‘Punky Brewster’ and ‘The Thing’ Actor Found Dead: T.K. Carter Was 69

Punky Brewster and The Thing actor T.K. Carter has passed away at 69.

TMZ reports that Carter was found dead in his Duarte, California, residence on Friday.

Law enforcement told the outlet a call for service came in at approximately 5:42 p.m. and a death report was made. Although no foul play is suspected, the cause of death has not yet been released. Born Thomas Kent Carter on Dec. 18, 1956, Carter was raised just east of LA and began his stand-up routine at age 12. By high school, he appeared in Neil Simon’s production of The Odd Couple.

Per IMDb, Carter began his professional stand-up routine at the Comedy Store in LA, also working improvisation at Café and Ye Little Club. In 1977, he made his on-screen debut in an episode of Police Woman. Throughout the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Carter also had roles in Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid, Good Times, Youngblood, Corvette Summer, The Jeffersons, The Hollywood Knights, Seed of Innocence, and Southern Comfort.

Carter had a supporting role in John Carpenter’s sci-fi horror The Thing in 1982 as Nauls, the cook, appearing alongside Kurt Russell, A. Wilford Brimley, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis, and Thomas G. Waites. While it only made around $20 million at the box office on a $15 million budget and received mostly negative reviews, The Thing has since become a cult phenomenon.

He is also known for his role as Mike Fulton in the ‘80s sitcom Punky Brewster, in which he appeared in 24 episodes. Other notable roles include Alex in Turbo Teen, Anthony Julian and additional voices in Jem, Mylo Williams in Good Morning, Miss Bliss, and Shabu in the short-lived ABC sitcom Just Our Luck. He can also be seen in Southern Comfort, Runaway Train, Space Jam, The Corner, and The Sinbad Show.

Carter’s final on-screen appearances came in 2023, with five episodes of Lil Dicky’s show Dave and three episodes of the short-lived ABC crime drama The Company You Keep, starring Milo Ventimiglia and Catherine Haena Kim.