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Carol Creighton
Burnett (b.
April, 1933 in
San Antonio,
Texas) is an
Emmy
Award-winning
actress,
comedian,
singer, dancer,
and writer and
is known for
her long and
successful
entertainment
career. Burnett
started her
career in New
York. After
becoming a hit
on Broadway,
she debuted on
television.
After
successful
appearances on
The Garry Moore
Show, Carol
moved to Los
Angeles and
began an
eleven-year run
on the highly
acclaimed 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
combining
comedy
sketches, song,
and dance. The
comedy sketches
ranged from
movie parodies
to character
pieces which
featured the
many talents of
Burnett herself
who created and
played several
well-known and
distinctive
characters.
Early
life
Burnett was
born in San
Antonio, Texas
to Jody and
Louise Burnett.
Both of her
parents,
particularly
her father,
suffered from
alcoholism, and
at a young age
she was left
with her
grandmother.
Burnett moved
to Hollywood,
California with
her grandmother
where she was
raised in a
boarding
house.
When Burnett
was in the
fourth grade
she created for
a short time,
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."
She graduated
from Hollywood
High School and
then attended
University of
California, Los
Angeles,
eventually
working her way
up through bit
parts on TV.
Burnett's
mother
disapproved of
Carol's acting
desires: "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."
Mrs. Burnett
died while
Carol was still
looking to gain
a foothold in a
Broadway
role.
Career
Early
career
After several
minor
appearances in
theater and
television,
Burnett was
first noticed
in the
mid-1950s with
a comic novelty
love song "I
Made a Fool of
Myself Over
John Foster
Dulles" (Dulles
was Secretary
of State at the
time).
Burnett also
appeared during
this time in an
NBC sitcom,
Stanley, with
Buddy Hackett,
which lasted
one season. She
also appeared
as a regular on
one of
television's
earliest game
shows,
Pantomime
Quiz.
Burnett's first
true taste of
success came
with her
appearance on
Broadway in the
1959 musical
Once Upon a
Mattress. In
the same year,
she became a
regular player
on The Garry
Moore Show,
which she would
continue until
1962.
She won an Emmy
in 1962 for her
"Outstanding
Performance in
a Variety or
Musical Program
or Series" on
the show.
Burnett
portrayed a
number of
characters,
most memorably
a put-upon
cleaning woman.
With her
success on the
Moore show, she
finally rose to
headliner
status and
appeared in the
1962 special
Julie and Carol
at Carnegie
Hall,
co-starring her
friend Julie
Andrews.
Comedy legend
Lucille Ball
became a friend
and mentor to
Burnett, and
after having
the younger
performer guest
star on The
Lucy Show a
number of
times, Ball
reportedly
offered Burnett
her own sitcom,
to be produced
by Desilu.
Burnett
declined the
offer, however,
deciding
instead to put
together a
variety show.
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,
the flowers
Lucy had
arranged
arrived at
Burnett's
house, with the
note "Happy
Birthday, Kid.
Love,
Lucy."
"The
Carol
Burnett
Show"
The hour-long
Carol Burnett
Show debuted in
1967, and was a
huge success,
garnering 22
Emmy Awards.
Its ensemble
cast included
Tim Conway (who
was a guest
player until
the 9th
season), Harvey
Korman, Lyle
Waggoner, and
the teenaged
Vicki Lawrence
(who was cast
partly because
she looked like
a young
Burnett). The
network 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.
Burnett became
known for her
Tarzan yell
during many
shows, and for
ending each
show by tugging
her ear, which
was a message
to the
grandmother who
had raised her
to let her know
that she was
doing well and
that she loved
her.
The show also
became known
for its closing
theme song,
with the
following
lyrics:
I'm so glad we
had this time
together
Just to have a
laugh and sing
a song
Seems we just
got started and
before you know
it
Comes the time
we have to say,
'So long.'
During the
show's run,
Burnett's
grandmother
died. On the
Lifetime
Channel's
"Intimate
Portrait"
biography 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!"
The Carol
Burnett Show
ceased
production in
1977, and is
generally
regarded as the
last successful
major network
variety show,
to date. It
continues to
have success in
syndicated
reruns. During
this time, she
was open to her
fans, never
refusing to
give an
autograph and
had limited
patience for
"Those who've
made it, then
complain about
loss of
privacy."
Other
roles and
appearances
Burnett starred
in a few films,
while her
variety show
was running,
including "Pete
and Tillie"
(1972). After
the 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, Annie,
and Noises
Off.
Burnett also
made occasional
returns to the
stage: 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.
