Editing Nell Carter (section)

==Early life==
Nell Ruth Hardy<ref>{{cite journal| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5HwiAQAAMAAJ&q=Nell+Ruth+Hardy| title=Venus| date=February 25, 2019| journal=Venus Magazine| via=Google Books}}</ref> was born on September 13, 1948 in Birmingham, Alabama,<ref name=alabama>{{cite web| url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2171| title=Nell Carter| first=Claire M.| last=Wilson|  date=March 27, 2023| website=[[Encyclopedia of Alabama]]}}</ref> one of nine children born to Edna Mae and Horace Hardy. She was born into a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] family and raised [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]].<ref name=jweekly>{{cite news| url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/19245/-pop-soul-belter-nell-carter-54-devoted-convert-to-judaism-dies/| title='Pop-soul belter' Nell Carter, 54, devoted convert to Judaism, dies| last=Pfefferman| first=Naomi| date=January 31, 2009| newspaper=[[J. The Jewish News of Northern California]]| access-date=December 2, 2012}}</ref><ref name= diesat54>{{cite news| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,76413,00.html| work=Fox News| title=Actress Nell Carter Dies at 54| date=January 23, 2003}}</ref> Carter later self-identified as [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]]<ref>{{cite book| title=Redefining Diva: Life Lessons from the Original Dreamgirl| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nHky6CGQhgQC&q=pentecostal| first=Sheryl Lee| last=Ralph| page=87| publisher=Simon and Schuster| date=March 13, 2012| isbn=978-1-4516-0842-7}}</ref> and as Jewish.<ref name=jweekly/>

At the age of two, Hardy witnessed her father's electrocution when he stepped on a live power line.<ref>{{cite book| last=McCann| first=Bob| title=Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television| year=2010| publisher=McFarland| isbn=978-0-786-43790-0| page=74}}</ref><ref name="legacy">{{cite web| url=http://www.legacy.com/ns/news-story.aspx?t=the-highs-and-lows-of-nell-carter&id=690| title=The Highs and Lows of Nell Carter| last=Crowther| first=Linnea| date=January 23, 2012| website=legacy.com| access-date=December 12, 2012}}</ref>

As a child, she began singing on a local [[Gospel music|gospel]] radio show and was also a member of the church choir. At age 15, she began performing at area coffee houses, and later joined the Renaissance Ensemble that played at coffee houses and [[gay bar]]s.

On July 5, 1965 at the age of 16, Hardy was raped at gunpoint by a man whom she knew. She became pregnant as a result of the rape and gave birth to daughter Tracy the next year. Finding raising a baby alone too difficult, she sent her child to live with her older sister Willie. She later claimed that Tracy was the product of a brief marriage, but she revealed the truth in a 1994 interview.<ref name="gold">{{cite journal| last1=Gold| first1=Todd| title=Oh, the Troubles She's Seen| url=http://people.com/archive/oh-the-troubles-shes-seen-vol-41-no-8/| journal=[[People (magazine)|People]]| access-date=May 7, 2017| date=February 28, 1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| first=Tom| last=Vallance| title=Nell Carter, Actress of startling contradictions| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/nell-carter-36241.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/nell-carter-36241.html| archive-date=June 18, 2022| url-access=subscription| url-status=live| newspaper=[[The Independent]]| location=London| access-date=15 February 2022| date=7 February 2003}}</ref>