Carol Burnett

At 91 years old, Carol Burnett has this physical status:

Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, guitarist, and writer whose career spanned seven decades of television.

She is best known for her original comedy variety show, The Carol Burnett Show, which aired on CBS.

It was the first time a woman could host a woman.

She has performed well on stage, television, and film in a variety of genres, including dramatic and comedic roles.

She has appeared on numerous talk shows and as a panelist on game shows. Burnett was born in San Antonio, Texas, where she and her grandmother attended Hollywood High School and then concentrated in acting and musical comedy at UCLA.

Later in life, she appeared in nightclubs in New York City and had a breakout success on Broadway in 1959's Once Upon a Mattress, for which she received a Tony Award nomination.

She made her television debut on Saturday, appearing on The Garry Moore Show for the next three years, and she received her first Emmy Award in 1962.

Burnett made her television debut on CBS in 1963 as Calamity Jane as Calamity Jane.

Burnett went to Los Angeles, California, and spent 11 years as an actor on CBS television from 1967 to 1978.

The Carol Burnett Show was a variety show that combined comedy sketches with song and dance, having its roots in vaudeville.

The comedy sketches included film parodies and character sketches.

During the show's run, Burnett created many memorable characters, and both she and the show received numerous Emmy and Golden Globe Awards. Burnett appeared in several television and film projects during and after her variety show.

Pete 'n' Tillie (1972), The Front Page (1974), Annie (1982), Noises Off (1992), and Horton Hears a Who! (2008).

She has appeared in numerous sketch shows; in 1969; and in Mad About You, for which she received an Emmy Award; and in specials with Julie Andrews, Dolly Parton, Beverly Sills; and others.

She appeared in Moon Over Buffalo in 1995, for which she was later nominated for a Tony Award. Burnett has written and narrated several books, including Grammy nominations for most of them, as well as a gold medal for "enhancing the lives of millions of Americans and for her contributions to American entertainment" in 2005.

Early life

Carol Creighton Burnett was born in San Antonio, Texas, the daughter of Ina Louise (née Creighton), a film script writer, and Joseph Thomas Burnett, a movie theater manager, and Joseph Thomas Burnett, a movie theater manager, was born on April 26, 1933. William Henry Creighton (1873-1918) and Mabel Eudora "Mae" Jones (1885-1967) were her maternal grandparents. Both of her parents were alcohol addicts, and she and her grandmother were left homeless at a young age. In the late 1930s, her parents divorced. Burnett and her grandmother subsequently moved to Hollywood, and her grandmother and her grandmother moved to a one-room apartment near her mother's. They lived in an impoverished Hollywood, California, suburb of Burnett's younger half-sister Chrissie.

Karen, Burnett's first-grade sister, was born with Shirley Temple-like dimples. She later recalled that she "fooled the other boarders in the rooming house where we lived by frantically changing clothes and shoving in and out of the house by the fire escape and the front door. "I became ill, and Karen mysteriously vanished." When Burnett was nine, she learned how to do the "Tarzan yell," a good vocal workout for volume that was later discovered years later, and it became a fan favorite. Burnett's first experiences with singing were with her family. Her grandmother, a trained pianist who could play the piano (although they didn't have one at the time), and her mother played the ukulele, so they often sang popular songs together around the kitchen table. Burnett and her sister used to go to the theater often, and her grandmother took her to the movies often. They'll need a few rolls of toilet paper from the theater. The sketch in The Carol Burnett Show was influenced by her childhood movies she saw in her youth.

She appeared as an usherette at the Warner Brothers Theater (now the Hollywood Pacific Theatre). Having already seen and loved the film, Julia Mayfield advised two patrons arriving during the last five minutes of a showing to avoid spoiling the ending for them, but the couple insisted on being seated. Burnett refused to let the couple in and shot her, and she had to strip the epaulettes from her uniform on the spot, according to the manager. When the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce offered her a seat on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the 1970s, they asked where she wanted it to be years later. "Right in front of where the old Warner Brothers Theater was located, at Hollywood and Wilcox," she said, at 6439 Hollywood Blvd.

She received an anonymous envelope containing $50 for one year of tuition at UCLA, where she first planned on studying journalism after graduating from Hollywood High School in 1951. With the intention of becoming a playwright, she shifted her attention to theater arts and English during her first year of college. To enroll in the playwright program, she had to complete an acting course. "I wasn't really keen to do the acting thing, but I had no choice." She had a sudden desire to talk her lines in a new way during her first appearance. "Don't ask me why, but I did get a clue as to why we were in front of the audience and my first line came out "I'm baaaaack!"

