Carol Burnett was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1933 to alcoholic parents.  She and her younger sister, Chrissy, moved to a Hollywood boarding house with their grandmother to escape a volatile home life.

Blessed with a talent for the imaginary, Burnett graduated from Hollywood High School and then attended UCLA, working her way through bit parts on television.  Her aspirations to act were discouraged by her mother, who thought she could write.  Carol’s mother died before seeing her debut.

In the 1950s, Burnett was noticed for a comic novelty song and appeared on the Paul Winchell Show in 1955.  She also appeared in a short-lived sitcom with Buddy Hackett and as a regular on the game show, Pantomime Quiz.  Burnett married Don Saroyan in 1955, but the marriage only lasted seven years and produced no children.

Carol’s first success came in 1959 when she appeared on Broadway in the musical “Once Upon a Mattress.”  She also became a regular on The Garry Moore Show that same year and continued until 1962.  She won an Emmy in 1962 for her performance on the show for portraying a number of characters, including the cleaning woman that would become her alter-ego.  This led to her performing as a headliner with Julie Andrews at Carnegie Hall.

In 1963, Carol wed Joe Hamilton, a TV producer and divorced father of eight.  Carol and Joe had three daughters together before divorcing in 1984.

Comedienne Lucille Ball took an interest in Burnett and had her as a guest on The Lucy show several times before offering her a sitcom produced by Desilu.  Burnett declined, deciding on a variety show instead.  So, in 1967 the Carol Burnett Show debuted and was a huge success.

The Carol Burnett Show included cast members Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner and Vicki Lawrence.  It ran for 11 years, garnered 22 Emmy Awards and numerous additional Emmy nominations every year of its run.  The sketches were comical and memorable, including spoofs of Went with the Wind and As the Stomach Turns.  One, Mama’s Family, was eventually spun off as a series for Lawrence.

The variety show kicked off many Carol Burnett trademarks, including her famous Tarzan yell, performed during many shows, and the closing of the show with an ear tug – a message to her grandmother that she was doing fine.  Her grandmother died during the show’s run.

Carol starred in other works while doing the variety show, including Pete ‘n’ Tillie in 1972.  She also appeared in Friendly Fire, Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice, The Four Seasons, Annie, and Noises Off.

Burnett also kept her contact with theatre appearing in I Do, I Do! with Rock Hudson and in Stephen Sondheim’s Follies.  She also continued her television work, by guest starring in Mama’s Family and Mad About You.  She has most recently appeared in Desperate Housewives.

In 2001, Burnett married Brian Miller, a drummer in the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra who is twenty-five years her junior.  In 2002, she lost her daughter Carrie to lung and brain cancer at the age of 38.  Burnett and Carrie had collaborated on the play Hollywood Arms, based on Burnett’s memoir, One More Time.

In 1998, Burnett served as Grand Marshall of the Rose Parade; was a recipient of the 2003 Kennedy Center Honors; received the Medal of Freedom from President Bush in 2005 and was the subject of an American Masters profile in 2007.