Burnett Carol

American comedienne on stage, in films and on TV. An outstanding performer, Burnett has won many Emmys and other awards. She tried it all, TV, theater, movies, being funny, being serious, singing, dancing, doing shtick- and turned out to be astonishingly good at all of it. The daughter of alcoholic parents who separated, she was raised primarily by her grandmother, Mabel Eudora White. She and "Nanny" left San Antonio for Hollywood when she was seven, taking a one-room apartment down the hall from her mother. Burnett recalls Nanny with great affection as a character and a protective shield. She had been married at least six times and at 81, was dating a 40-year-old jazz musician. Movies became Carols escape and alternate reality as she dreamed within herself, a quiet child. A Hollywood hometown girl, the redheaded, leggy comedienne went to Hollywood High and UCLA. Her dad died in 1954 and her mom in 1958; Burnett became the primary caretaker of her 12-year-old sister Christine from 1956. Christine later said, "She always seemed to have a great inner strength and discipline. Her grades were good because she applied herself….. Fate may have stepped in here and there, but she was ready for opportunity." In college, she headed toward journalism and cartooning, that is, until she was bitten by the stage-bug. When Burnett took a college role on stage and heard the first laugh, her path was set. She acted, she sang, she tried comedy, and for the first time in her life, had a measure of popularity. It was heady stuff after being a wallpaper nerd. With every bit of approval, her confidence grew. The doors opened when she was given a thousand-dollars to go to New York, on the stipulation that she would pay it back, keep the donor anonymous and help others who were starting out. She reached New York in August 1954, working as a hatcheck girl while organizing a show. On opening night, 3 March 1955, Burnett came onstage in a house dress and curlers to sing and skewer "Monotonous," a sexy Eartha Kitt number. She got three bows and a lot of bravos. She began collaborating with Ken Welch, who would become her longtime writer. They first met in the mid-50s when Burnett had so little money that she signed a promissory note to him for $10. In 1957, Welch came up with the song "I Lost My Heart to John Foster Dulles." Carol performed the song in her act at the Blue Angel nightclub, on the Ed Sullivan and Jack Paar shows and became the TV sensation of the year. Burnett had guested on "The Garry Moore Show and one morning the producers called her to fill in on short notice. When the live show aired, everyone realized that something big was happening. Burnett was taking the audience by storm, they couldnt get enough of her. Garry said, "Cut anything you want but dont cut a minute away from Carol." Burnett soon became a regular, at the same time as appearing on stage in "Once Upon a Mattress." TV Guide named her the favorite female performer in 1961 and again in 1962 when she won the first of six Emmy Awards. The "Carol Burnett Show" made its debut on 11 September 1967, bringing into the lexicon her singing charwoman, dimwitted secretary Mrs. Wiggins and raging Eunices dysfunctional family. She also played a young married woman who took in her younger sister, sending Vicki Lawrence off to stardom, who looked more like Carol than her own real-life sister. Mostly she pillaged the movies she loved. "Born to be Bad" became "Raised to be Rott Read less