Undoubtedly one of the greatest comedic performers of all time, Carol Burnett turns 90 this month.
Prior to the significant milestone, Burnett has been talking openly about her amazing life and career.
However, in a recent interview, she talked about a traumatic loss that has remained on her mind for more than 20 years.
Carrie Burnett, Carol Burnett’s child
The legendary performer and her ex-husband, producer
Joe Hamilton, had three daughters together. Carrie Hamilton, who was born in 1963, was the oldest.
Carrie continued the acting career of her well-known mother. She played Maureen in the first national tour of the musical Rent,
and she had a significant role in the television series Fame. Also, she made several TV appearances, including ones in The X-Files, Murder, She Wrote, and thirtysomething.
But communication between the mother and daughter wasn’t always simple. Burnett experienced heartache as a result of Carrie’s teenage drug addiction.
‘My Carrie, my daughter, got into drugs. Don’t be their best buddy in that circumstance, Burnett advised AARP in 2020.
’Well, she loathed my guts when we got her in a third rehab! You must love them deeply enough to allow them to detest you.
’I figured… Was there something I ought to have noticed, understood, or noticed but didn’t? What, exactly, did I miss? Was I insufficiently strong? In 2002, she talked to ABC News.
However, according to Burnett, her daughter became sober by the time she was 18 and the two became ‘attached at the hip’ for a period of ‘a good 20 years.’
Up until a personal tragedy struck: In 2001, Carrie was diagnosed with lung cancer, which ultimately
spread to her brain. Her career took off, and her connection with her mother was at an all-time high.
Cancer struggle for Carrie
Carrie had a strong sense of humor, just like her mother,
which she exploited to get through the battle: ‘Carrie had a spirit about her, all through her treatments,’ Burnett told ABC News.
The daughter’s adage, ‘Every day I wake up and decide, today I’m going to cherish my life,’ touched Burnett as well. That became her catchphrase.
At the age of 38, Carrie passed away in 2002. Although being saddened by the sudden death of her cherished daughter, Burnett eventually found the willpower to carry on.
She explained to People in 2018 that ‘you don’t get over it, but you cope.’ What other options are there?
I didn’t want to get out of bed when Carrie passed away for a time, but I needed to finish the play we started and that Hal Prince was going to direct. Both Hal and Carrie expected it of me.
Continued with me After 21 years
Prior to celebrating her 90th birthday, Burnett spoke candidly about the death of her daughter, Carrie, which occurred more than 20 years ago.
This month, Burnett told People Magazine that ‘there isn’t a day or almost a moment that goes by that she’s not with me.’ ‘We collaborated, we cried, and we laughed together. She was powerful.
Burnett recalled, ‘I remember she was in the hospital when she got sick and I would go to see her every day.
’Carrie lifts our spirits,’ a hospital nurse remarked one day. Carrie said, ‘Daily I wake up and decide,’ when I questioned why she was constantly upbeat. Decide is the crucial word here.
’I tell myself that every morning,’
Age 90 of Carol Burnett
On April 26, Burnett will turn 90. She suffered a tragic loss 21 years ago, yet she’s still going strong and is optimistic.