Carol Burnett Biography Quotes 24 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Carol Burnett was born on April 26, 1933, in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in a family touched by both show business and hardship. Her parents, Ina Louise (Creighton) and Joseph Thomas Burnett, worked in entertainment-related jobs but struggled with alcoholism, and their marriage dissolved when Carol was young. She moved to Los Angeles with her mother and was largely raised by her grandmother in a modest apartment-hotel near Hollywood Boulevard. That grandmother became a stabilizing force, and Burnett later developed a tender sign-off gesture on television, a tug on her ear, as a private hello to her. At Hollywood High School and then at UCLA, Burnett discovered performance, initially studying theater and English. She did not complete her degree; instead, a remarkable no-interest loan from a benefactor enabled her to try her luck in New York, a leap that changed her life and, soon enough, the face of American television comedy.

Breakthrough on Stage and Early Television
In New York in the 1950s, Burnett honed her craft in nightclubs and on variety programs, where her blend of vulnerability, musicality, and fearless silliness made her stand out. A novelty number, I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles, became an early calling card and showcased the comic sincerity she could bring to unlikely material. Broadway noticed. In 1959, she originated the role of Princess Winnifred in the hit musical Once Upon a Mattress, earning a Tony nomination and cementing her reputation as a powerhouse of musical comedy. Television quickly beckoned. Her run as a regular on The Garry Moore Show gave her national exposure and her first Emmy, and Moore, a generous mentor, modeled how to lead a collaborative variety hour rooted in warmth and high standards.

Friendships, Mentors, and Collaborators
Burnett benefited from steadfast champions. Lucille Ball, already a television legend, invited her to appear on The Lucy Show and offered advice, friendship, and votes of confidence at crucial moments; Burnett often recalled Ball sending flowers every year with the message, Happy Birthday, Kid. She also found a lifelong creative ally in Julie Andrews; their specials, including Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, showcased two contrasting but harmonizing sensibilities, with Burnett the irrepressible prankster and Andrews the crystalline stylist who was delighted to join the mischief. These relationships helped Burnett assert that a woman could helm large-scale variety entertainment without softening her comic attack.

The Carol Burnett Show
In 1967, Burnett launched The Carol Burnett Show on CBS, a variety-sketch institution that ran for 11 seasons. At its heart was an ensemble she nurtured and adored: Harvey Korman, with his classical precision and barely suppressed giggles; Tim Conway, a master of deadpan lunacy whose ad-libbing could topple even the steadiest co-stars; Vicki Lawrence, discovered as a teenager and developed into a formidable comedienne and singer; and Lyle Waggoner, the genial leading man. Their chemistry was magnified by the eye-popping designs of Bob Mackie, whose costumes became punchlines of their own, nowhere more famously than the parody Went with the Wind!, where Burnett descended a staircase in a gown made from curtains, complete with the rod still attached.

The show fused glamour with anarchy. Burnett moved easily from musical numbers to character sketches like the beleaguered Eunice in The Family, a portrait of ambition and frustration played for laughs and pathos opposite Lawrence as Mama. The series also introduced running gags, including Burnett's ear tug, and traditions such as welcoming Jim Nabors as the first and last guest each season. The Carol Burnett Show amassed a trove of Emmys and Golden Globes and became a weekly ritual for millions, proving that a woman could be the nerve center of a big-budget, writerly, performer-driven variety machine.

Film and Later Television
After the series concluded in 1978, Burnett moved among film, television, and stage. She played Miss Hannigan in the 1982 film version of Annie, relishing the villainy while giving the character an undercurrent of comic exasperation. She later brought her timing to ensemble farce in Noises Off (1992) and took on dramatic turns in television movies that reminded audiences of her range. On television, she created and headlined Carol & Company and returned to sketch formats in a brief revival of The Carol Burnett Show. Her guest appearances on Mad About You as Jamie's mother delivered a new generation of viewers, and she won an Emmy for those turns. Voice roles, including a regal kangaroo in Horton Hears a Who! and a winkingly named cameo in Toy Story 4, kept her in the cultural conversation well into the 21st century. In 2023, a network special celebrated her 90th birthday, with colleagues and admirers honoring her impact.

Authorship and Theater
Burnett has also been an affecting writer. Her memoir One More Time traces her journey from a challenging childhood to stardom with clarity and humor. She revisited her television years in This Time Together and In Such Good Company, gathering stories about sketches, colleagues, and the mechanics of making an hour of comedy each week. With her daughter Carrie Hamilton, she co-wrote the play Hollywood Arms, drawn from the family's early years in Los Angeles. Directed by Hal Prince and produced shortly before Carrie's death, the project became both an artistic milestone and a family testament, earning praise for its unsentimental portrait of aspiration and resilience.

Personal Life
Burnett married three times. Her first marriage, to Don Saroyan, dated from her early career; in 1963 she wed producer Joe Hamilton, who would work closely with her on The Garry Moore Show and The Carol Burnett Show. They had three daughters: Carrie, Jody, and Erin. The loss of Carrie to cancer in 2002 was a profound blow; Burnett honored her memory through advocacy and through work that reflected their collaboration and shared spirit. In 2001 she married musician Brian Miller, a partner who has supported her continued appearances and public engagements. Throughout, she has spoken with candor about family, addiction, and recovery, themes that informed her empathy as a performer and her grounded public voice.

Legacy and Honors
Carol Burnett's legacy rests on an alchemy of heart and fearlessness. She opened the door for later sketch leaders and showrunners by demonstrating that slapstick, musical pastiche, and character comedy could be orchestrated by a woman at prime time's center, week after week, without condescension and with enormous ratings. Honors have followed: multiple Emmys and Golden Globes, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. In 2019, the Golden Globes created a television lifetime achievement honor named for her, the Carol Burnett Award, making her its inaugural recipient. Yet the most enduring tribute may be the laughter she elicited while never losing sight of the people behind the jokes: the colleagues like Garry Moore, Lucille Ball, Julie Andrews, Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Bob Mackie who built wonders with her, and the family whose presence shaped her compass. From a grandmother's apartment near Hollywood Boulevard to the pinnacle of American entertainment, she proved that kindness and audacity make a formidable duet.

Our collection contains 24 quotes who is written by Carol, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Justice - Never Give Up - Writing - Learning.