Carol Creighton Burnett was born April 26, 1933, in San Antonio, Texas.  Her parents divorced in the 1930s. Burnett moved into her grandmother’s apartment in an impoverished area of Hollywood, California. On December 15, 1955, she married Don Sarroyan. The marriage lasted seven years. In 1963, she married Joe Hamilton, a TV producer with sight children. Joe and Carol had three daughters, Carrie, Jody and Erin Hamilton. Their marriage ended in 1984. In 2001, Burnett married Brian Miller.  Carrie Hamilton passed away in 2002, of lung and brain cancer.

Before Carol Burnett began acting, she worked as an usherette at what is now the Hollywood Pacific Theatre, the forecourt of which is now the location of her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

After graduating high school, Burnett won a scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles. She was planning on become a playwright.  However, she found that she had to take an acting course to enter the playwright program. When she heard the audiences’ laughter she was hooked. Her mother disapproved of her acting ambitions, but Carol Burnett was set.

In 1954, during her junior year, a professor invited Burnett and some other students to perform at a black-tie party. At the party an anonymous man gave Burnett $1,000 to go to New York to act.

In New York, she was cast in The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show. This role led to her starring in  Stanley. Burnett worked in several cabarets and night clubs, to make ends meet. In 1957, Burnett performed on both The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show.

Her first real taste of success came in 1959, on Broadway with Once Upon a Mattress. In the same year, she became a regular player on The Garry Moore Show. This role would lead to an Emmy for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series.

Burnett hit stardom when she appeared in the 1962 special Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall with Julie Andrews.  Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall won an Emmy for Outstanding Musical. Carol continued to do variety shows through the 1960s.

In 1967, the hour-long Carol Burnett Show debuted and won 23 Emmy’s it its first season. The show continued to be nominated every season it was on the air. It was a complete hit and became a staple of televisions in homes everywhere. The show consisted of classic skits and commercials. One of the Skits, “The Family,” was turned into its own sitcom, Mama’s Family.

The Carol Burnett Show ceased production in 1978. Burnett continues to do roles in movies and guest spots on TV shows. In 2009, she appeared on Law and Order. She was nominated for Emmy for her guest spot.

Carol Burnett is a true American success story, rising to fame from poverty and adversity.