Carol Burnett

Carol spent most of her childhood in a less-than-glamorous section of Hollywood and attended UCLA before heading to New York. It was a rough beginning as jobs were tough until Carol staged her own musical revue, featuring her out-of-work roommates from a theatrical boarding house performing material by unemployed writers and composers. Soon offers for summer stock and 13 weeks' work on Paul Winchell's TV show followed. Shortly thereafter, while performing at The Blue Angel in New York, she was spotted by talent bookers from both "The Jack Paar Show" and "The Ed Sullivan Show."

After guest spots on Garry Moore's morning TV show of the time, Carol went on to make an appearance on the evening telecast of "The Garry Moore Show." During the first year of the "Garry Moore Show," she simultaneously performed the lead role in the off-Broadway musical, "Once Upon a Mattress." The show was an instant hit and later moved to Broadway. In 1967, Carol returned to Los Angeles to begin what would become the longest-running musical comedy variety show in television history: the Emmy winning "The Carol Burnett Show."

Carol has also starred in a variety of film and television projects since she made the conscious decision to bring "The Carol Burnett Show" to an end in 1978. Other productions include the critically acclaimed and highly rated musical special "Julie and Carol: Together Again" and in 1998 the telefilm "The Marriage Fool," in which she again co-starred with Walter Matthau. Additional feature films include "The Four Seasons," "Chu Chu and the Philly Flash," "Annie," (directed by John Huston), and two films directed by Robert Altman, "Health" and "A Wedding"

Carol Burnett has indeed done much to be proud of; however, her sources of greatest pride are her three daughters, Carrie, Jody and Erin Hamilton.