Carol Burnett Biography

Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. She is best known for her long-running TV variety show, The Carol Burnett Show, for CBS. She has achieved success on stage, television, and film in varying genres including dramatic and comedy roles.

After a difficult childhood in San Antonio with alcoholic parents, Burnett discovered acting and comedy in college. She performed in nightclubs in New York City and had a breakout success on Broadway in 1959 in Once Upon a Mattress, receiving a Tony Award nomination. She soon made her television debut, regularly appearing on The Garry Moore Show for the next three years, and winning her first Emmy Award in 1962. Burnett moved to Los Angeles and began an 11-year run on The Carol Burnett Show which was aired on CBS television from 1967 to 1978. With roots in vaudeville, The Carol Burnett Show was a variety show that combined comedy sketches, song and dance. The comedy sketches included film parodies and character pieces. Burnett created many memorable characters during the show's television run, and both she and the show won numerous Emmy and Golden Globe Awards.

During and after her variety show, Burnett appeared in many television and film projects. Her film roles include Pete 'n' Tillie (1972), The Four Seasons (1981), Annie (1982), Noises Off (1992), and Horton Hears a Who! (2008). On television, she has appeared in other sketch shows; in dramatic roles in 6 Rms Riv Vu (1974) and Friendly Fire (1979); in various well-regarded guest roles, such as in Mad About You, for which she won an Emmy Award; and in specials with Julie Andrews, Dolly Parton, Beverly Sills, and others. She was also back on Broadway in 1995 in Moon Over Buffalo, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award.

Early life

Burnett was born in San Antonio, Texas, the daughter of Ina Louise (née Creighton), a publicity writer for movie studios, and Joseph Thomas Burnett, a movie theater manager. Both of her parents suffered from alcoholism, and at a young age, she was left with her grandmother, Mabel Eudora White. Her parents divorced in the late 1930s, and Burnett and her grandmother moved to an apartment near her mother's in an impoverished area of Hollywood. There they stayed in a boarding house with her younger half-sister Chrissy. When Burnett was in the second grade, she briefly invented an imaginary twin sister named Karen, with Shirley Temple-like dimples. Motivated to further the pretense, Burnett recalled fondly that she "fooled the other boarders in the rooming house where we lived by frantically switching clothes and dashing in and out of the house by the fire escape and the front door. Then I became exhausted and Karen mysteriously vanished."

For a while, she worked as an usherette at what is now the Hollywood Pacific Theatre (the forecourt of which is now the location of her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; see the section in the theatre's article for more information). After graduating from Hollywood High School in 1951, Burnett received an anonymous envelope containing $50 for one year's tuition at UCLA, where she initially planned on studying journalism. During her first year of college, Burnett switched her focus to theater arts and English, with the goal of becoming a playwright. She found she had to take an acting course to enter the playwright program; "I wasn't really ready to do the acting thing, but I had no choice." She followed a sudden impulse in her first performance; "Don't ask me why, but when we were in front of the audience, I suddenly decided I was going to stretch out all my words and my first line came out 'I'm baaaaaaaack!'" The audience response moved her deeply:

They laughed and it felt great. All of a sudden, after so much coldness and emptiness in my life, I knew the sensation of all that warmth wrapping around me. I had always been a quiet, shy, sad sort of girl and then everything changed for me. You spend the rest of your life hoping you'll hear a laugh that great again.

During this time, Burnett performed in several university productions, garnering recognition for her comedic and musical abilities. Her mother disapproved of her acting ambitions:

She wanted me to be a writer. She said you can always write, no matter what you look like. When I was growing up she told me to be a little lady, and a couple of times I got a whack for crossing my eyes or making funny faces. Of course, she never, I never, dreamed I would ever perform.

The young Burnett, always insecure about her looks, described her reaction to her mother's advice of "You can always write, no matter what you look like", in her 1986 memoir One More Time: "God, that hurt!"

In 1954, during her junior year, a professor invited Burnett and some other students to perform at a black-tie party. A man and his wife approached her afterward, as she was putting cookies in her purse to take home to her grandmother. Instead of reprimanding her, the man complimented Burnett's performance and asked about her future plans. When he discovered that she wanted to go try her luck with musical comedy in New York, but did not have enough money, he offered her and her boyfriend Don Saroyan each a $1000 interest-free loan on the spot. The conditions were that it was to be paid back in five years, his name was never to be revealed, and if she became a success, she would help others attain their dreams. Burnett took him up on his offer. She and Saroyan left college and moved to New York to pursue acting careers. That same year, Burnett's father died of causes related to his alcoholism.

