Actor T.K. Carter, who was known for The Thing and Punky Brewster, died on Friday, January 9, 2026. He was discovered by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department following a call about an unresponsive man. The police did not suspect foul play and did not disclose the cause of death. He was 69 years old.

He played Nauls the cook in John Carpenter’s The Thing and had a recurring role in Punky Brewster as elementary school teacher Mike Fulton.

Thomas Kent “T.K.” Carter was born on December 18, 1956, in New York City and grew up in Southern California. His performing career began in stand-up comedy, and he made his acting debut in an episode of Police Woman. Carter appeared in Quincy, M.E., Good Times, The Waltons, Youngblood, The Jeffersons, and The Hollywood Knights.

Following his breakthrough in The Thing, Carter was in Doctor Detroit, he did multiple episodes of Just Our Luck and voiced Alex in the Turbo Teen animated show. He voiced Rocksteady in an episode of The Transformers, was in Runaway Train, voiced Anthony Julian in Jem, and played Mylo Williams in Good Morning, Miss Bliss.

He was in Ski Patrol, did episodes of Family Matters and A Different World, starred in The Sinbad Show, and voiced Monstar NAWT in Space Jam. Carter appeared in The Steve Harvey Show, Domino, How to Get Away with Murder, Stumptown, and his final role was in 2023 in episodes of The Company You Keep.