The audience response moved her deeply:

During this period, she appeared in numerous university productions, winning accolades for her comedic and musical abilities. Her mother was disapproved of her acting aspirations:

"You can always write, no matter what you look like," the young Burnett, who was still insecure about her appearances, replied many years later. One More Time (1986) – In her memoir One More Time (1986).

During her junior year at UCLA in 1954, a professor invited Burnett and a few others to perform at a party in place of their class final that had been postponed (which needed a demonstration in front of an audience). A man and his wife were spotted after Burnett was stuffing cookies in her purse to bring home to her grandmother. The man than reprimanding her, the woman praised her achievement and inquired about her future plans. When she learned she wanted to travel to New York to try her luck in musical comedy but couldn't afford the trip, he suggested she and her boyfriend (Don Saroyan) each $1,000 interest-free loan on the spot. His conditions were simply that the loans were due to be repaid within five years, but that if she were to be revealed, she would help other young artists to pursue their artistic aspirations. Burnett took him up on his offer, and Saroyan and Saroyan left college to pursue acting careers in New York. Her father died of alcoholism-related causes in the same year.

Personal life

Don Saroyan, Burnett's college sweetheart, married her on December 15, 1955. In 1962, the two families divorced.

Burnett married television producer Joe Hamilton, a divorced father of eight and brother of actress Kipp Hamilton, who appeared at her 1962 Carnegie Hall appearance. Among other items, he created The Carol Burnett Show.

The couple had three daughters:

In 1984, the couple's union came to an end. The challenge of dealing with Carrie's drug problems was discussed as part of the separation, but the couple was able to advise other parents about such issues and raised funds for the clinic in which Carrie was treated. Burnett and Carrie went to Moscow in 1988 to help establish the first Alcoholics Anonymous branch in the Soviet Union. Joe Hamilton died of cancer in 1991. Burnett participated in an MedicAlert publicity campaign in the 1980s, in which she is notably the one-millionth member of the one-millionth bracelet.

Burnett married Brian Miller on November 24, 2001. Miller is the principal drummer for the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and is 23 years old.

Burnett has enjoyed close friendships with Lucille Ball, Beverly Sills, Jim Nabors (who became Jody's godfather), Julie Andrews, and Betty White. Vicki Lawrence's acting mentor is her. Lawrence in a testimonial address during Burnett's 2013 Mark Twain Award in Washington, D.C. (recorded and broadcast on PBS Television).

Burnett said in a 2003 interview with Terry Gross of Fresh Air that both she and her daughter Jody had corrective dental surgery. Burnett had an overbite that resulted in a weak chest, and her daughter had an underbite. After consulting with the oral surgeon about Jody's bite, he said he could fix her teeth as well, giving her more of a chin. Burnett had appeared on Annie, a 1982 film, and had been called back to reshoot a scene after recovering from the surgery. The scene involved her character's appearance and then escorting a closet to retrieve a necklace. She told director John Huston that she was worried about her chin's appearance from entering the closet to escaping it, and he told her to "look determined." The scene is also present in the film.

She has continued to support people in need of scholarships at UCLA and the University of Hawaii, in keeping with her pledge to the anonymous benefactor who helped her in 1954.

Burnett's teenage grandson's guardianship was granted by her husband and her father in August 2020. Burnett is now a "education rights holder," implying that she is the one who makes decisions about her grandson's education.

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Career

Burnett, along with other girls at the Rehearsal Club (a boarding house for women seriously considering acting careers), spent her first year in New York as a hat-check girl and failing to land acting roles. They sent invitations to agents who attended Celeste Holm and Marlene Dietrich's appearances. Many of the girls' doors were opened because of their attendance. In 1955, she appeared in a minor role on The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show. On the famous children's show, she played the aunt of a ventriloquist's dummy. Sandra Hackett played her opposite Buddy Hackett in the short-lived sitcom Stanley from 1956 to 1957.

Burnett went unemployed for a short time after Stanley. A few months later, she regained control, becoming a hit parody number for a hit parody number such as "I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles," a New York cabaret and nightclub staple. (Dulles was Secretary of State at the time). She appeared on both The Tonight Show hosted by Jack Paar and The Ed Sullivan Show in 1957. “I never discuss issues of the heart in public,” Dulles joked about her on Meet the Press.

Pantomime Quiz, one of television's oldest game shows, was active at this time. Her mother died in 1957, just as she was enjoying her first small victories. Burnett made her debut at the Blue Angel Supper Club in New York City in October 1960, where she was discovered by scouts for The Jack Paar Show and The Ed Sullivan Exhibition.

