Carol Burnett …. belated happy birthday!!

~~May 2, 2014~~

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.

Carol Burnett
Burnett in 1974
Born	Carol Creighton Burnett April 26, 1933 (age 81) San Antonio, Texas, US
Occupation	Actress, comedian, singer, dancer, writer
Years active	1955–present
Spouse(s)	Don Saroyan (m. 1955–62) Joe Hamilton (m. 1963–84) Brian Miller (m. 2001)
Children	Carrie Hamilton Jody Hamilton Erin Hamilton Daughter Erin is the mother of Carol’s two grandsons, Zach and Dylan

After a difficult childhood in San Antonio, Texas 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 inOnce 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, California 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.

~~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 and Larry Blyden from The Garry Moore Show, 1960.

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.“

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 sketch “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.

~~SOURCES~~ 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Burnett

http://carolburnettfan.com/lucy.html

http://www.biography.com/people/carol-burnett-9231937#synopsis&awesm=~oD7wxMOhzklZUn

http://parade.condenast.com/8865/parade/happy-80th-birthday-carol-burnett-through-the-years/

~~Carol Burnett’s farewell “TARZAN YELL”~~

~~Published on Dec 6, 2013~~

Carol Burnetts farewell “Tarzan yell”. She’s been asked to do the Tarzan yell throughout her whole career. Any or all copyrights belong to respective owners, including logos and trademarks.

~~The Carol Burnett Show – Went with the wind~~

~~Published on Oct 17, 2013~~

This is a bit long video but there is no way that one can remember Ms. Burnett without having this outstandingly funny episode come to mind.

Enjoy if you have time! 

Laughter is the best medicine. 

We ALL are ONE!!