Carol Burnett – comedic trailblazer, actor, singer, dancer, producer and author – has been named the 52nd recipient of SAG-AFTRA’s highest tribute: the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.
Burnett will be presented the performers union’s top accolade at the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016 at 8 p.m. (ET), 7 p.m. (CT), 6 p.m. (MT) and 5 p.m. (PT). Given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” the SAG Life Achievement Award will join Burnett’s exceptional catalog of preeminent industry and public honors, which includes multiple Emmys, a special Tony, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and both a Kennedy Center Honor and its Mark Twain Prize for Humor.
An inductee into the Television Hall of Fame and the California Museum’s Hall of Fame, Burnett’s many accolades also include a Peabody Award, the Television Critics Association’s Career Achievement Award, five Golden Globe Awards, five American Comedy Awards, 12 People’s Choice Awards, an Ace Award, an Horatio Alger Award, both Crystal and Lucy Awards from Women in Film, the TV Land Legend Award, the Jimmy Stewart Museum’s Harvey Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2013, the City of Los Angeles named the intersection of Highland Ave. and Selma directly adjacent to Hollywood High School, Burnett’s alma mater, Carol Burnett Square.
When not performing or occasionally presenting her Q & A format “Laughter & Reflection,” she enjoys spending time with her husband Brian, her two daughters Erin and Jody, her grandsons, and her cat, Nikki. As a passionate supporter of the arts and education, she established several scholarships around the country, including the Carol Burnett Musical Theatre Competition at her alma mater, UCLA, and the Carrie Hamilton Foundation, to honor her daughter’s memory. She is a Lifetime Director of the Hereditary Disease Foundation. Among the other arts, health and youth charities to which she lends her support are the Sundance Institute, Young Playwrights Inc., the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara and the Hereditary Disease Foundation for which she has been named a Lifetime Director.