Career

Early career

After spending her first year in New York working as a hat-check girl and failing to land acting jobs, Burnett along with other girls living at The Rehearsal Club, a boarding house for women seriously pursuing an acting career, put on The Rehearsal Club Revue on March 3, 1955. They mailed invitations to agents, who showed up along with stars like Celeste Holm and Marlene Dietrich, and this opened doors for several of the girls. Burnett was cast in a minor role on The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show in 1955. She played the girlfriend of a ventriloquist's dummy on the popular children's program. This role led to her starring role opposite Buddy Hackett in the short-lived sitcom Stanley from 1956 to 1957.

After Stanley, Burnett found herself unemployed for a short time. She eventually bounced back a few months later as a highly popular performer on the New York circuit of cabarets and night clubs, most notably for a hit parody number called "I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles" (Dulles was Secretary of State at the time). In 1957, Burnett performed this number on both The Tonight Show, hosted by Jack Paar, and The Ed Sullivan Show. Burnett also worked as a regular on one of television's earliest game shows, Pantomime Quiz, during this time. In 1957, just as Burnett was achieving her first small successes, her mother died.

Burnett's first true 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. The same year, she became a regular player on The Garry Moore Show, a job that lasted until 1962. She won an Emmy Award that year for her "Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series" on the show. Burnett portrayed a number of characters, most memorably the put-upon cleaning woman who would later become her signature alter-ego. With her success on the Moore show, Burnett finally rose to headliner status and appeared in the 1962 special Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, co-starring her friend Julie Andrews. The show was produced by Bob Banner, directed by Joe Hamilton, and written by Mike Nichols and Ken Welch. Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Music, and Burnett won an Emmy for her performance. Burnett also guest-starred on a number of shows during this time, including The Twilight Zone episode "Cavender is Coming".

In 1964, Burnett starred in the Broadway musical Fade Out - Fade In, but was forced to withdraw after sustaining a neck injury in a taxi accident. She returned to the show later but withdrew again to participate in a variety show, The Entertainers, opposite Caterina Valente and Bob Newhart. The producers of Fade Out " Fade In sued the actress for breach of contract after her absences from the popular show caused its failure, but the suit was later dropped. The Entertainers ran for only one season.

Around the same time, Burnett became good friends with Jim Nabors, who was enjoying great success with his series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. As a result of their close friendship, Burnett played a recurring role on Nabors's show as a tough corporal, later gunnery sergeant. Nabors would later be her first guest every season on her variety show.

In 1966, Lucille Ball became a friend and mentor to Burnett. After having guested on Burnett's highly successful CBS-TV special [[Carol + 2]] and having the younger performer reciprocate by appearing on The Lucy Show, Ball reportedly offered Burnett her own sitcom called "Here's Agnes", to be produced by Desilu Productions. Burnett declined the offer, not wanting to commit herself to a weekly series. The two remained close friends until Ball's death in 1989. Ball sent flowers every year on her birthday. When Burnett awoke on the day of her 56th birthday in 1989, she discovered via the morning news that Ball had died. Later that afternoon, flowers arrived at Burnett's house with a note reading, "Happy Birthday, Kid. Love, Lucy."

The Carol Burnett Show

See The Carol Burnett Show for more information

In 1967, CBS was eager to have Burnett in a series so they offered her a choice. She could either star in a situation comedy or she could headline a variety series. Burnett chose the latter option. As a result, the hour-long Carol Burnett Show, which debuted in September 1967, garnered 23 Emmy Awards and won or was nominated for multiple Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards every season it was on the air. Its ensemble cast included Tim Conway (who was a guest player until the ninth season), Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner, and the teenaged Vicki Lawrence, whom Burnett herself discovered and mentored. The network initially did not want her to do a variety show because they believed only men could be successful at variety, but Burnett's contract required that they give her one season of whatever kind of show she wanted to make. She chose to carry on the tradition of past variety show successes.

A true variety show, The Carol Burnett Show struck a chord with viewers. Among other things, it parodied films ("Went With the Wind" for Gone With the Wind), television ("As the Stomach Turns" for the soap opera As the World Turns) and commercials. Musical numbers were also a frequent feature. Burnett and her team struck gold with the original skit "The Family", which eventually was spun off into its own television show called Mama's Family, starring Vicki Lawrence.

Burnett opened most shows with an impromptu question and answer session with the audience, lasting a few minutes, during which she often demonstrated her ability to humorously ad lib. On numerous occasions, she obliged when asked to perform her trademark Tarzan yell.

