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Home , Beverly Sills, Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, The Garry Moore Show, Vicki Lawrence

2018 LEGEND AWARD America’s Clown Princess RECEIVES THE LEGEND AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENTS AND ALL SHE HAS GIVEN BACK

AROL BURNETT might have become new playwright organization. BY ALEX a journalist if UCLA had a journalism Her top charities include the Hereditary Dis- BEN BLOCK department when she was a freshman ease Foundation, which does scientifc research. in the . She likes to repay those who gave her a chance. C“If they’d had a major in journalism,” Burnett Her mentors included ’50s TV host Gary Moore said, “I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you and another funny redhead, , who now. I would have majored in journalism.” became Burnett’s great friend. Instead, she fell in love with performing and Now Burnett is a mentor and role model to a became a world-renowned comedienne, actress, newer generation. singer, author and philanthropist, and the frst When Burnett received the frst-ever Peabody woman to be the solo star of a major TV network Awards life achievement honor earlier this year, primetime comedy-variety series. the group’s executive director Jeffrey P. Jones Tonight, Burnett is receiving the said, “There would be no , Julia Press Club’s Legend Award for Lifetime Achieve- Louis-Dreyfus or without her blazing ment. It recognizes not only her roles in enter- the trail.” tainment, but also her contributions to society, “” was a hit on CBS on both an artistic and humanistic level. for 11 seasons, and averaged 30 million viewers a Burnett gives back in many ways. She pro- week. Yet in 1979 Burnett walked away from her vides scholarships for promising actors at UCLA, hit show, as she put it, before being told to leave. donates to Sundance to support emerging flm- She has continued making award-winning makers and contributes to ’s TV specials with ,

As Miss Hannigan in , with Albert Finney.

LA 26 PC Above: Her signature cry was a regular feature of her show although one night, she had a malfunction and lost it; Cinderella trying to recall her big night on the “ Show”. Far left: Closer magazine had a cover story about how she and met. Left: Playing Desmond with and .

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Clockwise from and others, starring in movies including Annie, above: Mrs. doing frequent guest spots on TV, performing on Wiggins, the Broadway and giving lectures nationwide. secretary to Tim Conway’s Mr. Through the years, Burnett never forgot her Tudwell; love of journalism, as she demonstrated in the The - 1980s after winning a bruising fve-year libel designed curtain battle with the . rod dress in “Went Her lawyers proved the notorious tabloid With the Wind” is published an erroneous, malicious article about on display in the Smithsonian; Burnett and . “When I won the Enquirer suit,” recalls Bur- Good friend, Lucille Ball, appeared on nett, “I just donated all the money to journalism her show. schools—one in Berkeley and one at the Univer- sity of Hawaii. I did it because of my interest in Opposite page: journalism. That’s what I wanted.” Burnett recalls, “We had a family powwow Mama, portrayed Even more important to Burnett was the prec- and said we must come out with this before the by Vicki Lawrence edent it struck. Enquirer does one of those terrible things, mak- clashes with “The Enquirer used to claim they were a news- ing up a lot of stuff about Carrie.” Burnett’s character, Eunice. paper,” explained Burnett, “which was their They went to People magazine, which put excuse for not carefully checking their facts. Carol and Carrie on the cover. “Then it was ruled by the judge who said, “We were the frst to do it, but it came out of ‘No, it’s not a newspaper. It’s a magazine and self-preservation,” said Burnett. “To tell our story they have time to check their facts.’ They weren’t and tell the truth.” happy about that. So now it’s a magazine, which Carrie and Carol, together and separately, went I’m very proud of.” on TV, made public appearances, visited schools Burnett didn’t start at the top. She rose from and more to share their experience and warn poverty and a broken home. When she made it, about the danger of drugs. They helped millions. she took care of her family, raised three daugh- Carrie went on to become a successful actress, ters, married three times, and has two grandsons. singer, Broadway star, writer, playwright and She also lived through any parent’s worst more. nightmare with her eldest daughter, Carrie Ham- The second tragedy for Burnett was that her ilton—twice. daughter, after winning her fght against drug First, when Carrie was in her teens, she went abuse, lost her battle against cancer. Carrie from an A to an F student because of drug addic- passed away at age 38. tion. She entered rehab three times before recov- Burnett still values every moment she had ering. with Carrie, with whom she wrote a play and a When her story started to leak out, Burnett book, and then wrote the heartfelt and wrench- feared what the Enquirer and tabloid “rags” ing Carrie and Me. might write. “The life lesson is that you can cope,” said

LA 28 PC “Yes, it bothers me a lot, said Burnett. “Because it’s not fair. It’s not right. All the reporters are doing are reporting and then to call them fake is ridiculous. That upsets me. One of my frst loves was journalism.” Despite her achievements and shelves of awards, Burnett is not slowing down. “I’m still on the road. I still act. I’m at the end of 20 appearances on my ‘Laughter & Refection’ question and answer tour,” Burnett said with a self-deprecating laugh. “I know I’m an old person but I don’t feel it inside, my goodness.” As she moves forward, Burnett’s many talents are being re-discovered by a younger generation. They watch DVDs of her shows, and stream reruns and videos on YouTube and entire episodes daily on MeTV, a digital channel. She says her old shows continue to delight new audi- ences because the humor wasn’t too topical, political or very racy. Burnett, “and just be grateful for the time that you did “I was a clown and we just wanted to do funny stuff,” know her, that she was in my life. As tragic as it is, I knew said Burnett. her and she was so good, and helped me cheer up so many “Now I’m getting fan mail from 10-year-olds. Teenag- times. That’s who she was.” ers write me. And so do people in their 20s and 30s who Burnett is not political, but stands frmly with the legiti- weren’t born when we did our show. I’m getting audiences mate media at a time when journalism is under unprec- now that are from young kids to people in their 90s.” edented attack from the American president and his fol- Awards matter, but for Burnett that continued interest by lowers. fans is the most important recognition of all.

We Proudly Congratulate Our Client and Friend CAROL BURNETT Legend Award for Lifetime Achievement

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