How Lucille Ball Became Carol Burnett’s Mentor
Along with her compelling television series The Carroll Burnett Show – the first sketch comedy program hosted by a woman – Carol Burnett helped pave the way for a generation of female comedians and showrunners.
But long before she became a household name, she was a 25-year-old actress in New York, someone she needed to see for herself. After a one-night meeting in 1959, Burnett discovered Lucille Ball – and a lifelong friend.
Burnett grew up in Hollywood and studied theater at UCLA before arriving in New York in 1954, with the goal of becoming an actress. After a few small roles on the TV show, and a very popular parody song “I Made a Flower of Myself Over John Foster Dual,” which she performed on The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, 25-year-old Burnett landed a part .
Once Upon a Mattress in the Broadway production of Once Up. (She later went on to receive a Tony nomination when she later moved to Broadway.)
On the second night of the musical, Barnett recounted in a speech at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, he looked out from behind the curtain and saw a typical red-headed woman in the second line: Lucille Ball. Ball was, of course, the star of the hit sitcom I Love Lucy, having completed a six-season run two years earlier. “I was more nervous than opening him at night,” Burnett said.
After the show, Ball arrived backstage. The two chatted for 30 minutes in Burnett’s dressing room.
Comedians often appear on each other’s shows
A few years later, Burnett made that call. CBS asked her to do a one-hour special, but only if she could show a big-name guest star with her. At the prompt of her producer, she called Ball to ask if she would make an appearance. “He said, ‘I’ll get there when do you want me there?'” Burnett recalled. “And that was it.”
Carol +2, which also starred actor Zero Mostel, was aired in March 1966, receiving much acclaim. Thanks to the success of the special, CBS offered Burnett what would be his ticket to stardom: his own show.
By then, the two had become close friends with Zani Comedienne. In 1967, The Carol Burnett Show premiered and Ball would go to the guest star several times. In turn, Burnett appeared on Ball’s I Love Lucy follow-up The Lucy Show (1962–1968) and Here Lucy (1968–1974).
Burnett looked at Ball for guidance
Even when Burnett was a huge success on her own, she still saw Ball as a fellow woman in the male-dominated entertainment industry. Spotting a guest on The Lucy Show, Burnett described how Ball was able to vocalize himself to the crew. On Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2015, Bernat said, “She was able to say the things she felt like a man.”
Once, during rehearsals for The Carroll Burnett Show, Burnett and Ball went out for dinner. Burnett recalled how Ball told her a story about a difficult moment she experienced on The Lucy Show with her writing staff.
Ball, according to Burnett, “without any uncertain words told them what was wrong with that script and how to fix it,” Burnett said. “Then she took another drink and said, she and baby, when they put ‘s’ at the end of my name.”
After the Carol Burnett show ended in 1978 (after receiving 23 Emmy Awards), and Ball was largely out of the headlines, the two remained close. In a tragic coincidence, Ball died at the age of 77, on April 26, 1989 – Burnett’s birthday. “She always sends me flowers on her birthday,” Burnett said. “That afternoon, I received flowers from him, who said, Happy birthday, kid.
But long before she became a household name, she was a 25-year-old actress in New York, someone she needed to see for herself. After a one-night meeting in 1959, Burnett discovered Lucille Ball – and a lifelong friend.
Burnett grew up in Hollywood and studied theater at UCLA before arriving in New York in 1954, with the goal of becoming an actress. After a few small roles on the TV show, and a very popular parody song “I Made a Flower of Myself Over John Foster Dual,” which she performed on The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, 25-year-old Burnett landed a part .
Once Upon a Mattress in the Broadway production of Once Up. (She later went on to receive a Tony nomination when she later moved to Broadway.)
On the second night of the musical, Barnett recounted in a speech at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, he looked out from behind the curtain and saw a typical red-headed woman in the second line: Lucille Ball. Ball was, of course, the star of the hit sitcom I Love Lucy, having completed a six-season run two years earlier. “I was more nervous than opening him at night,” Burnett said.
After the show, Ball arrived backstage. The two chatted for 30 minutes in Burnett’s dressing room.
Comedians often appear on each other’s shows
A few years later, Burnett made that call. CBS asked her to do a one-hour special, but only if she could show a big-name guest star with her. At the prompt of her producer, she called Ball to ask if she would make an appearance. “He said, ‘I’ll get there when do you want me there?'” Burnett recalled. “And that was it.”
Carol +2, which also starred actor Zero Mostel, was aired in March 1966, receiving much acclaim. Thanks to the success of the special, CBS offered Burnett what would be his ticket to stardom: his own show.
By then, the two had become close friends with Zani Comedienne. In 1967, The Carol Burnett Show premiered and Ball would go to the guest star several times. In turn, Burnett appeared on Ball’s I Love Lucy follow-up The Lucy Show (1962–1968) and Here Lucy (1968–1974).
Burnett looked at Ball for guidance
Even when Burnett was a huge success on her own, she still saw Ball as a fellow woman in the male-dominated entertainment industry. Spotting a guest on The Lucy Show, Burnett described how Ball was able to vocalize himself to the crew. On Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2015, Bernat said, “She was able to say the things she felt like a man.”
Once, during rehearsals for The Carroll Burnett Show, Burnett and Ball went out for dinner. Burnett recalled how Ball told her a story about a difficult moment she experienced on The Lucy Show with her writing staff.
Ball, according to Burnett, “without any uncertain words told them what was wrong with that script and how to fix it,” Burnett said. “Then she took another drink and said, she and baby, when they put ‘s’ at the end of my name.”
After the Carol Burnett show ended in 1978 (after receiving 23 Emmy Awards), and Ball was largely out of the headlines, the two remained close. In a tragic coincidence, Ball died at the age of 77, on April 26, 1989 – Burnett’s birthday. “She always sends me flowers on her birthday,” Burnett said. “That afternoon, I received flowers from him, who said, Happy birthday, kid.
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