His death was confirmed by his son, Miguel Carter DeCoste. Mr. Carter was raised in a bilingual home next door to a synagogue in a predominantly Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn. In his first stage role, at 9, Mr. Carter played the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama on a voyage of discovery. It was not him but a much younger Terry Carter who had died in a hit-and-run accident in Los Angeles by a pickup truck driven by the rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight. Slightly misquoting Mark Twain, Mr. Carter posted on social media: “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

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Persons: Terry Carter, Duke Ellington, Katherine Dunham, Miguel Carter DeCoste, Carter, Cecil Taylor, Vasco da Gama, Marion “ Suge, Mark Twain Locations: Midtown Manhattan, Italian, Brooklyn, Portuguese, China, Europe, Los Angeles