.” In Carter’s opinion, this business does not have a closed door: “You just have to make your own opportunities. It may be harder for us to break in, but we can do it” (Brown, p. 100).