Carol Burnett Receives The SAG Lifetime Achievement Award

Carol Burnett received the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award as a particularly honorable way to recognize here for her six decades of entertainment success.

She is the 52nd recipient of this prestigious award, and the award presentation will occur during the 22 Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will air on January 30, 2016.

At 82-years old, Burnett is still going strong with her career, although she sees much less of the screen than she used to. She is currently the recipient of six Emmy’s, five Golden Globes, and a number of other trophies and certificates that recognize her many achievements during her 50 years or more of performing. Now the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award is simply icing on the cake.

“Carol Burnett is a creative dynamo and a comedic genius,” SAG-AFTRA president Ken Howard reported. “She embodies the generosity and courage that the greatest actors use in creating enduring and memorable characters. From her heartbreakingly hilarious Starlet O’Hara to the adorably inept Eunice and alarmingly funny Miss Hannigan, Carol has delighted and inspired millions of viewers and thousands of comedic actors. She took risks as a performer and through her courage, encouraged fellow actors to try new things and always, always reach for the sky. Her innate love of actors led to the creation of an ensemble cast that made The Carol Burnett Show a masterpiece of variety programming.”

You might recall Burnett in her stirring performances as Miss Hannigan in the original Annie or as Dotty Otley in Noises Off. Her lifetime of acting and comedy have been the inspiration for such icons today as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. The two referenced their affection for Carol Burnett in an interview in The Carol Burnett Show: The Lost Episodes.

“I think one of the things that’s so wonderful about Carol is you feel like even though she can do all these things that you could not do, and she has all these talents — like she can sing, and she’s so funny, and she’s a great physical comedian — you feel like she could have grown up on your street,” Fey reports.

Amy Poehler follows up:

“We all hail Carol as the queen for a lot of reasons. One is because we grew up watching her, and we will always have those memories of discovering comedy with her and through her. And the other is that she’s so versatile.”

SAG stands for Screen Actors Guild, and it’s an institution devoted to honoring those who have really shone in the entertainment business. The first award was given in 1962 to Eddie Cantor, legendary performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor, and song writer. The award has been given every year since that time, and the other recipients have included Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Frank Sinatra, Katharine Hepburn, Audry Hepburn, Gene Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Kirk Douglas, Clint Eastwood, Julie Andrews Betty White, Mary Tyler Moore, and Dick Van Dyke.

Carol Burnett is to join the myriad of lauded entertainers as she receives the 2015 SAG Lifetime Achievement Award this January.

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