by Carol BurnettHarmony Books
~ Review in Halifax Herald, June 2010
It’s been a surprising thirty-two years since Carol Burnett tugged her ear for the last time, ending the enormously successful show that endeared her to millions. Ms Burnett’s new book, This Time Together – Laughter and Reflection tells us what her audiences already knew. Making that show was the best time ever! For the cast and crew, rehearsals and shooting days were full of belly laughs and friendship. “We’re just going to go out there, and get in the sandbox, and we’re going to play and have fun,” writes Ms Burnett. They did just that.
Her big break came when she was cast as Princess Winifred the Woebegone in Once Upon A Mattress. The Broadway show was supposed to run six weeks and ran for fifty-two. Then came The Carol Burnett Show and the rest, as they say, is history.
This Time Together is a series of autobiographical sketches where people such as Cary Grant, Lucille Ball, Julie Andrews and Peggy Lee wander through the pages. Ms Burnett is generous with her praise for the talents of those who worked with her through her career, the writers, producers, directors and a supporting cast of thousands. The anecdotes do not often stray into her personal life, although she does share her devastation at the loss of her beloved daughter, Carrie, to cancer.
Her co-stars on The Carol Burnett Show, the late Harvey Korman, Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence, feature prominently in her book. She talks about the fun, the laughter and the tears. “Unfortunately, our show has been accused of showing actors cracking up at times, breaking character. . . I dare anyone to be on camera and keep it together when Conway gets on a roll.” Surely this was the best part! Utube is littered with sketches from the show - the legendary Dentist skit, the award winning Went With the Wind, Stinky, they’re all there, as funny as ever.
Ms Burnett closes her book with thanks and her list of ‘Gratefuls’ for what life continues to offer. Her family, her children and grandchildren, her career, her health. We are left smiling, reminded of the laughter she brought into our lives. For this, we too are grateful.
Carol Burnett has been an actor on Broadway, television and in the movies. She starred in the long running The Carol Burnett Show, which won twenty-five Emmy Awards. This is her second book.