Burnett's first real taste of success came with her appearance on Broadway in the 1959 musical Once Upon a Mattress for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. She became a regular participant on The Garry Moore Show in the same year, a role that didn't exist until 1962. On the show, she received an Emmy Award for her "Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series." She portrayed a variety of characters, the most notable of which was the put-upon cleaning lady. Later, the character became her signature alter ego. Burnett finally rose to headliner status in the 2014 edition of Julie and Carol, co-starring Julie Andrews and her friend Julie Andrews. Bob Banner, Joe Hamilton, directed by Joe Hamilton, and written by Mike Nichols and Ken Welch were the show's writers. Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall were given an Emmy Award for Outstanding Programming in the Field of Music, and Burnett received an Emmy for her contribution. During this time, she appeared on several shows, including the Twilight Zone's "Cavender Is Coming" episode.

Burnett appeared in Fade Out on Broadway in 1964, but was forced to leave after suffering a neck injury in a taxi accident. She returned to the theater later in the year, but she appeared in The Entertainers, opposite Caterina Valente and Bob Newhart. Fade Out – Fade In's founders filed a lawsuit alleging that the actress' absences from the popular show resulted in its dissolution, but the case was later dismissed. The Entertainers were on display in the Entertainers for only one season.

Burnett became close friends with Jim Nabors, who was having a blast with his series Gomer Pyle, Washington, D.C. She appeared on Nabors' show as a tense corporal and later as a gunnery sergeant (beginning with the episode "Corporal Carol"). Later this season, Nabors will be the first guest on her variety show each season, as she believes him to be her good fortune charm.

Lucille Ball, a 1959 graduate, became a Burnett mentor and mentor. Following guest appearances on Burnett's highly acclaimed CBS-TV special Carol + 2 and seeing the younger performer reciprocate by appearing on The Lucy Show, Ball was believed to have offered Burnett a chance to star on her own sitcom. Burnett was offered (but declined) but here's Agnes by CBS executives. Both women remained close friends until Ball's death in 1989. On Burnett's birthday, Ball sent flowers every year. When Burnett awakened on the morning of her 56th birthday in 1989, she learned she had died by the morning news. Flowers arrived at Burnett's house later that afternoon, with a note saying, "Happy Birthday, Kid." Lucy, love.

Burnett was inserted in a weekly comedy show called Here's Agnes, which CBS offered to put him in 1967. Nonetheless, she had a provision in her ten-year contract with CBS that indicated she had five years from the date. The Garry Moore Show ended in 2002, she had "push the button" on hosting thirty one-hour episodes of a music/comedy variety show, which was the subject of her ten-year show "push the button." As a result, the hour-long Carol Burnett Show appeared in September 1967, earning 23 Emmy Awards and being nominated for multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Awards every season. Tim Conway (who was a guest star until the ninth season), Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner, and a teen Vicki Lawrence, who Burnett discovered and mentored, were among the ensemble cast members. At first, the network did not want her to do a variety show because it was believed that only males would be able to be successful at variety, but her deal did insist that it give her one season of whatever kind of show she wanted to make. She chose to continue the tradition of previous variety show acclaims.

The Carol Burnett Show, a true variety show, struck a chord with viewers. It parodied films, among other things (Went with the Wind, to be precise). Television (As the Stomach Turns for the soap opera As the World Turns) and commercials for Gone with the Wind. Musical performances were also common. Burnett and her crew won with the original sketch "The Family," which was turned into the television show Mama's Family, starring Vicki Lawrence.

She opened most shows with animpromptu question-and-answer session with the audience, lasting a few minutes, during which she often demonstrated her ability to humbly ad lib. She obliged on several occasions when asked to imitate her trademark Tarzan yell.

She brought a message to her grandmother by tugging on her left ear during each show. This was done to inform her that she was doing well and that she loved her. Her grandmother died during the show's run. "She said to my husband Joe from her hospital bed, 'You see the spider up there?' Joe knew there was no spider, but he did something else. Every few minutes a big spider leaps on this little spider and they attack it like rabbits,' she said.' Then she died.

There's laughter in everything!"

She carried on the tradition of tugging her ear. In 1978, the show came to an end. During the summer of 1979, four post-script episodes were produced and aired on ABC under the name Carol Burnett & Company. The productions followed essentially the same style and, with the exception of Harvey Korman and Lyle Waggoner, the same supporting cast was used. The comedy sketches of her series were turned into half-hour episodes for syndication under the name Carol Burnett and Friends, which were also extremely popular in syndication for many years. The series debuted on MeTV in January 2015.

When a 2001 retrospective containing outtakes and interviews with the cast, as well as an all-but-the-final game of the year's World Series, shocked many. Burnett's Grammy-winning book In Such Good Company is about the performance, and she includes information about the show's production, as well as anecdotes about improvisations, the cast, crew, and guests.

