CAROL BURNETT
Comedian, Actress, Dancer, Singer, TV, Theater and Movie star
"WHEN YOU HAVE A DREAM, YOU'VE GOT TO GRAB IT AND NEVER LET IT GO" Such is the philosophy that Carol Burnett has carried with her all of her life. Comedian, Actress, Singer, Dancer, and TV, Theater and Movie Star are all credits Carol has accumulated throughout her career. She had a dream and never let it go.
Carol Burnett was born on 26 April 1936 in San Antonio, Texas. From an impoverished childhood through almost every kind of personal problem imaginable, she built a unique career in a tough business and managed to keep her gentleness, kindness and humor. Little is known about her parents, only that they were both alcoholics and her father deserted the family when Carol was 8 years old. She went to live with her grandmother in a one-room apartment in Hollywood, California and existed on welfare. "Nanny" had her own problems. She was manipulative, possessive and a hypochondriac but managed to make Carol feel loved, cared for and helped her develop a strong sense of self and a drive to succeed.
When Carol was attending the University of California in Los Angeles on a scholarship, she took a playwriting class that required acting and discovered she loved it. She immediately changed her major from Journalism to Theater and signed up for singing, dancing and acting classes. In her Junior year, she and a fellow student performed a duet from "Annie Get Your Gun" for a private party. One of the wealthy guests was so impressed that he gave each of them $1000 to stake their travel to New York to try their luck on the stage. Once she got there, she took a job as a hat-check girl to pay her bills and lived at the "Rehersal Hall", a hotel for aspiring actresses. She organized the girls living at the hotel, pooled their money, rented a hall and staged a revue for all the agents and reviewers she could talk into coming. Carol did a spoof on Eartha Kitt's sexy "Monotonous", performed in a ragged bathrobe and curlers. Her performance won her an agent who secured employment for her in summer stock and nightclubs. Carol was on her way.
NOTABLE DATES 1957 - Carol made a national name for herself with the song "I Made A Fool Of Myself Over
John Foster Dulles" (Sec. of State under Eisenhower).
Carol in Lincoln Center" with Julie Andrews.
Jody and Erin.
Kenneth Mars.
