BEVERLY HILLS, California (CNN) -- Actress and singer Nell Carter died Thursday. She was 54.
Carter's publicist Roger Lane said Carter collapsed and died of natural causes in her Beverly Hills home.
One of Carter's 13-year-old adopted sons discovered her body. Carter is survived by her sons and an adult daughter.
She had suffered from diabetes and had recovered from a near-deadly bout with a brain aneurysm in the 1990s. Lane said he did not know if her diabetes contributed to her death.
The Birmingham, Alabama, native may have been best known as the sassy housekeeper in the 1980s NBC sitcom "Gimme a Break," but she also was known for her stage work. Carter's performance in the 1977-78 Fats Waller musical "Ain't Misbehavin'" garnered her an Obie and a Tony award.