Elizabeth Fearn "Finn" Carter (born March 9, 1960) is an American actress. She is best known for her role in the 1990 film Tremors, starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward.

Early life

Carter was born in Greenville, Mississippi in 1960.^[1][2] She is the daughter of Hodding Carter III, a journalist and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and his first wife, Margaret Ainsworth Wolfe.^[3][4]

Career

Carter began her career in the theatre and was a member of the Circle Repertory Company in New York. She created the role of Effie Herrington at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre in Up In Saratoga, written by Terrence McNally and directed by Jack O'Brien. Her second West Coast theatre appearance was at the Pasadena Playhouse in a revival of Biloxi Blues. At the same time, she began acting on television, playing Sierra Estaban Reyes Montgomery in the CBS daytime soap opera As the World Turns from 1985 to 1988 and in a short reprise in 1994. After leaving daytime TV, she guest-starred in a number of television shows before making her big-screen debut in a starring role in the 1989 romantic comedy film How I Got into College opposite Anthony Edwards.^[5]

In 1990, Carter played Rhonda LeBeck in the comedy monster film Tremors opposite Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward.^[6] She later had the recurring role in the ABC drama series China Beach as Nurse Linda Matlock Lanier. In 1992, she played the leading role in the action film Sweet Justice and in 1996 had a supporting part in Rob Reiner's drama Ghosts of Mississippi. The following years, she guest-starred on Law & Order, Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis: Murder, ER, The Outer Limits, NYPD Blue, Chicago Hope, Judging Amy, Strong Medicine and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Carter was also a regular cast member in the short-lived Fox sitcom Secret Service Guy in 1997. She also had a number of leading roles on many made-for-television movies. Her final screen appearance was in the 2005 independent film Halfway Decent, co-starring with Ernie Hudson.^[7]

Legal matters

On July 30, 2019, then-59-year-old Carter was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, and booked on one count of possessing a stolen vehicle and 14 counts of possessing a credit card without the cardholder's consent. Both charges are felonies. Prosecutors have 90 days to file a criminal complaint. Carter was released from custody by a justice of the peace with the promise to return for an October court date.^[8]

Filmography