Carol Burnett Age: Birth Date, Career, And Biography

Carol Burnett is 93 years old, born on April 26, 1933, in San Antonio, Texas. As a trailblazing American actress, comedian, singer, and writer, she shaped the landscape of television comedy through her groundbreaking variety program, The Carol Burnett Show, which ran on CBS for eleven seasons from 1967 to 1978.

Understanding her enduring legacy requires looking beyond basic biographical stats to examine how a lonely childhood in Hollywood evolved into a seven-decade career that redefined television history.

Early Life and Hardship in Texas and California

Born Carol Creighton Burnett to parents struggling with alcoholism, she spent her early years in San Antonio under the primary care of her grandmother, Mabel Eudora White. During the Great Depression, she and her grandmother moved to a dingy rooming house near Hollywood, California. They lived on welfare stamps and shared a single room while her mother and younger sister lived just down the hall.

Despite financial scarcity, Burnett found solace in local movie theaters, watching double features and memorizing lines from films starring her idols, such as Betty Grable and James Cagney. She attended Hollywood High School and later enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles, initially intending to study journalism and playwriting. A mandatory theater arts course changed her trajectory when a professor cast her in a campus play, sparking a passion for performing that led her straight to the New York stage. More journalism by Bloomberg explores comparable perspectives on the subject.

The Road to Stardom: New York and Early Television

Moving to New York City in the mid-1950s proved daunting. Burnett spent her first months sharing a women's boarding house, working odd jobs as an usherette and a hat-check girl to pay rent. Her big break arrived when she landed a role in the off-Broadway musical Once Upon a Mattress in 1959, which quickly transferred to Broadway and turned her into a rising theatrical commodity.

Television producers quickly took notice. From 1959 to 1962, she joined The Garry Moore Show as a regular cast member, winning her first Primetime Emmy Award in 1962. That same year, she starred alongside Julie Andrews in the critically acclaimed television special Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, cementing her status as a premier television entertainer with a rare blend of vocal talent and physical comedy.

The Definitive Era: The Carol Burnett Show

CBS offered Burnett her own weekly variety series in 1967. Though network executives doubted that a woman could successfully helm a sketch comedy variety show—a format dominated by men—Burnett held firm to her contract stipulations, which required the network to give her a variety series for five years.

The Carol Burnett Show ran for 11 seasons, producing 279 episodes and winning 25 Emmy Awards. The ensemble cast—featuring Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Tim Conway, and Lyle Waggoner—delivered iconic recurring sketches, unforgettable parodies of classic films like Gone with the Wind, and unscripted Q&A segments where Burnett interacted directly with the live studio audience.

Her signature ear-tug at the end of each episode was a private message to her grandmother, signaling her love across the television screen.

Notable Film, Stage, and Later Television Roles

When her variety show ended in 1978, Burnett transitioned seamlessly into dramatic and comedic film and stage work.

• Film Work: She starred as Miss Hannigan in the 1982 film adaptation of Annie, played opposite Alan Alda in The Four Seasons, and appeared in Robert Altman's A Wedding.
• Broadway: She earned a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the farce Moon Over Buffalo in 1995.
• Television Guest Stardom: She won an additional Emmy Award for her recurring guest role as Jamie Lee Curtis's mother on the sitcom Mad About You.
• Recent Appearances: Never truly retiring, she made memorable guest appearances in later hits, including Better Call Saul, Hacks, and the Apple TV+ period comedy series Palm Royale.

In 2019, the Golden Globes established the Carol Burnett Award to honor lifetime achievement in television, presenting her as the inaugural recipient.

Personal Life and Philanthropy

Burnett has been married three times. Her first marriage to Don Saroyan lasted from 1955 to 1962. Her second marriage was to television producer Joe Hamilton in 1963, with whom she shared three daughters: Carrie, Jody, and Erin. The couple divorced in 1984. In 2001, she married musician Brian Miller.

Tragedy struck the family in 2002 when her eldest daughter, Carrie Hamilton, passed away from pneumonia as a complication of cancer at the age of 38. In Carrie's honor, Burnett helped establish the Carrie Hamilton Theatre at the Pasadena Playhouse, supporting young playwrights and artists.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many times was Carol Burnett married?

She has been married three times: to Don Saroyan (1955–1962), Joe Hamilton (1963–1984), and Brian Miller (m. 2001).

What was the inspiration behind Carol Burnett's ear-tug gesture?

She tugged her left earlobe at the end of every television broadcast to signal hello to her grandmother, who raised her in Hollywood.

Did Carol Burnett win an EGOT?

No, she has won Emmy, Grammy, and Tony awards, but she does not possess a competitive Oscar, meaning she is not an EGOT winner. She won her Grammy in 2016 for her bestselling audiobook memoir, In Such Good Company.

How long did her signature variety show run?

The Carol Burnett Show aired on CBS for 11 seasons spanning from 1967 to 1978, totaling 279 episodes.