Carol Burnett admitted she “can’t get around” the fact that she’ll be celebrating her 90th birthday this month.
This week’s comedy icon is covered the people She told the magazine: I still feel like an 11-year-old, but I’m amazed. It sure went fast.
“But I’m glad I got all my parts—I got my hips, my knees and my brains,” she quipped, “so I’m glad I did.”
On her birthday, April 26, NBC will air a pre-taped star-studded retrospective in her honor called Carol Burnett: 90 years of laughter + love.
In her new interview, Carol, who has been popular since her Broadway debut in 1959, looks back at the origins of her career.
ICON: Carol Burnett, portrayed on The Carol Burnett Show with Lyle Wagner, Vicki Lawrence, Harvey Korman and Tim Conway, turns 90 this month
‘Definitely gone fast’: The comedy icon was featured on this week’s cover of People magazine and told the magazine, ‘I still feel like I’m almost 11, but I’m amazed’
Bright Side: “But I’m glad I got all my parts — I got my hips, my knees and my brains, so I’m glad I did,” she quipped.
Born in San Antonio, she was raised in Los Angeles where she “used to pose on a radio show” and imitate an announcer.
“I was shouting out the window: ‘Now, ladies and gentlemen, we have a little girl who is going to sing here without any musical accompaniment,'” she recalled.
Once, a guy next door said, “Are you gonna knock that damn thing off?” And I thought, “I’m successful. They think it’s real.”
Unlike “many performers who got their start when they were three, four and five years old”, she only discovered her talent in college, making her a “late star”.
‘I was a pretty quiet student through grammar school, prep, and Hollywood High,’ Carroll recalled. I was joking with my friends, the neighborhood kids, stuff like that. But I never thought about it until I got to UCLA and was in an acting class,” she confesses.
A lot of kids in the class were doing heavy, dramatic things and I thought, I can’t do that. So I chose something light and they laughed. That’s when the error bit.
Over the course of her long and illustrious career, her most notable break was her 11 years as the star of the hit sketch show The Carol Burnett Show.
However, when she first started making her bones in the entertainment industry, television initially wasn’t particularly receptive.
Legends: On her birthday, NBC will air a star-studded retrospective in her honor called Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love; Carol is pictured while checking out with Julie Andrews
Throwback: Jolie and Carol’s longstanding personal and professional relationship, which included a TV special in 1989 (pictured), will be highlighted in the new special
It was a local TV show in New York and I got up and sang a song and the manager that I was auditioning for said, “You’re too loud for TV.” said the stage and screen giant.
She eventually found her way to fame on stage, landing her star-making role in the 1959 Broadway musical Once Upon a Mattress.
Based on The Princess And The Pea, the show introduced music to Mary Rodgers – daughter of The Sound Of Music composer Richard Rodgers – and launched Carol to prominence in show business.
From a darling run on The Carol Burnett Show to scene-stealers in movies like Annie, she’s established herself as a star and then a national treasure.
She hopes you’ll be remembered for the fact that “You made people laugh, and you made them feel good when they were down.” In my fan mail, many say it’s the only time the family gets together to watch and laugh. And that sometimes they were lonely and would revel in our show. That feels good.
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love will feature a glittering cast of celebrities ranging from Amy Adams to Ellen DeGeneres to Bill Hader.
Some of the comic actresses who succeeded Carroll as TV stars will also be cast, including Lisa Kudrow, Sofia Vergara and Tracee Ellis Ross.
Cher and Lily Tomlin, who both appeared on The Carol Burnett Show, and Aileen Quinn, who starred in Annie, are also part of the retrospective.
Origin story: She first found her way to fame on stage, landing a star-making role in the 1959 Broadway musical Once Upon a Mattress (pictured)
Throwback: From her run on The Carol Burnett Show to stealing the scene in movies like Annie (pictured), she established herself as a star and then a national treasure
Some of the names Carroll has made success with in TV comedy are also included, like Saturday Night Live alumnus Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Amy Poehler.
The special was taped a month ago, and was preceded by a red carpet as Carol basked in the adorations of her co-stars and defended friend Julie Andrews, who she’d been friends with for more than half a century.
Jolie and Carol’s longstanding personal and professional relationship, which included a 1962 Carnegie Hall concert recorded for television, will be highlighted in the new special.
Among the musical performances on Thursday’s recording will be Stephen Sondheim’s song Old Friends from the 1981 musical Merrily We Roll Along.
Musical performers will lend their abundance of talent to the proceedings, from pop actress Katy Perry to Broadway legend Bernadette Peters to Billy Porter of POSE.
While NBC’s upcoming special will of course cover the height of her career during her 11 seasons opposite The Carol Burnett Show, it will also highlight some of her lesser-known projects like the Pete ‘N’ Tillie movie.
The party will be attended by such notables as Marisa Tomei, Steve Carell, Laura Dern, Taraji P. Henson, Allison Janney and Bill Hader.
The musical performances will reportedly include a rendition of “I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together,” which has been the theme song to The Carol Burnett Show for its 11 years on the air.
