Carol Burnett was surrounded by affection in the days leading up to the special celebration of her 90th birthday. Laughter and Love: Carol Burnett Celebrates 90 Years in Show Business commemorates the renowned icon’s illustrious career on the occasion of her birthday and contains a bevy of A-list friends, singers, and colleagues paying tribute to Burnett. Among those paying homage to Burnett are Bernadette Peters, Katy Perry, Julie Andrews, Cher, and many more.
The adored diva sat down with ET’s Nischelle Turner in advance of Wednesday’s two-hour special, which was shot in March at the Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles, where she discussed the ecstatic celebration held in her honor. The program will air on Wednesday.
“It was fantastic, but yet humiliating all at the same time. “I had so many good friends there, and I was so moved by everything they said,” Burnett said in the exclusive sit-down interview. “It was so sweet and loving, and I had so many good friends there.” “You’re going to be sitting next to me with my good friend Julie Andrews. It was an amazing experience when she came to be with me since she flew all the way out here. The incredible musical guests, my performance,” she said.
“I didn’t want a birthday bash with a cake and confetti and all that stuff, and I didn’t want a roast either,” the speaker said. She went on to say that what she really wanted was a variety show. “I wanted a show that included live entertainment, music, comedy, and we would show funny clips from the internet,” she said. We had a 19-piece orchestra, and it was great to have so many of our close friends there. They made me laugh so hard and were so beautiful to look at. It was amazing to watch Bernadette Peters, Kristin Chenoweth, Billy Porter, Jane Lynch, Sutton Foster, and Katy Perry come out and perform. It was simply [wonderful].
Even though Hollywood showed out in full force to give Burnett the 90th birthday she deserved, the comedian said that there were numerous unexpected celebrity sightings that left her unable to express herself.
“There were other movies that they aired wishing well and everything else, and the presentation left me feeling quite moved. That left quite an impression on me. But every single one of them—I mean, former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, Dolly Parton, Oprah, Steve Martin, Marty Short, Jimmy Fallon, and Stephen Colbert—every single one of them,” Burnett said. “Those people had no idea that I was going to have all of those videos,” she said. Therefore, I was taken aback by them.
When asked about the aspect of the celebration that particularly stuck out to her, Burnett said that “all of it” was a pleasure for her.
“I teared up a bit when Bernadette and Kristen Chenoweth sang to Julie Andrews and I the ‘Old Friends’ Stephen Sondheim song, and Julie got a little teary-eyed,” she recalled, reminiscing on her greatest relationship with the Sound of Music icon for 62 years. “Old Friends” was written by Stephen Sondheim. “Old Friends” was performed by Bernadette and Kristen Chenoweth.
Burnett recounted the moment when Andrews’ manager, who knew the executive producer of The Gary Moore Show, proposed that she and Andrews meet. This was the moment when Burnett and Andrews first became friends. “She came with her manager to see me in Once Upon a Mattress, and then we had a dinner date with the two gentlemen after the show,” said Burnett of their dinner companions. “Once Upon a Mattress” is the play in which Burnett is performing. “Those two poor fellas never got a word in edgewise. That was in the year 1959.”
“And then Julie came on The Gary Moore Show as a guest, and we did a finale together that rocked the house down,” she said. “And then Julie came on The Gary Moore Show as a guest.” “It was the very first time in my whole life that I had ever seen an audience in a television studio rising up to applaud. As a result, the idea that we should work on a special collaboration was conceived. And by the time it was all said and done, we had produced three different specials. We performed one in 1962, another in 1972, and another one after that, which came about ten years later.
In response to the question of what she envisions her legacy to be, Burnett said that she wants people to remember how “our show made them feel good.” That’s a really significant point.