Carol Burnett

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Carol Burnett

Carol Burnett in 2005
Born Carol Creighton Burnett
April 26, 1933 (1933-04-26) (age 75)
San Antonio, Texas, USA
Spouse(s) Don Saroyan (1955-1962)
Joe Hamilton (1963-1984)
Brian Miller (2001-present)

Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American Emmy Award-winning actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. 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.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Burnett was born in San Antonio, Texas to Jody Burnett and his wife Louise (Creighton) Burnett.[1] Both of her parents, particularly her father, suffered from alcoholism, and at a young age she was left with her grandmother, Mabel Eudoria White. Burnett moved to Hollywood, California with her grandmother where she was raised in a boarding house with her younger sister Chrissy.

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."[2]

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, while simultaneously caring for her younger sister.[2]

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career

Carol 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). Her first television appearance was on the Paul Winchell Show on December 17th, 1955. Burnett also appeared during this time in an NBC sitcom, Stanley, with Buddy Hackett, which lasted one season, as well as becoming 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 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.

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."[3]

[edit] The Carol Burnett Show

The hour-long Carol Burnett Show debuted in 1967, and was a huge success, garnering 22 Emmy Awards and won or was nominated for multiple Emmy Awards every season it was on the air. Its ensemble cast included Tim Conway (who was a guest player until the 9th season[4]), 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.[4]

Burnett became known for her acting and talent 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.

A true variety show in its simplest of forms, "The Carol Burnett Show" struck a harmonious chord with viewers through parodies of films ("Went With the Wind"), television ("As the Stomach Turns") and commercials. Burnett and team struck gold with the original skit "Mama's Family" which eventually spun off into its own television show starring Lawrence.

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.'[5]

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 1978, 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."[2]

[edit] Other roles

Burnett starred in a few films, while her variety show was running, including Pete 'n' 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.

In 2008, she did her second role as an animated character in ' 'Horton Hears a Who!' '. Her first was in "The Trumpet of the Swan"

In the 60s she made a cameo appearance on the spy comedy show Get Smart.

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. [6]

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 Hodge (portrayed by Marcia Cross). Burnett is also rumored to make a guest appearance on season 4 of NBC's "The Office."

[edit] Personal 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 [her] idea of spacious."[2]

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), who is 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 had become addicted to drugs as a teenager, but overcame the addictions with the help of her husband. Burnett and Carrie wrote a play together called Hollywood Arms, which was adapted from Burnett's bestselling memoir, One More Time. The Broadway production featured Linda Lavin as Burnett's character's beloved grandmother.

[edit] 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 and Berkeley Graduate school of Journalism 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.[7] As of May 26, 2007, the lawsuit has been dismissed by a Los Angeles federal judge.[8]

[edit] Awards and recognition

[edit] Work

[edit] Television

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Stage

[edit] References

  1. ^ That her mother's maiden name was Creighton is confirmed in Carol's autobiography "One More Time"
  2. ^ a b c d Joan Downs. "Here's to you, Mrs. Hamilton." Life (magazine). Vol. 70, No. 18, May 14, 1971. pp 93-97.
  3. ^ Mitchell Fink, The Last Days of Dead Celebrities, Miramax, July 2006, 288 pages.
  4. ^ a b Interview on Entertainment Tonight, May 22, 2006
  5. ^ http://www.nationalreview.com/bell/bell200511090809.asp Nationalreview.com Retrieved on 05-14-07
  6. ^ Muppet Wiki: Sesame Street episode 1
  7. ^ http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0316072carolburnett1.html Thesmokinggun.com Retrieved on 05-14-07
  8. ^ Carol Burnett vs. Family Guy 10 Zen Monkeys.com Retrieved on 7-3-07

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Sammy Davis, Jr., Helen Hayes, Alan King, and Jack Lemmon
44th Academy Awards		 Oscars host
45th Academy Awards (with Michael Caine, Charlton Heston, and Rock Hudson)		 Succeeded by
John Huston, David Niven, Burt Reynolds, and Diana Ross
46th Academy Awards
v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series

Cloris Leachman (1975) · Beah Richards (1988) · Colleen Dewhurst (1989) · Swoosie Kurtz (1990) · Colleen Dewhurst (1991) · Tracey Ullman (1993) · Eileen Heckart (1994) · Cyndi Lauper (1995) · Betty White (1996) · Carol Burnett (1997) · Emma Thompson (1998) · Tracey Ullman (1999) · Jean Smart (2000)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Burnett"
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