
Carol Burnett
variety show host
Silly. Slapstick. Loud. Not afraid to leap from windows in pursuit of a laugh. And also...Honest. Unshakeable. Soft spoken. Not afraid to bare her soul in pursuit of understanding.
Legendary comic Carol Burnett found freedom from a difficult childhood through letting loose on stage. She got her start in showbiz in 1955, with guest spots on a kid's TV program. Roles on Broadway + The Garry Moore Show soon followed, but she became an icon as the first female variety-show host. As the long-running The Carol Burnett Show racked up Emmys + Golden Globes, the pioneering comedian also won America's heart...by making us laugh {and sometimes cry} with her.
first female variety show host | famous variety show characters include Mrs. Wiggins, Starlet O’Hara {with the curtain-rod dress}, the Charwoman. Her first variety show gig was on the Garry Moore Show ~ The Carol Burnett Show introduced audiences to Eunice and Mama in the sketch "The Family," which spun off into the television series "Mama's Family"
tarzan yell | once used it as identification to write a check at Bergdorf-Goodman’s for a pair of stockings
left ear tug | a signal to Nanny, the grandmother who raised her, to say she loved her and was doing well
1955 | with a $1000 loan, moved to NYC to begin a career. She struggled, unable to get work or find an agent, so she organized a revue showcasing herself and her fellow boarders at the female rooming house, the Rehearsal Club. The show landed Carol her first television appearance, and led to her breakout role in the musical Once Upon A Mattress ~ where she met Lucille Ball, who became a mentor and close friend.
September 11, 1967 | debut of The Carol Burnett Show, the first female-hosted variety show. CBS only approved because of contractual obligation, believing only men could do variety comedy. It ran until 1978 and won 25 Emmys. It was on this show she played “Starlet O’Hara”, wearing the famous curtain-rod dress that’s now in The Smithsonian.
2013 | received Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, 10 years after receiving Kennedy Center Honors ~ the first woman to be honored with both.
from | to
child on welfare | grand dame of comedy
born on
April 26, 1933
born in
San Antonio
birth name
Carol Creighton Burnett
citizen of
United States of America
daughter of
Louise, publicity writer and failed journalist, and Joseph, door-to-door salesman
~ parents were alcoholics, so she was raised by her grandmother "Nanny" (Mabel White) in a Hollywood boarding house ~
sister of
Chris (sister)
imaginary twin sister Karen [1]
grew up in | lived in
a one-room apartment in Hollywood | bought and lived in Betty Grable’s old house while doing The Carol Burnett Show
educated at | studied with
UCLA {theater arts; quit in 1954} | Don Saroyan (first husband)
married to | divorced from
Brian Miller (2001-) | Joe Hamilton (1963-1984) | Don Saroyan (1955-1962)
mother of
3 daughters | Carrie Hamilton {died of cancer in 2002}, Jody Hamilton, Erin Hamilton
grandmother of
Alex and Dylan
godmother of
Emma Walton Hamilton (Julie Andrews’s daughter)
advocate for
arts and education
influenced by
Lucille Ball
worked alongside
Lucille Ball, Julie Andrews, Betty White, Elizabeth Taylor, Vicki Lawrence
Harvey Korman, Tim Conway
other famous roles
Miss Hannigan in Annie
Verla Grubbs on All My Children
~ close friend Elizabeth Taylor played Carol's variety show character The Charwoman in a surprise cameo on the ABC soap opera
appeared as herself on the first episode of Sesame Street
accolades
~a round of applause~
6 Emmys {15 more nominations}
8 Golden Globes {12 more nominations}
Peabody Award, Horatio Alger Award, Television Hall of Fame, star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
2003 | Kennedy Center honors
2005 | Presidential Medal of Freedom
2016 | Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award
sources
[1] LIFE magazine, May 14, 1971
image credit
Wikimedia Commons | public domain
collapse bio bits"My idea of grandeur is being able to say, well, I guess I’ll go out in the backyard."
LIFE magazine | may 1971
"When you have a dream you’ve got to grab on and never let go."
Here's to You, Mrs. Hamilton | may 1971
"There is something about being poor and having alcoholic parents that either poisons you or toughens you for life. I realized it was either sink or swim—get out, or be pulled down."
Superstar Women And Their Marriages | august 1976
"I believe you have to make it yourself in this world, but if you have a good helpmate, it’s terrific."
Superstar Women And Their Marriages | august 1976
"I don’t need to be challenged. It’s the effort that’s the fun."
The serious business of being funny | august 1995
"I was around so much anger that I behaved the other way."
The serious business of being funny | august 1995
"I’m not a fighter. I like getting out there and playing."
The serious business of being funny | august 1995
"I trust an audience. They will tell you what you’re doing. And they are never wrong. They are never wrong."
The serious business of being funny | august 1995
"I love to write. I have always loved writing. That was my first love."
Tavis Smiley show | june 2010
"I was terrified that nobody would raise their hands. And then I was terrified that they would!"
Tavis Smiley show | june 2010
"I just felt it was classier to leave before they knocked on the door and said, ‘Stop doing this.’"
We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy | 2012
"If you live long enough and you keep working, you become a living legend."
Carol Burnett loving audience’s input for stage show | may 2012
"I’ve always believed that kids are great actors."
Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story | 2013
"There are so many people funnier than I am, especially here in Washington."
Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize | october 2013
"I’m not good enough for the chorus, so it looks like I might have to have a featured role."
Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize | october 2013
for further reading about Carol Burnett:
curated with care by Meghan Miller Brawley {august 2014}
television show | guest on The Lucy Show | “Lucy Gets a Roommate” | october 31, 1966
The first of two guest spots as Lucille Ball’s roommate on the Lucy Show. Carol Burnett plays a socially awkward librarian, but ends the episode vamping it up with Desi Arnaz’s band. The two redheads together are almost too much for the small screen!
Internet Archive
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
At 6439 Hollywood Blvd., not far from the boarding house where she grew up, is Carol Burnett's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was inducted in 1975 (the 1,068th inductee, if anyone's counting), and the star is in front of the Pacific Theater. Burnett worked as an usherette (complete with a uniform of harem pants and a fez) at the theater while in high school, where she was usually assigned to be the "spot girl", shouting seating directions to moviegoers before the start of the film. "This was the job that required the loudest voice: mine," she wrote in her memoir This Time Together.
JGKlein | CC-PD | http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carol_Burnett%27s_star_on_Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame.JPG
dress | The Curtain-Rod Dress | designed by Bob Mackie
The famous curtain-rod dress from "Went With the Wind"—the 1976 parody of Gone With the Wind ("Starlett, I love you, and that gown is gorgeous!" "Thank you. I saw it in the window and I just couldn't resist it."). It's now hanging, rod and all, in the Smithsonian American History Museum.
Cag1970 | CC-PD | http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Curtain_Dress.JPG
photo | with George W. Bush | Presidential Medal of Freedom
Carol Burnett was one of 14 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. The award ~ the nation's highest civilian award ~ was given to Burnett for "enhancing the lives of millions of Americans and for her extraordinary contributions to American entertainment." She was only one of two women given the award that year, along with singer Aretha Franklin.
Paul Morse | The White House | PD
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
In 2013, Carol Burnett was awarded the John F. Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The awards ceremony featured historic clips and tributes from a list of friends and famous fans—from Julie Andrews to Tina Fey. Well worth a watch.
Matthew Straubmuller | CC-BY 2.0 | https://www.flickr.com/photos/imatty35/7732514088/