Burnett ended each show by tugging on her left ear, which was a message to her grandmother who raised her. This was done to let her know that she was doing well and that she loved her. During the show's run, Burnett's grandmother died. On an Intimate Portrait episode on Burnett, she tearfully recalled her grandmother's last moments: "She said to my husband Joe from her hospital bed 'Joe, you see that spider up there?' There was no spider, but Joe said he did anyhow. She said 'Every few minutes a big spider jumps on that little spider and they go at it like RABBITS!!' And then she died. There's laughter in everything!" Burnett continued the tradition of tugging her ear.

The Carol Burnett Show ceased production in 1978, Four post-script episodes were produced and aired on ABC during the summer of 1979 under the title, Carol Burnett and Company basically using the same format and, with the exception of Harvey Korman and Lyle Waggoner, the same supporting cast. Beginning in 1977, the comedy sketches of Burnett's series were edited into half-hour episodes entitled Carol Burnett and Friends, which, for many years, proved to be extremely popular in syndication.

Other roles

Burnett starred in a few films while her variety show was running, including Pete 'n' Tillie (1972). She was nominated for an Emmy in 1974 for her role in the drama 6 Rms Riv Vu. After her show ended, Burnett assumed a number of roles that departed from comedy. She appeared in several dramatic roles, most notably in the television movie Friendly Fire. She appeared as Beatrice O'Reilly in the film Life of The Party: The Story of Beatrice, a story about a woman fighting her alcoholism. Her other film work includes The Four Seasons (1981), Annie (1982), and Noises Off (1992). She also returned in 2005 to star in a different role as Queen Aggravain in the movie version of Once Upon a Mattress. She guest starred in Season 2 of Desperate Housewives as Bree's step-mother, Elanor Mason.

Burnett was the first celebrity to appear on the children's series Sesame Street, on that series' first episode on November 10, 1969. She also made occasional returns to the stage in the 1970s and 80s. In 1974, she appeared at The Muny Theater in St. Louis, Missouri in I Do! I Do! with Rock Hudson, and eleven years later, she took the supporting role of Carlotta Campion in the 1985 concert performance of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. Burnett made frequent appearances as a panelist on the game show Password, an association she maintained until the early 1980s.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Burnett made several attempts at starting a new variety program. She also appeared briefly on The Carol Burnett Show's "The Family" sketches spinoff, Mama's Family, as her stormy character, Eunice Higgins. She played the matriarch in the cult comedy miniseries Fresno, which parodied the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest. She returned to TV in the mid-1990s as a supporting character on the sitcom Mad About You, playing Theresa Stemple, the mother of main character Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt), for which she won another Emmy Award. She was back on Broadway in 1995 after an absence of 30 years in Moon Over Buffalo, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. Four years later, she appeared in the Broadway revue Putting It Together.

Burnett has long been a fan of the soap opera All My Children. She realized a dream when Agnes Nixon created the role of Verla Grubbs for her in 1976. Burnett played the long-lost daughter of Langley Wallingford (Louis Edmonds) and causing trouble for her stepmother Phoebe Tyler-Wallingford (Ruth Warrick). She made occasional appearances on the soap in each decade thereafter. She hosted a 25th anniversary special about the show in 1995 and made a brief cameo appearance as Verla Grubbs on the January 5, 2005 episode which celebrated the show's 35th anniversary. Burnett reprised her role as Grubbs in September 2011 as part of the series' finale.

In 2008, Burnett had her second role as an animated character, in the film Horton Hears a Who!. Her first was in The Trumpet of the Swan in 2001. In 2009, she made a guest appearance on the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, for which she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. In November 2010, she guest starred on an episode of Glee as the mother of cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester. In 2012 she had another voice role in The Secret World of Arrietty.

Burnett has been open to her fans, never refusing to give an autograph, and has limited patience for "Those who've made it, then complain about loss of privacy."

Personal life

She married Don Saroyan on December 15, 1955; they divorced in 1962. On May 4, 1963, Burnett married TV producer Joe Hamilton, a divorced father of eight, who had produced her 1962 Carnegie Hall concert and would produce The Carol Burnett Show, among other projects. The couple had three daughters:

• Carrie Hamilton, born " died January 20, 2002 (died at age 38)
• Jody Hamilton, born
• Erin Hamilton, born

Their marriage ended in divorce in 1984, and Hamilton died of cancer in 1991. On November 24, 2001, Burnett married Brian Miller (principal drummer in and contractor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra), who is 23 years her junior.

In January 2002, Burnett's daughter, Carrie Hamilton, an actress and singer, died of lung and brain cancer at the age of 38. Another daughter, Erin Hamilton, is a singer. Burnett and Carrie Hamilton co-wrote Hollywood Arms, a play based on Burnett's bestselling memoir, One More Time. Sara Niemietz and Donna Lynne Champlin shared the role of Helen (the character based on Burnett); Michele Pawk played Louise, Helen's mother, and Linda Lavin played Helen's grandmother. For her performance, Pawk received the 2003 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play.

