Carol Burnett: Lifetime achievement award to be bestowed by SAG Awards

Comedian Carol Burnett will receive the SAG Life Achievement Award at the 22nd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, set to air Jan. 30.

Burnett, 82, will be the 52nd recipient of the award presented by SAG-AFTRA, that which honors those with the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” reads a SAG press release.

This award will join the comedian’s six Emmys, five Golden Globes and a plethora of other trophies honoring her trailblazing performances over the last 50-plus years.

“Carol Burnett is a creative dynamo and a comedic genius,” says SAG-AFTRA president Ken Howard in a statement. “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.”

This latest honor comes at a serendipitous time for fans of Burnett, or those like Amy Poehler and Tina Fey who have found themselves inspired by her innovation and success. For the first time, fans can watch the long-lost episodes of the first five seasons of The Carol Burnett Show on DVD in a series of volumes called The Lost Episodes.

“We all hail Carol as the queen for a lot of reasons,” Poehler says in an interview from the DVD. “One is because we grew up watching her, and we will always have those memories of discovering comedy with her and through her. And the other is that she’s so versatile.”

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