T.K. Carter, ‘The Thing’ & ‘Space Jam’ Actor, Dies at 69

T.K. Carter, known for screen performances in The Thing and Space Jam among other Hollywood productions, has died at age 69.

The comedian and actor was found dead at home in Duarte, California, on Friday, January 9, after a call for service came in at 5:42 local time, according to TMZ. A cause of death has not been announced.

In 1982’s The Thing, Carter played cook Nauls, and in 1996’s Space Jam, he voiced the basketball-playing Monstar Nawt. He also offered performances in the films Seems Like Old Times, Southern Comfort, Runaway Train, and Domino.

On television, Carter starred in the series Just Our Luck, Punky Brewster, Good Morning, Miss Bliss, and The Sinbad Show across the 1980s and 1990s.

In Just Our Luck, a short-lived ABC sitcom, Carter played Shabu, a genie who comes into the life of TV weatherman Keith Burrows (Richard Gilliland). In the first two seasons of the NBC sitcom Punky Brewster, Carter portrayed teacher Mike Fulton. On Good Morning, Miss Bliss — a Disney Channel predecessor of Saved by the Bell — Carter played maintenance worker Mylo Williams. And on The Sinbad Show, a one-season Fox sitcom, the actor played Clarence Hull, a longtime friend of Sinbad’s David Bryan.

Carter also got major screen time in the 2000 HBO miniseries The Corner, in which he played Gary McCullough, a father struggling with substance abuse. The Boston Globe said Carter “perfectly captures the gentleness and passivity that can be addiction’s easiest conquest.”

Everett Collection

The actor also guest-starred on the TV shows Everybody Hates Chris, How to Get Away With Murder, and Stumptown. His most recent screen appearances came in multi-episode arcs on Dave and The Company You Keep.

On social media, celebrities are posting tributes to Carter. “I met T.K. Carter when I was about 11 or 12 years old, shortly after I first came to California,” Diff’rent Strokes actor Shavar Ross wrote on X. “Through my dad, I spent time on the set of [the 1983 film] Doctor Detroit, where T.K. was working alongside Dan Aykroyd. As a young kid, I looked up to T.K. because seeing an African American actor starring in a major film meant a lot to me. I always felt he was headed for stardom.”

Comedian Loni Love also eulogized Carter in an X post, writing, “Sad to hear about the passing of my comedy brother T.K. … I’m glad we shared a good laugh last time we met.”

And the makers of the documentary The Thing Expanded wrote, “We are utterly shocked and heartbroken to hear that [Carter] has passed away at the age of 69. His portrayal of Outpost 31’s roller-skating chef de cuisine remains an indelible highlight of the film. After all, he gets one of the most iconic lines: ‘Maybe we’re at war with Norway.’”