In 2010, Burnett wrote the memoir This Time Together.

She is/was good friends with Julie Andrews, Betty White, Beverly Sills.

She's the acting mentor to her protege Vicki Lawrence and the two shared a close friendship.

Lawsuits

In 2007, she sued 20th Century Fox for copyright infringement, trademark violation, invasion of privacy, and misappropriation of name and likeness over the use of an altered version of her signature closing song and the portrayal of her cleaning lady "charwoman" character in an episode of Family Guy. The lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge. The judge used Hustler Magazine v. Falwell as the general basis for the decision, ruling that the cartoon was a permissible parody of a public figure.

Awards and recognition

Emmy Awards

• 1962 " Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series, The Garry Moore Show
• 1963 " Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series, Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall and An Evening with Carol Burnett
• 1969, 1970, 1971 " Nominated for Outstanding Variety or Musical Series, The Carol Burnett Show
• 1972 " Outstanding Variety Series " Musical, The Carol Burnett Show, shared with Joe Hamilton (executive producer) and Arnie Rosen (producer)
• 1972 " Nominated for Outstanding Single Program " Variety or Musical " Variety and Popular Music, Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center
• 1973 " Nominated for Outstanding Variety Musical Series, The Carol Burnett Show, with Joe Hamilton (executive producer), and Bill Angelos, Buz Kohan, and Arnie Rosen (producers)
• 1974 " Outstanding Music-Variety Series, The Carol Burnett Show, with Joe Hamilton (executive producer) and Ed Simmons (producer)
• 1974 " Nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Drama, 6 Rms Riv Vu
• 1975 " Outstanding Comedy-Variety or Music Series, The Carol Burnett Show, with Joe Hamilton (executive producer) and Ed Simmons (producer)
• 1976, 1977, 1978 " Nominated for Outstanding Comedy-Variety or Music Series, The Carol Burnett Show, with Joe Hamilton (executive producer) and Ed Simmons (producer)
• 1977 " Nominated for Outstanding Special " Comedy-Variety or Music, Sills and Burnett at the Met, with Beverly Sills and Joe Hamilton (producer)
• 1979 " Nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special, Friendly Fire
• 1983 " Nominated for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program, Texaco Star Theater: Opening Night
• 1993 " Nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, The Larry Sanders Show
• 1995 " Nominated for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program, Men, Movies & Carol
• 1997 " Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, Mad About You
• 1998 " Nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, Mad About You
• 2002 " Nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special, Carol Burnett: Show Stoppers, with John Hamilton and Rick Hawkins (executive producers), Jody Hamilton and Mary Jo Blue (producers)
• 2009 " Nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Golden Globe Awards

• 1968 " Best TV Star " Female, The Carol Burnett Show
• 1970, 1972, 1977, 1978 " Best TV Actress " Musical/Comedy, The Carol Burnett Show
• 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979 " Nominated for Best TV Actress " Musical/Comedy, The Carol Burnett Show
• 1973 " Nominated for Best Motion Picture Actress " Musical/Comedy, Pete 'n' Tillie
• 1979 " Nominated for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role, A Wedding
• 1982 " Nominated for Best Motion Picture Actress " Comedy/Musical, The Four Seasons
• 1983 " Nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture " Comedy/Musical, Annie
• 1983 " Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice
• 1991 " Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series " Comedy/Musical, Carol & Company

Other

• Burnett received a Peabody Award in 1962.
• She was awarded the Women in Film [[Women_in_Film_Crystal_+_Lucy_Awards#THE_CRYSTAL_AWARD|Crystal Award]] in 1980.
• In 1997, she was awarded the Women in Film [[Women_in_Film_Crystal_+_Lucy_Awards#THE_LUCY_AWARD|Lucy Award]] in recognition of her excellence and innovation in her creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television.
• She was a recipient of the 2003 Kennedy Center Honors.
• President George W. Bush awarded Burnett the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 9, 2005.
• She was named the Grand Marshal of the 109th Rose Parade and the 84th Rose Bowl Game on New Year's Day in 1998.
• She was the first honoree and presenter at second annual awards ceremony of the Back Stage West Garland Awards in 1999
• On December 1, 2009, she was inducted into the California Hall of Fame at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.
• Burnett was presented a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6439 Hollywood Blvd., in front of the Hollywood Pacific Theatre where she worked, as an usher in 1957.
• Burnett was been chosen by the Kennedy Center for the 2013 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. She is the first woman to win both the Mark Twain Prize and the Kennedy Center Honors, which she received in 2003.

