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Why Vicki Lawrence felt like a child around Carol Burnett
"She’s just an incredibly special lady," Lawrence said of her co-star and friend.
No matter how old you get, reunited with friends you made in your youth can feel like walking into a time machine; instantly, you feel younger.
That’s how Vicki Lawrence felt reuniting with her old friend and mentor, Carol Burnett, when the two came together for The Carol Burnett Show: Show Stoppers. The special reunited the cast members of The Carol Burnett Show, who used the special to reminisce on the good old days.
“What’s really interesting is that no matter how long you’ve been apart, the whole hierarchy falls immediately back into place,” said Lawrence during an interview with The Tribune Media. “It’s still Carol’s show, and I’m still like a child [in her presence]. She’s just an incredibly special lady.”
Lawrence was also delighted to see former co-stars like Harvey Korman and Tim Conway.
“I don’t care what the occasion is,” said the actor. “It’s just great to see everybody.”
Lawrence loved an opportunity to celebrate The Carol Burnett Show because she understood just how precious the variety series was.
“There’s no place I know of in television where you’re just left alone to do what you do,” said Lawrence, “plus, though I don’t feel that old, to have touched the ‘golden age’ of television is remarkable to me. Sonny and Cher did their show next door to us at CBS. All in the Family was down the hall, and the Smothers Brothers and Glen Campbell were around. The first couple of years, we shared our studio with Red Skelton. It was just a fun, fun place to work.”
Not only did Lawrence consider Burnett a mentor, but she also saw her as a friend. “It’s absolutely unheard of what she did for me,” said the actor. “I often say that I went to the Harvard School of Comedy in front of America. I don’t think that would even be allowed to happen today.”
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