When Burnett's variety show was on, she appeared in a few films, including Pete 'n' Tillie (1972). In 1974, she was nominated for an Emmy for her role in the film 6 Rms Riv Vu. She did a number of roles after her show ended and she did not return from comedy. She appeared in numerous dramatic roles, most notably in the television film Friendly Fire. Beatrice O'Reilly appeared in Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice, a tale about a woman's struggle with alcoholism. Alan Alda's The Four Seasons (1981), John Huston's Annie (1982), and Peter Bogdanovich's Noises Off (1992).

Burnett's first voice role in The Trumpet of the Swan was in 2001. In 2008, she appeared in Horton Hears a Who! for her second role as an animated character. In 2012, she appeared in the US Disney-dubbed version of The Secret World of Arrietty as Hara. In Toy Story 4, she voiced a talking chair, named Chairol Burnett.

Burnett was the first celebrity to appear on the children's show Sesame Street, first on the series's first episode on November 10, 1969. She made occasional returns to the stage in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1974, she appeared in I Do! at the Muny Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri.

I Do!

She appeared in Carlotta Campion's 1985 concert appearance at Stephen Sondheim's Follies in Rock Hudson, eleven years later. She appeared on numerous panels on the game show Password, an association she retained until the 1980s (in fact, Mark Goodson awarded her his Silver Password All-Stars Award for best celebrity actor; she was also credited with launching Password Plus, which was originally scheduled to be titled Password '79).

She made several attempts to launch a new variety service in the 1980s and 1990s. She appeared on "The Family" sketches' spinoff, Mama's Family, for a brief period of time as her vivacious character, Eunice Higgins. In Fresno's cult comedy miniseries Fresno, which parodied the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest, she played the matriarch. She returned to television in the mid-1990s as a supporting character on the sitcom Mad About You, starring Theresa Stemple, the mother of main character Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt), for which she received her second Emmy Award. She returned to Broadway in 1995 after a 30-year absence, and for which she had been nominated for a Tony Award. She appeared in Putting It Together, a Broadway performance four years ago. Burnett appeared on Broadway in A. R. Gurney's Love Letters in 2014.

Burnett had long been a fan of the soap opera All My Children, and had a wish when Agnes Nixon introduced Verla Grubbs for her in 1983. Burnett played Langley Wallingford's long-lost daughter, which led to squabbles for her stepmother Phoebe Tyler-Wallingford (Ruth Warrick). She made occasional appearances on the soap opera in the decade after. On January 5, 2005, she hosted a 25th-anniversary special about the show and made a brief cameo appearance as Verla Grubbs on the show's 35th anniversary. In September 2011, she reprised her role as Grubbs as part of the series's finale.

She has appeared in television films including Seasons of the Heart (1994). Burnett returned to film in 2005 to appear in a different role as Queen Aggravain in the film version of Once Upon a Mattress. Elanor Mason, Bree's stepmother, appeared in season two of Desperate Housewives.

She appeared on the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2009, for which she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. Sue Sylvester, a cheerleading coach, appeared on an episode of Glee in November 2010. Since 2013, she has appeared on Hawaii Five-0 as Steve McGarrett's Aunt Debbie from 2013 to death in the January 15, 2016, episode.

Burnett has mainly shucked away from the spotlight, although she still receives honorary awards for her pioneering work in comedy, aside from occasional guest-starring roles on television. For example, at the Kennedy Center in 2013, she received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Julie Andrews, Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway, as well as Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, and Martin Short were among those who attended Burnett's funeral service, as well as Julie Andrews, her longtime colleagues and collaborators.

The Carol Burnett Show: 50th Anniversary Special on CBS on 2017. Burnett, original cast members Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner, costume designer Bob Mackie, and special guests Jim Carney, Stephen Colbert, Harry Connick Jr., Bill Hader, Jane Lynch, Bernadette Peters, and Martin Short were among the special guests on the festival. Burnett spoke about the adversity she suffered, saying, "They said it was a man's game"—Sid Caesar, Dean Martin, Milton Berle—because it hadn't been done." However, that doesn't mean it can't be done."

The Golden Globes awarded the Carol Burnett Award for career achievement in television in 2019. Burnett was also named as the first winner of the award. "For more than 50 years, comedy trailblazer Carol Burnett has been breaking barriers while making us laugh," the Hollywood Foreign Press said in a tweet. Burnett's Steve Carell was a winner.

Burnett guest starred in the second half of American drama series Better Call Saul, a spin-off, prequel, and sequel to Breaking Bad, in June 2022. By AMC, Burnett would be portraying "Marion" on June 27, 2022.

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