Work

Television

• The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show (regular in 1955)
• Stanley (1956"1957)
• Omnibus (October 1956)
• The Garry Moore Show (regular from 1959"1962)
• The Jack Benny Program (guest appearances in 1962 and 1963)
• Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall (1962)
• The Twilight Zone (played Agnes Grep in episode "Cavender Is Coming" " 1962)
• An Evening with Carol Burnett (1963)
• Calamity Jane (1963)
• Once Upon a Mattress (1964)
• The Entertainers (1964"1965)
• The Lucy Show (special guest star-4 episodes-1966)
• [[Carol + 2]] (1967)
• Get Smart (1967) as "Ozark" Annie Jones in Season 3 episode "One of Our Olives Is Missing"
• The Carol Burnett Show (1967"1978)
• Here's Lucy (Guest Appearance - 1968)
• The Carol Burnett Show in London (1970)
• Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center (1971)
• Sesame Street (1971) giving a lecture about noses
• Once Upon a Mattress (1972)
• 6 Rms Riv Vu (1974)
• Out to Lunch (1974)
• Twigs (1975)
• The Cher Show (1975)
• Sills and Burnett at the Met (1976)
• All My Children (cast member: 1976, 1983, 1995, 2005, and 2011)
• Dolly and Carol in Nashville (1978)
• The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank (1978)
• Friendly Fire (1979)
• Carol Burnett & Company (1979)
• The Tenth Month (1979)
• The Muppet Show (1980) (Guest star Season 5, Episode 15)
• Eunice (1982) (teleplay based on the Family sketches separate from Mama's Family)
• Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice (1982)
• Between Friends (1983)
• Mama's Family (cast member from 1983 to 1985)
• Burnett Discovers Domingo (1984)
• Magnum, P.I. (1984 and 1988 as Susan Johnson)
• The Laundromat (1985)
• Follies in Concert (1986)
• Fresno (1986) (miniseries)
• Plaza Suite (1987) (also executive producer)
• Carol, Carl, Whoopi and Robin (1987)
• Fame (1987) " episode Reggie and Rose (with Carrie Hamilton), broadcast April 27, 1987
• Hostage (1988)
• Julie & Carol: Together Again (1989)
• Carol & Company (1990) (canceled after one and a half seasons)
• The Carol Burnett Show (1991) (canceled after two months)
• The Larry Sanders Show (1992) " episode The Spider Episode
• The Carol Burnett Show: A Reunion (1993)
• Carol Burnett: The Special Years (1994)
• Seasons of the Heart (1994)
• Men, Movies & Carol (1994)
• Mad About You (Theresa Stemple, 1996"1999)
• Touched by an Angel (1997) " episode The Comeback (with Carrie Hamilton), broadcast November 23, 1997
• The Marriage Fool (1998)
• Putting It Together (2000)
• Carol Burnett: Show Stoppers (2001) (also executive producer)
• The Carol Burnett Show: Let's Bump Up the Lights (2004) (also executive producer)
• Once Upon a Mattress (2005) (also executive producer)
• Desperate Housewives (2006) (guest starring role as Eleanor Mason)
• American Masters Tribute to Carol Burnett (2007)
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2009) (Emmy award-nominated guest appearance)
• The Bonnie Hunt Show (2010) (Special guest)
• Glee (2010) (Special guest star)
• Hot in Cleveland (2013) (Special guest star as Victoria's mother)

Filmography

• Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963)
• Rowan & Martin at the Movies (1968) (short subject)
• Star Spangled Salesman (1968) (short subject)
• Pete 'n' Tillie (1972)
• The Front Page (1974)
• A Wedding (1978)
• Health (1980)
• The Four Seasons (1981)
• Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981)
• Annie (1982)
• Noises Off (1992)
• Moon Over Broadway (1997) (documentary)
• Get Bruce (1999) (documentary)
• The Trumpet of the Swan (2001) (voice)
• Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There (2004) (documentary)
• Once Upon a Mattress (2005)
• Horton Hears a Who! (2008) (voice)
• Post Grad (2009)
• The Secret World of Arrietty (2012) (voice)

Stage

• Once Upon a Mattress (1959)
• Calamity Jane (1961)
• Calamity Jane (1963)
• Fade Out " Fade In (1964)
• Plaza Suite (1970)
• I Do! I Do! (1974)
• Same Time, Next Year (1977)
• Same Time, Next Year (1980)
• Follies (1985)
• Love Letters (1990)
• Company (1993)
• Moon Over Buffalo (1995)
• Putting It Together (1998)
• Broadway on Broadway (2002)