Carol Burnett’s groundbreaking television series The Carol Burnett Show, the first sketch comedy program to be presented by a woman, cleared the way for a generation of female comedians and showrunners. She was a 25-year-old New York actress looking for someone to look up to before she got famous. Burnett discovered it in Lucille Ball following a chance meeting one evening in 1959 with a lifetime companion.
Burnett was born and reared in Hollywood and earned a theater degree at UCLA before traveling to New York in 1954 to pursue a career as an actor. After a few little TV appearances and the extremely well-known parody song «I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles,» which she sang on The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, the 25-year-old Burnett landed a role in the off-Broadway production of Once Upon a Mattress. (When it was eventually relocated to Broadway, she was nominated for a Tony.)
In a speech at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Burnett recalled peering out from behind the curtain on the second night of the event and seeing Lucille Ball sat in the second row. Ball, of course, had featured in the beloved comedy I Love Lucy, which had completed its six-season run just two years before. «I was more nervous seeing her than I was opening night,» Burnett acknowledged.
After the concert, Ball made his way backstage. In Burnett’s dressing room, the two talked for 30 minutes. Burnett stated that because she was 22 years my senior, «she called me ‘child.'» «Kid, if you ever need me for anything, give me a call,» she continued as she turned to go.
Burnett made the call some years later. CBS asked her to do an hour-long special, but only if she could bring in a well-known guest star. She called Ball to see whether she would appear at the producer’s request. She said she’d be there. «When do you want me there?» Burnett recalled. That was the end of it.
Zero Mostel also appeared in Carol +2, which was broadcast to tremendous acclaim in March 1966. Because of the special’s success, CBS awarded Burnett what would become her golden ticket to fame: her own show.
The two outlandish comedians had become great friends. Ball would go on to perform as a guest star on The Carol Burnett Show several times after its launch in 1967. Burnett took over Ball’s I Love Lucy replacement show, The Lucy Show (1962-68), in exchange for Here’s Lucy (1968-1974).
Burnett continued to look up to Ball despite her enormous success on her own, especially as a fellow female in the male-dominated entertainment industry. Burnett was impressed by Ball’s ability to command respect from the cast and crew while conducting guest appearances on The Lucy Show. In 2015, Burnett claimed during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, “She was able to say things that she felt like a guy would.” “Like, let’s change this sketch, it stinks.”
Burnett and Ball once went out to dinner while Burnett was practicing for The Carol Burnett Show. Burnett said that Ball had related to her a tale of a trying time she had with her writing crew on The Lucy Show. Burnett claimed that Ball “told them in no uncertain terms what was wrong with that script and how to improve it.” She then continued, “And, youngster, that’s when they placed these on the end of my last name,” after taking another drink.
Even after The Carol Burnett Show ended in 1978 (after a record-breaking 23 Emmy nominations) and Ball had mostly faded from the spotlight, the two remained friends. Ball died abruptly on April 26, 1989, Burnett’s birthday, at the age of 77. Burnett noted that she would always send him roses on his birthday. That afternoon, she sent me flowers with the message, «Happy Birthday, kid.»