Theater News

Carol Burnett to Receive 2015 SAG Life Achievement Award

The legendary comic actress made her Tony-nominated Broadway debut in ”Once Upon a Mattress” in 1959.

Carol Burnett, seen posing beneath her famous Sardi's caricature, will be presented with the 2015 SAG Life Achievement Award.
Carol Burnett, posing beneath her famous Sardi's caricature, will be presented with the 2015 SAG Life Achievement Award.
(© David Gordon)

SAG-AFTRA has announced that it will honor Broadway veteran and comedy legend Carol Burnett with the 2015 SAG Life Achievement Award.

The award, annually given to performers who foster the "finest ideals of the acting profession," will be presented to Burnett in January at the 2016 SAG Awards.

"Carol Burnett is a creative dynamo and a comedic genius," said SAG-AFTRA president Ken Howard. "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."

In addition to her numerous Emmy and Golden Globe Awards, Burnett earned a 1960 Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in Once Upon a Mattress and was presented with a special Tony Award in 1969. She earned a second Tony nomination in 1996 for her performance in Moon Over Buffalo, and most recently appeared on Broadway in the 2014 revival of Love Letters.

Burnett has also been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and both a Kennedy Center Honor and its Mark Twain Prize for Humor. The actress and comedian is best known for her long-running TV variety show, The Carol Burnett Show, which earned 25 prime-time Emmy Awards and was ranked No. 16 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2002.