Carol Burnett, one of the greatest comedy giants of all time, turns 90 this month.
As Burnett approaches this incredible milestone, she has been reflecting on her remarkable life and body of work. In a recent interview, she discussed a devastating loss that still impacts her over twenty years later.
Carol Burnett’s daughter Carrie
Her ex-husband, the well-known actress and producer Joe Hamilton, had three daughters together. The oldest was Carrie Hamilton, who was born in 1963.
Carrie followed her mother’s career path in performing. She starred in the television series Fame and as Maureen in the first national tour of the musical Rent. In addition, she made several TV appearances, including ones on Murder, She Wrote, The X-Files, and thirtysomething.
However, there were times when the mother-daughter dynamic wasn’t smooth. Burnett suffered tremendously when Carrie battled a heroin addiction in her adolescence.
My daughter Carrie began abusing drugs. Burnett told AARP in 2020, “In that situation, don’t be their best buddy.” When we got her into a third rehab center, she hated my guts! You have to love them enough to let them hate you.
“I thought to myself… Was there anything that I should have been able to observe, notice, or comprehend? You know, what did I miss? Was my strength not enough? She said as much to ABC News in 2002.
But by the time Carrie turned eighteen, Burnett told AARP, she had grown sober and the two had become closer, spending “a good twenty years” together and being “joined at the hip.”
Carrie’s career soared, and her collaboration with Burnett reached a high point. Before experiencing a personal tragedy: In 2001, Carrie received a lung cancer diagnosis; the illness ultimately spread to her brain.
Carrie’s battle against cancer
Like her mother, Carrie fought her illness with her incredible sense of humor. “Carrie had a spirit about her, all through her treatments,” Burnett said to ABC News.
Burnett was particularly moved by her daughter’s attitude, “Every day I wake up and decide, today I’m going to love my life.” It was something she said in the hospital. And that was her motto in life.
When Carrie died in 2002, she was 38 years old. Despite her devastation at the loss, Burnett forced herself to carry on.
“You adjust, not overcome it,” she told People in 2018. What else can you accomplish? After Carrie passed away, I didn’t want to get out of bed, but I had a play to finish that we had started and Hal Prince was going to direct. I owed it to Carrie and to Hal.
proceeded with me After twenty-one years
In an interview conducted just in front of her 90th birthday, Burnett talked about how her daughter Carrie passed away more than 20 years later and said that she still thinks about her every day.
Almost seldom a day or a moment goes by that she isn’t with me, Burnett stated in a People Magazine interview conducted last month. We worked as a team, laughed together, and shed together. She had strength.
She went on to remark that Carrie’s bravery during her illness continues to inspire her.
“When she got sick, I would go see her every day, and I remember she was in the hospital,” Burnett remarked. One day a nurse at the hospital said, “Carrie lifts our spirits.” When I asked Carrie why she seemed cheerful all the time, she replied, “Every day I wake up and decide.” The word “decide” is essential.
“That is what I tell myself every morning.”
Carol Burnett, ninety years old
Burnett will turn ninety on April 26. She endured suffering twenty-one years ago, but she has moved on and maintains a positive outlook on life.
She has received numerous lifetime achievement awards, such as the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. The Golden Globes named the 2019 “Carol Burnett Award,” a television lifetime achievement accolade, in her honor. She was the first recipient of the honor. Last year, she had a much-praised cameo on Better Call Saul.
Regarding turning 90, Burnett said to People, “I can’t wrap my head around it.” “I’m shocked, but I still think I’m eleven.” It went by really fast. Nevertheless, because I have my head, knees, and hips, I’m happy with my body.
It’s quite tough to lose a child, and Carol Burnett was obviously very saddened by Carrie’s death. We hope the comic icon has an amazing 90th birthday celebration as she continues to be amazing!
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