From 1967 to 1978, we were all so glad to spend some time together on Saturday evenings with America's "other funny redhead," Carol Burnett, what with her infectious laugh, larger than life smile, gracious rapport between herself and the audience with the show's opening dialogue, madcap skits and a supporting cast of actors that were irreplaceable. Yet, this other "Queen of Comedy" had to pay her dues in many entertainment levels long before she made it to the big time.
Born Carol Creighton Burnett on April 26, 1933 in San Antonio, Texas to Joseph and Ina Louise Burnett, both who basically were unemployed most of the time and living on welfare, leaving the littlest Burnett in the care of her maternal grandmother, Mabel Eudora White
By the late 1930's, Burnett's parents were divorced, inspiring grandmother White to move Burnett and herself to an apartment in the vicinity of the mother's home in a less desirable section of Hollywood. By the years 1954 and 1957, however, both of Burnett's parents passed away due to the effects of alcoholism.
As a teen, Burnett enrolled in Hollywood High School, graduating in 1951 with a plan to pursue a major in journalism in college. Winning a scholarship to the University of California, Burnett's career interest changed to the areas of English and theatre arts, with a concentration towards becoming a playwright. University productions beckoned to her, and she soon became known as a regular performer of musical and comedic versatility.
During 1954, while in her junior year, Burnett and boyfriend Don Saroyan dropped out of college and departed for New York towards a career in acting. At the end of 1955, Burnett, working as a hatcheck girl and beating the pavement auditioning, finally landed a role of a ventriloquist dummy's girlfriend on "The Winchell-Mahoney Show." This exposure led her to yet another role on a short-lived series, "Stanley," with Buddy Hackett, airing from 1956 to 1957.
When 1957 rolled around, Burnett had established herself amongst New York's night clubs and cabarets, basically over the musical spoof "I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles," which eventually was reenacted on "The Tonight Show" " and "Toast of the Town."
Burnett opened Off-Broadway in April 1959 with "Once Upon a Mattress," a musical version of "The Princess and the Pea," which proved to be a smashing hit for the young thespian, as well as a stepping stone to a regular spot on "The Garry Moore Show." The show ran until 1962, earning Burnett an Emmy.
CBS discovered her star qualities, and honored Burnett with a ten year contract, covering such projects as the TV special, "Julie and Carol and Carnegie Hall," which earned Burnett an Emmy for Outstanding Musical, and two other Julie/Carol specials in 1971 and 1989. Several other projects did not pan out, including the series "The Entertainers" (1964-65), and the Broadway musical "Fade Out, Fade In," which Burnett had to back out of due to an injury sustained in a taxi cab mishap. The actress was sued for breach of contract, but the lawsuit was eventually dismissed.
As 1967 unfolded, Burnett was granted by CBS her own variety program, "The Carol Burnett Show," which was to be produced by Joe Hamilton, who became Burnett's second husband in 1963 after the dissolution of the first marriage to college sweetheart, Don Saroyan.
Starting out on rocky ground, the show eventually became a fantastic success, especially when it was moved to Saturdays, late evening, and followed the popular line-up of "All in the Family," "Mash," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," and "The Bob Newhart Show."
The cast was one in a million, and included Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner and Tim Conway. With everyone's incredible talents combined, the show accumulated twenty-two Emmy Awards by the time the show ended in March 1978, with inevitable syndication retitling it as "Carol Burnett and Friends."
As the late 1970's and early '80's approached, Burnett found considerable success in such movies as "The Wedding" (1978), and "Annie" (1984), proclaiming that the field of comedy was far more challenging to work within than drama.
Burnett's most memorable performances were found in "Pete and Tillie" (1972), with actor Walter Matthau, and the made for TV movie "Friendly Fire" (1979), about Burnett as a mother whose son is killed by friendly fire in the Vietnam War. Stage performances in the 1970's and 1980's included "I Do! I Do! with actor Rock Hudson, along with many New York and Los Angeles Stephen Sondheim productions.
"Carol and Company," debuting in 1990, was Burnett's next adventure, in which she performed in front of a live crowd with a theatre repertory group. Alas, the show was short-lived, and Burnett moved on to produce and star in a new CBS show called "The Carol Burnett Show." In 1995, after quite a long departure, Burnett returned to Broadway to appear in the comedy "Moon Over Buffalo," wowing the audiences and earning a Tony Award nomination.
Burnett joined up with the cast of "Mad About You," guest-starring between 1996-99 as the mother of the main character, played by actress Helen Hunt, and earned an Emmy Award in 1997 For Outstanding Guest Actress In a Comedy. Starting in 1999, Burnett went on to star in "Putting It Together," a musical spotlighting Stephen Sondheim songs. Burnett also published her autobiography, "One More Time" in 1986.
False accusations against Burnett surfaced in 1981 when the tabloid "The National Enquirer" published an article citing Burnett with a drunken incident in public. Burnett lucratively sued the paper for libel and won with a verdict of one point six million dollars, which was later appealed with an out of court settlement.
In 1982, Burnett separated from Joe Hamilton, followed by a divorce in 1984, and his death in 1991. From that marriage Burnett had three daughters, Carrie, Jody and Erin. Burnett encountered a much advertised drug problem with her daughter, Carrie, who had starred with her mother in a 1987 made for TV movie "Hostage." Burnett supported her daughter through the ordeal, and Carrie recovered from her addiction. In 2002, unfortunately, Carrie Hamilton succumbed to a pneumonia/cancer combination illness.
Some of Burnett's most recent work includes "Hollywood Arms" (2002), a Broadway project created by both Burnett and late daughter, Carrie, also lending her voice as a kangaroo in the movies "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who!" (2008), and an appearance in "Post Grad" (2009).
Burnett decided to try marriage a second time, tying the knot with musician Brian Miller in 2001. They have happily made their home in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Carol Burnett, an actress with never ending talents. We look forward to what she has to bring to both future stage and screen entertainment.