Todd Williamson/NBCFunny is funny, and comedy icon Carol Burnett knows that like no other. She’s been making people laugh since she took the stage in 1959 on The Garry Moore Show, who she credits for being her best mentor. Now the cherished, ear-tugging phenomenon humbly takes a seat in the audience (and also takes the stage), this time at the Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles, where stars pay tribute to her work and celebrate her 90th birthday in NBC’s two-hour special Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love airing Wednesday, April 26 at 8pm ET/PT.
This once-in-a-lifetime party has a guest list like no other that includes Vicki Lawrence, Julie Andrews, Bob Mackie, Lily Tomlin, Susan Lucci, Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Cher, Ellen DeGeneres, Kristen Wiig, Sofia Vergara, Steve Carell and so many others. Some of the musical tributes include “Old Friends” dedicated to Carol’s 60-year friendship with Julie Andrews, highlights from Annie and “I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together.”
Just a week after filming the special, Carol talked to us about turning 90 (“It’s hard to wrap my head around it, but considering the alternative, I am feeling great”), some of the more tear-jerker moments in the special (a grown-up Aileen Quinn singing “Tomorrow” from Annie) and what’s next for the legend.
The show took a pass on cake and candles and delivered an unbelievable variety show. Carol shares what moved her.
The whole evening moved me. It wasn’t a birthday party. There were no balloons and cakes and confetti or any of that. I didn’t want it. It was a roast. It was a variety show with live entertainment. We had a 19-piece orchestra. We had entertainment from Bernadette Peters, Kristin Chenoweth, Billy Porter, Jane Lynch, Katy Perry, Darren Criss, Sutton Foster. I mean, unbelievable. And then we had people get up and do some shtick, little bits, like Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney and Laura Dern, whom I worked with recently when we did a television series for Apple TV+ (Palm Royale). … It was a kind of a retrospective of stuff that I’d done all these years, starting with way back when I was on Omnibus with Leonard Bernstein. It was 1956. I was in my 20s. And then to do the movies that I did, the television specials, the musical specials, and of course The Carol Burnett Show, and then clips from Better Call Saul and Palm Royale [formerly titled Mrs. American Pie].
Gobsmacked by friends and performances.
There were friends there who got up and spoke. Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn and Vince Gilligan, all the Better Call Saul folks were there. And my chum Julie Andrews flew out and she sat with me for the whole evening. And Steve Carell came out and opened the show. It was a show, a variety show. And it was very, very funny and entertaining and a little teary-eyed, too, especially when they did a tribute to the movie Annie and then Aileen Quinn was there, who was the original little Annie. She belted out “Tomorrow” and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. It was so sweet. So I was pretty gobsmacked by the whole thing, and it’ll live with me forever.
Making new friends and reuniting with old.
[I looked forward to seeing] all of them! Especially my chum Julie Andrews. And Bernadette Peters — she was the first person we ever asked to be on The Carol Burnett Show. She was 20 years old. We hadn’t gone on the air yet. … And then to make a new friend with Billy Porter. Oh my God, he blew it out [of the water]. He was so good. He did “Easy Street” from Annie. There was just so many. And Marisa Tomei comes out dressed as Mrs. Wiggins in the Bob Mackie segment. Bob and Vicki were there, of course. We pay homage to Harvey Korman and Tim Conway and Lyle Waggoner; and Vicki and Bob. … We could have had a 40-hour show when you want to do the best of Harvey, Tim and Vicki.
Making so many people happy over the years, but also finding happiness for herself.
What makes me happy? Just being alive and being healthy and still having so many friends. I get fan mail and I answer everything when I get it. And I’m getting fan mail from 10-year-olds and teenagers and young adults. That makes me happy, too. That our show, after all these years, still makes people laugh and that they’re watching it on YouTube, Shout and MeTV and box sets and all of that. There’s a saying that I like: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.”
After working with so many celebrities over the years, there were times even Carol was starstruck.
Oh, definitely when I met Jimmy Stewart. And definitely when I met Cary Grant. Definitely when I met Lucille Ball. Bing Crosby. I can go on and on and on, because I’ve always been a fan. Just for this one, when I met Billy Porter, I was like, “Oh my God, I just love your work. I love what you do.” That’s why I always had that autograph book at the end of my show.
Singing in the shower — and with Katy Perry.
Well, I sing in the shower. Yeah. And on the show I do sing the last few bars of “I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together.” Katy Perry does the whole song at the end of the evening, and then she sits next to me and just hands me the mic and I just do the last “Comes the time we have to say so long.” And I have to say I choked up a bit.
What’s next, and how will we celebrate Carol’s 100th?
Oh, I doubt that that’ll happen, but no, just to keep on working as long as I have all my parts. I still have my hips and my knees. I know a lot of people have a problem when they get to be a certain age, but so far I’m OK. And I do my crossword puzzles and I just finished doing a series for Apple TV+ called Palm Royale with Kristin Wiig, Allison Janney, Laura Dern and Ricky Martin. That was a 10-episode series that’s going to go on, I think, in the fall. And they’re talking about a second season. And if they ask, I would certainly do that. But just keep working. I’m Energizer Bunny. I want to be like Rita Moreno. She’s a spitfire. And she’s a year older than I am.
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