Carol Burnett credits luck and kindness for career spanning many years: ‘I got a little angel here someplace’

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Carol Burnett has loved a seven-decade career in present enterprise, breaking limitations for ladies in comedy and staying lively as ever at 90 years of age.

She stars on “Palm Royale” on AppleTV+ alongside Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney and Laura Dern.

Despite her expertise, her legendary career could not have occurred with out a few fortunate breaks she gratefully acknowledges.

In a current interview on “WTF with Marc Maron,” whereas recounting her many serendipitous circumstances, Burnett stated, “I got a little angel here somewhere.”

Close up of Carol Burnett in green

Carol Burnett described a number of the astonishing fortunate breaks in her life, saying, “I got a little angel here somewhere.” (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

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Her fortunate streak started when Burnett was about to graduate highschool and desperately needed to attend UCLA however couldn’t afford the tutoring.

She recalled on “WTF” that it value $43 a time period in 1951. Her household’s lease was $30 a month on the time, an quantity they may barely afford.

She was decided to attend and stated on “The Howard Stern Show” in 2015, “I knew I was going to go. It wasn’t like I wished for it or was hoping for it. I saw myself on campus. And I didn’t know how I was going to get there, but I knew it was going to happen.”

Then, by probability, an envelope addressed to her with $50 appeared in her mailbox. She famous on “WTF” it had been typed, so there was no handwriting to research, and though it had a stamp, it hadn’t truly been mailed. It was positioned within the mailbox.

carol brunette black and white

Burnett stated she acquired $50 in her mailbox with no clarification, which helped pay her tuition for UCLA and got her into theater and performing. (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)

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“To this day, I don’t know where that came from. Because we didn’t have that kind of money,” Burnett stated, including “everybody was poor” in her constructing, so it was unlikely to have been a beneficiant neighbor.

At UCLA, Burnett meant to pursue journalism like her mom, however there was no particular main for the sector, so she enrolled as a theater arts/English main.

She was required to take an performing class, and that’s the place she got her first style of laughter.

“I wasn’t really ready to do the acting thing, but I had no choice. The first show I was ever in was a student-written one-act script, and I played a hillbilly girl,” Burnett advised the Toronto Star in 2009.

Black and white photo of Carol Burnett making a silly pose

Burnett recalled getting her first chuckle in a school present, telling the Toronto Star, “Everything changed for me.” (CBS through Getty Images)

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“Don’t ask me why, but when we were in front of the audience, I suddenly decided I was going to stretch out all my words and my first line came out, `I’m baaaaaaaack!’

“They laughed,” she continued. “They laughed and it felt nice. All of a sudden, after a lot coldness and vacancy in my life, I knew the feeling of all that heat wrapping round me. I had at all times been a quiet, shy, unhappy kind of woman, and then every part modified for me. You spend the remainder of your life hoping you’ll hear a chuckle that nice once more.”

Burnett’s next opportunity came from a generous benefactor.

After performing at a party in San Diego alongside some fellow students, Burnett and her boyfriend were approached by a man and his wife who, after learning they wanted to move to New York after graduation, offered them each a $1000 loan.

“I got a little angel here somewhere.”

— Carol Burnett

The loan was interest-free, and the man requested that she pay it back in five years if she could, never reveal his name and someday show the same generosity should she become successful.

“His spouse advised me he had additionally helped any individual begin a restaurant and one other particular person run a gasoline station. He favored the folks he picked and felt that that they had a probability and have been honest, so he sponsored them,” Burnett told People. “Somebody had helped him get his begin on this nation. So he was paying it ahead.”

On “WTF,” Burnett noted she paid him back, and true to her word, she’s never revealed his name.

“Weird issues occur like that,” she added of these generous breaks.

A black and white photo of Carol Burnett making a funny face

Burnett was loaned $1,000 by a generous benefactor, so she could move to New York. (Getty Images)

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Once in New York, Burnett landed her breakout Broadway role in “Once Upon a Mattress” through pure talent, but the timing did prove to be somewhat magical.

At the time, Burnett thought she had secured a role in a show but was turned down because she wasn’t a big enough star. Her younger sister, Chrissie, was living with her at the time and told her, “You know the cliché, one door closes one other one opens.”

According to Burnett, the phone rang “that immediate” with a call from the producers of “Once Upon a Mattress,” asking her to audition for George Abbott, a director she had long wanted to work with. She auditioned and arrived home to another phone call telling her she got the part.

Burnett was nominated for a Tony award for her work on the show, and it launched her to superstardom.

Black and white photo of Carol Burnett in costume for Once Upon a Mattress

Burnett earned her breakout role in the Broadway show “Once Upon a Mattress” the same day she lost another part in a different show. (Getty Images)

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It’s additionally how she met lifelong good friend Julie Andrews, who she described as a “long-lost sister” on “WTF.”

They appeared together in the televised special “Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall” in 1962, earning an Emmy for outstanding program achievement in the field of music and an Emmy for Burnett for her performance.

Last year, Burnett celebrated her 90th birthday with a two-hour special and a host of celebrity friends, including Andrews.

“One factor I’ve at all times stated is that she’s very bawdy in a good sense of the phrase,” Burnett told Fox News Digital at the time. “And very humorous. She gave me class after I labored along with her. And she stated I allowed her to be foolish. It was fantastic to have her there. She sat with me the entire night. She flew out simply for this. It was so candy. I used to be simply so touched.”

Carol Burnett in pink jacket and Julie Andrews in blue jacket at Carol Burnett event

Burnett described Andrews as a “long-lost sister” on “WTF with Marc Maron.” (Kevin Winter)

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Burnett also made another life-long connection with fellow comedian Lucille Ball, who recognized her talent and offered support and mentorship.

“She by no means tried to present me any recommendation,” Burnett told Fox News Digital in 2019. “She was not one to present any sort of recommendation. She simply supported me. And we had enjoyable working collectively. Having enjoyable was so vital to us.”

Burnett and Ball appeared on a special together and remained friendly until Ball’s death in 1989.

On “WTF,” Burnett said, “She despatched me flowers on my birthday yearly,” with a card that said, “Happy Birthday, child.”

The day Ball died happened to be Burnett’s 56th birthday, and Burnett remembered turning on the news that day and learning Ball had died. 

“And I got her flowers that afternoon,” she said fondly.

Carol Burnett wearing a yellow dress next to Lucille Ball wearing a blue dress

Burnett revealed on “WTF” that Lucille Ball sent her flowers every day on her birthday, including the day the late comedienne died. (Getty Images)

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The chance circumstances that helped Burnett along the way are more than outmatched by her work ethic. She headlined her own comedy variety show, “The Carol Burnett Show,” for 11 years, bringing in 25 Emmys, as well as Golden Globes and a Grammy for her other work.

She’s also starred in films like “Annie” and made numerous television appearances, most recently in “Better Call Saul” and “Palm Royale,” as a part of a nonetheless thriving performing career.

“I at all times strategy it as one thing new that I’ve by no means carried out earlier than, so I’m simply glad to be working and that I’ve got all my elements,” she told Extra at the premiere of “Palm Royale.” “I’ve my hips and my knees — and I believe my mind. So, so long as I can hold that up and work, then I wish to work.”

Burnett will turn 91 April 26 and told the outlet the best gift would be a second season for “Palm Royale.”

“That’ll hold me working, which I like. Yes, so long as I’ve enjoyable, and that is what I would like.”

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