Carol Burnett

Carol Burnett was one of the most popular and honored entertainers of her era -- a gifted comedienne who was arguably best known for her classic television variety series, she also enjoyed success on record, on stage and on the big screen. Born in San Antonio, TX on April 26, 1933, Burnett was raised primarily by her grandmother in Los Angeles, later studying theatre arts and English at UCLA. Summer stock work followed before she relocated to New York City, where she first attracted attention on the local club circuit; she soon became a frequent guest on TV variety programs, typically singing her rock & roll parody "I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles." After co-starring in the short-lived 1956 sitcom Stanley, Burnett finally won her breakthrough role in 1959 in the off-Broadway musical hit Once Upon a Mattress; the show's success earned her a regular gig on TV's The Garry Moore Show, where she remained for three seasons and earned the first of countless Emmy awards. In 1962, Burnett teamed with Julie Andrews for the smash television special Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall; a year later, she made her feature film debut in Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? Despite Burnett's initial success, she frequently faced difficulty finding projects that properly showcased her considerable talents -- a long-term contract with the CBS network consistently failed to yield a workable premise, and so she was out of the spotlight for some time until co-starring in the 1965 Broadway musical Fade Out--Fade In. Finally, in 1967 -- the same year she issued the LP Sings -- a desperate CBS green-lighted The Carol Burnett Show, a sketch-comedy/musical variety series that also included cast members like Tim Conway and Harvey Korman; the show was an unprecedented commercial and...