If 2018 was a leap year, it would be the 117th day, but let's not push it now, 116 is fine with me.
This has been a difficult year for myself and my family as it is, and tacking another day onto it certainly wouldn't help matters.
Today is a day like any other day, and really, nothing stands out in history on this day, except for one thing.
On April 26, 1933, someone was born who really made a name for herself in the entertainment world, and who continues to be looked at as among the top television personalities of this day, and any day, really since the late 1950s.
In 1933, Carol Burnett was born, and since she broke onto the scene, we have laughed, laughed and laughed some more at her on screen antics.
She was born in San Antonio, Texas, and by all accounts, had a rough childhood. Her parents were both alcoholics, could not care for her, and eventually divorced.
She was raised by her grandmother, and went with her to California, living in squalid apartment in the Hollywood area.
She went to Hollywood High School, graduated, and then went to UCLA to pursue a degree in journalism. One thing led to another, and she found that even though she was very insecure, she had found a home on stage. She performed in several student productions, and she loved it and the audience loved her.
She was so good at it that she and her than boyfriend decided that they wanted to go to New York to try to break into musical comedy on Broadway. The legend goes that a mysterious benefactor--who did not want his name revealed--gave each of them enough money to relocate, under this one rule: that the loan be paid back in five years and that his name never be revealed.
So Burnett moved to the East Coast, and after a few years of show business rejection, she started to get minor work on television shows, including game shows, and her big break(s) came in 1959, when two major life-changing experiences happened to her: she was cast on Broadway in "Once Upon a Mattress," and then became a regular on "The Garry Moore Show."
Not only was Burnett nominated for a Tony Award for her Broadway show, but she became television's breakout star on the Moore show, completely upstaging the show's star. She was the typical clown, able to fit into any situation she was in, and like most clowns, the fun was found in her facial movements.
She became America's girl next door, and one who could make you laugh and laugh and laugh again.
When that gig ended after three years, Burnett had become such a prominent TV personality that seemingly everything she touched turned to gold, including specials that she was in with numerous show business luminaries, including Julie Andrews.
She won a couple of Emmy Awards prior to her catapult to stardom on her own show, but that show didn't begin until until 1967, part of a deal she had with CBS, which had signed her to a long-term contract during the waning days of the Moore show.
Not knowing what to do with her, she was cast as a female soldier on "Gomer Pyle, USMC," and became very good friends with star Jim Nabors, to the point that each season of her own show, he was always the first episode's guest star.
After casting Burnett in a couple of failed pilots, CBS finally gave her her own variety show--it was in her contract that CBS had to give her a show of her liking whatever that may be, as it was up to her to decide what she wanted to do--and in September 1967, "The Carol Burnett Show" debuted, and pretty much the rest is history.
The show and its regular cast--Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner, Vicki Lawrence (supposedly, she was cast because she looked like a younger version of Burnett herself), and later Tim Conway--entranced viewers with their aplomb in just about any comedic situation imaginable, and the show pretty much defined sketch comedy during its run, featuring outrageous situations, with costumes to match.
During the show's run, it won several Emmy Awards in numerous categories, and with the mentorship of Lucille Ball, Burnett kind of became Lucy's successor as TV's top comedienne.
And it also made the ear pull part of TV history. She did it during her show to let her grandmother know that she was OK.
And she is the answer to an interesting trivia question: who was the first celebrity to appear on an episode of "Sesame Street?" Yes, it was her, during the show's first season in 1969.
She continued to perform in specials with other show business luminaries, and when the show ended in 1978, Burnett pursued movies, starring in a number of big screen films including "Pete 'N Tille."
Burnett made numerous attempts at a new variety show, but they all failed, and later, she actually went dramatic in the film "Friendly Fire" for a change of pace role.
Her career has seen her featured in several soap operas, game shows, and cartoons, she has written several books about her show biz days, and she is supposedly supposed to be a featured player, at age 85, in a new sitcom on ABC that has currently been shelved and is going through retooling.
Burnett has been married three times, had three children--losing one to drug addiction--and supposedly remains very close with Vicki Lawrence, who she herself mentored on the show, with one sketch, "Mama's Family"--being spun-off from the original "Carol Burnett Show" into a popular entity of its own.
What you have just read is pretty much a thumbnail sketch of Burnett. It would truly be impossible here to capture all the imagination that she has given us since the late 1950s to the present time.
So happy 85th birthday to Carol Burnett, a real, live TV icon who remains in the hearts and minds of TV viewers everywhere.
Let's all pull our own ears today to honor her!
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