Burnett was
also the very
first celebrity
to appear on
the hit
children's
series, Sesame
Street, on that
series's first
episode on
November 10,
1969.
In the 1980s
and 1990s, she
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 also
appeared in the
miniseries
Fresno, which
mirrored the
nighttime soap
opera Falcon
Crest; Burnett
played the
matriarch.
Burnett
returned to TV
in the
mid-1990s as a
supporting
character on
the sitcom Mad
About You when
she played
Theresa
Stemple, the
mother of main
character Jamie
Buchman (Helen
Hunt).
Burnett has
long been a
vocal fan of
the soap opera
All My
Children. She
realized a
dream when
Agnes Nixon
created the
role of Verla
Grubbs for her.
Burnett
suddenly found
herself playing
the long-lost
daughter of
Langley
Wallingford
(Louis
Edmonds), and
raising hell
for her
stepmother
Phoebe
Tyler-Wallingford
(the late Ruth
Warrick). She
hosted a 25th
anniversary
special about
the show in
1995 and made a
brief cameo as
Verla Grubbs on
the January 5,
2005 episode
celebrating the
35th
anniversary of
the program.
Due to
scheduling
conflicts, the
scene was shot
on the Los
Angeles set of
General
Hospital
instead of the
New York City
set where All
My Children is
taped.
Burnett most
recently
appeared on the
popular
television
program
Desperate
Housewives
playing
Eleanor, the
cold stepmother
of lead
character Bree
Van De Kamp
(portrayed by
Marcia Cross).
Burnett is also
rumored to make
a guest
appearance on
season 4 of
NBC's "The
Office."
Lawsuits
Burnett drew
attention in
1981, when she
sued the
National
Enquirer for
libel after the
tabloid
newspaper
described her
alleged public
drunkenness,
purportedly
with Henry
Kissinger.
Burnett was
particularly
sensitive to
the accusations
because of her
parents' own
alcoholism. The
case was a
landmark for
libel cases
involving
celebrities,
although the
unprecedented
$1.6 million
verdict for
Burnett was
reduced to
about $800,000
on appeal, and
eventually
settled out of
court.
She donated a
portion of that
award to the
University of
Hawaii saying
she hoped the
suit would
teach aspiring
journalists the
dangers of
defaming
individuals in
articles. The
money was used
to fund Law and
Ethics courses
at the school.
Burnett said at
the time that
she didn't care
if she just won
"carfare", and
that the
lawsuit was a
matter of
principle.
In March 2007,
she sued 20th
Century Fox for
copyright
infringement,
trademark
violation,
statutory
violation of
right 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 charwoman
character in an
episode of
Family Guy.
As of May 26,
2007, the
lawsuit has
been
tentatively
dismissed by a
Los Angeles
federal
judge.
Personal
and family
life
The
first
house
Burnett
lived in
was the
Beverly
Hills
house
formerly
owned by
Harry
James and
Betty
Grable.
Growing up
in rented
rooms, a
home was
"a luxury"
as "A
Murphy bed
was idea
of
spacious."
She married Don
Saroyan on
December 15,
1955; the
couple divorced
in 1962. On May
4, 1963,
Burnett married
TV producer Joe
Hamilton, a
divorced father
of eight, with
whom she had
three
daughters:
actress and
writer Carrie
Hamilton, Jody
Hamilton and
singer Erin
Hamilton. The
marriage ended
in divorce in
1984, and Joe
Hamilton later
died of cancer.
In 2001, she
married Brian
Miller
(principal
drummer in the
Hollywood Bowl
Orchestra), a
man twenty-five
years her
junior.
Personal
tragedy struck
Burnett in
January 2002
when her
daughter Carrie
Hamilton died
of lung and
brain cancer at
the age of 38.
Carrie Hamilton
was addicted to
drugs as a
teenager, but
overcame it
with her
husband's help.
Burnett and her
daughter wrote
a play
together,
Hollywood Arms,
adapted from
Burnett's
bestselling
memoir, One
More Time. The
Broadway
production
featured Linda
Lavin as
Burnett's
character's
beloved
grandmother.
Her younger
sister,
Chrissy,
married and
later divorced
actor Will
Hutchins.
Awards
and
recognition
Burnett was a
recipient of
the 2003
Kennedy Center
Honors at the
age of 70.
President
George W. Bush
awarded Burnett
the
Presidential
Medal of
Freedom on
November 9,
2005.
Source : Some
of the
information on
this page came
from a
Wikipedia
article and is
licensed under
the GNU
Documentation
License.
©2008
www.geneticmatrix.com
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Carol
Burnett - Generator
-
Biography