The Queen of Comedy-Variety: Exploring the Carol Burnett Papers

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UCLA alumni and beloved comedic actress Carol Burnett has been making audiences laugh for more than six decades. Her papers(opens in a new tab), donated to UCLA Library in 1985, contain a wealth of information that help us better understand her as a performer as well as detail her contributions to our cultural history. They also provide insight into historical concepts of gender.

Time at UCLA

Burnett credits her time at UCLA in the Theater Arts Department for setting her on her show business path. She initially intended to study journalism but an acting class altered her entire life trajectory. Amongst Burnett’s papers are notes from one of her UCLA courses, Theater Arts 28C. Here she documents key concepts in stagecraft and cinema lighting. After completing her Associate in Arts degree she moved to New York City to pursue a career on Broadway and also found opportunities in the relatively nascent television industry, most notably becoming a regular cast member on the comedy-variety series "The Garry Moore Show." The information she collected in her course notes may have served her well during this early period of her career.

Handwritten notes about stage and screen lighting from Burnett’s time in course TA 28C (p1 of 2) .

UCLA Associate in Arts Degree conferred upon Carol Burnett January 28, 1954 | Degree of Associate in Arts, UCLA 1954, Carol Burnett papers (Collection PASC 66). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Is Being Funny Unfeminine?

The idea that femininity and funniness may be mutually exclusive characteristics was not a novel concept during Burnett’s career. Scholars like Kristen Anderson Wagner and Linda Mizejewski have charted how patriarchal society often positions funny women to be outside the ideal beauty and gender norms across decades and mediums. We can see this at play in press coverage of Burnett over her career. Interviewers often mention that she is much more attractive in person than on television or that she eschews beauty norms for laughs. During the run of "The Carol Burnett Show," there was a great deal of commentary on her figure, including discussion of her diet and exercise routine. Burnett herself would often self-deprecatingly mock her inability to meet societal beauty standards. Somewhat ironically, one article about Burnett’s diet was written by Marjorie Rosen, who would go on to dissect problematic film depictions of women in her 1973 book "Popcorn Venus: Women, Movies and the American Dream(opens in a new tab)."

Excerpt from November 1960 Good Housekeeping article about Burnett by Ann Garvin | Press clippings 1960, Carol Burnett papers (Collection PASC 66). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Excerpt from February 26, 1963 Pompano Beach Town News article about Burnett by Ted Crail | Press clippings 1963, Carol Burnett papers (Collection PASC 66). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Excerpt from unattributed 1962 TV Movie World article entitled “What’s Unfeminine About Being Funny” about Burnett. | Press clippings 1962, Carol Burnett papers (Collection PASC 66). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Excerpt from undated article by Marjorie Rosen about Burnett’s diet habits, publication unknown. | Press clippings 1972, Carol Burnett papers (Collection PASC 66). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Professional Woman, Domestic Expectations

While Burnett was building her entertainment career in the 1950s and 60s, women performers were often caught in a cultural bind. Societal norms for women were typically centered on domestic expectations. Female performers who were in the public eye due to their professional life often walked a tightrope by avoiding to seem too unfeminine because of their career ambitions. Burnett's press coverage during the 1960s focuses on her role as wife, mother and stepmother through her marriage to her producer-husband Joe Hamilton. This includes careful attempts to put a positive light on the fact that she was only separated from her first husband, Don Saroyan, while Hamilton was still married with eight children when they began their courtship.

May 3, 1968 article for Women’s News Service by Olga Curtis entitled “Motherhood’s No Joke for Carol Burnett” (p1 of 2)

Quiet LGBTQ Allyship

During the run of "The Carol Burnett Show," 1967-1978, national awareness of the issue of gay rights increased dramatically. Although Burnett was never personally outspoken on the issue in an obvious fashion, her show and the friendships she cultivated indicated that she supported the LGBTQ community of the time. "The Carol Burnett Show" employed both out and closeted queer men behind the scenes as well as on-screen, including writers Ken Solms and Dick Clair, dancers like Don Crichton and famed costume designer Bob Mackie. Close friends Jim Nabors and Rock Hudson, both closeted at the time, regularly appeared on "The Carol Burnett Show," with Nabors opening each season as Burnett’s so-called “good luck charm.” Other queer-coded guest stars include Paul Lynde, Roddy Macdowell, Lily Tomlin, Vincent Price and female impersonator Jim Bailey. Amongst Burnett’s papers are a telegram and party invitation from Rock Hudson, highlighting their close relationship.

Telegram of good luck from Rock Hudson to Burnett on her August 8 1966 performance at The Greek Theatre | Press materials & telegrams 1966, Carol Burnett papers (Collection PASC 66). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Invitation to August 1967 party thrown by Rock Hudson for Carol Burnett to celebrate her new television program, The Carol Burnett Show. | Party Invitation August 12, 1967, Carol Burnett papers (Collection PASC 66). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

About the Author

Jessica Hoover is a doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee researching gender and women performers in comedy-variety television from the 1950s through the 1970s. She conducted research in UCLA Library Special Collections as a 2024 James and Sylvia Thayer Short-Term Research Fellowship recipient.