RIP: Actress Maxine Barrat dies at 101

Maxine Barrat Carter
Bonita Springs, FL

Maxine Barrat Carter died peacefully in the wee hours of Thursday, September 22nd, 2016 surrounded by friends and family.

Born in Westchester County New York in 1915, Maxine was old enough to have dated Clark Gable; to have danced with Fred Astaire; to have performed on Broadway with Gene Kelly; to have headlined the Copacabana Club with her dance partner Don Loper and to have interviewed the interesting and the important on her groundbreaking talk show in the early days of television.

Yet even to the end, Maxine was never too old to catch a performance at Artis Naples or the Gulfshore Playhouse; to lecture in town on the Golden Age of Hollywood, to engage in a spirited game of backgammon, or to do the reading on Sundays at her beloved Unity Church. She was a lively spirit... "too fast for old age to catch," Maxine would say.

Twice featured on the cover of Vogue Magazine, she had inimitable style, full of glamour and grace.

Maxine loved travel and adventure, living for many years on a mountaintop in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and on a finca in Costa Rica. She spent the last twenty in Bonita Springs and in Naples.

Maxine was preceded in death by her husband Nick Carter, and later by her life partner George Orenstein; and by her long-time friend, Millie Hughes.

She is survived by her step-daughter Pat Alders and her husband Fritz; by George Orenstein's daughter Vicki and her husband Bernard; by close relative Milton Pressley and his wife Ana; by her step-grandchildren and their spouses: Fritz Alders, Rob and Stephanie Alders, Blake and Susan Alders and Gaylen and Robert Reynolds; by her caring personal assistant and good friend, Nancy Shields; by her trusted attorney and good friend Jeanette Lombardi; by Dave McKinnon, her good friend and massage therapist who kept Maxine nimble for 20 years; by her oldest and dearest friends Eva and Vernon Ball; by her close friends Kathy and Dan Dunn; by Reverend Phil Schlaefer and his wife Jo; and by many, many others she loved and who loved her.

Maxine will be remembered by her friends and family as gracious and generous, quick-witted and kind-hearted. Optimistic, enthusiastic, joyful. And yes, grateful. She was good to everyone. Truly a loving soul. An inspiration and an example of a life well lived. A life she believed anyone can have as long as you "keep swinging baby!" After all, "happiness is an inside job."

The family would like to thank her extraordinary Glenview nurses, caregivers and hospice for their devotion and care. She loved you very much as do we.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to a favorite charity or to the Unity Church of Bonita Springs, FL.

See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/naplesnews/obituary.aspx?pid=181620033#sthash.5C3z5fny.dpuf