Actor Ralph David Carter who played Michael Evans on the 1970s sitcom Good Times was just 13 years old during season one of the show. He successfully played the youngest child of James and Florida Evans for all six seasons of the show from 1974 to 1979.
Born in May 1961, Carter started his acting career on Broadway at just nine years old in the musical The Me Nobody Knows. Later, in 1973, he got his breakthrough role as Travis Younger in Raisin in the Sun which earned him the Drama Desk Award for the Most Promising Performer, the Theatre World Award, and a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1974. That same year, he learned that he would star in Good Times.In 1975, while still filming Good Times, he recorded an album called "Young and in Love" and also performed his debut single of the same name on Soul Train with another song called "Extra, Extra (Read all about it)". Both songs charted at No. 10 and No. 12 respectively on the Billboard R&B music charts.
Carter's fame, however, did not end with Good Times.
In 1985, six years after the show ended, he released another single called "Get it Right". Twenty years later, in 2005, he appeared in the cast of Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death for the Classical Theatre of Harlem Company. That same year, he was featured as a commentator on the TV show Character Studies.
Two years after that, he was featured on an episode of Soul Train, and in 2016, Carter alongside his ‘Good Times co-actors, appeared on an episode of Steve Harvey's talk show, Steve.
During his career, he also had roles in other plays including Via Galactica and Dude, which earned him the Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Performer.
Now, at 62 years old, he is retired from the spotlight but reportedly continues to work for an organization in New York City that honors Black Theater.
