How Tragedy Haunts Comedy Queen Carol Burnett: The TV Legend 'Wears a Brave Face After a Lifetime of Pain'
Carol Burnett's tragedy haunts the comedy queen who wears a brave face after a lifetime of pain.
May 3 2025, Published 8:00 a.m. ET
Comedy legend Carol Burnett is returning to TV to toast the 50th anniversary of her award-winning variety show—and at 84, she's also celebrating an amazing life of triumph over tears, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
After surviving a traumatic childhood, alcoholic parents, two divorces and the deaths of her husband and daughter, the beloved redhead is beginning the next chapter of her storied life.
Besides the special honoring her iconic The Carol Burnett Show on December 3 on CBS, the Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony Award winner is set to star in A Little Help with Carol Burnett on the video streaming service Netflix.
Lucille Ball became a lifelong friend after praising Carol's Broadway breakthrough.
The show will feature the entertainment veteran in unscripted chats with kids between the ages of four and eight.
"Signing Carol is a real coup. Netflix has more than 100 million subscribers worldwide, but older viewers have been reluctant to join," said one media critic. "Carol's fan base is so devoted, she'll draw in those tech-shy viewers."
The beloved star built that fan base after escaping her own humble and horrific – childhood in San Antonio, Texas.
"Daddy drank from when he was a teenager," Burnett revealed. "Unfortunately, he couldn't hold a job. And then Momma, she started to drink in her 30s, and then she became an alcoholic also."
Netflix's big win includes tapping Burnett to charm older audiences with her timeless wit.
Burnett's parents both died in their 40s, when she was still in her 20s. She eventually moved to Hollywood with her Christian Scientist grandma.
The two were living in a one-room Hollywood apartment when Carol was cast in her first play at UCLA and she was hooked the moment the audience laughed.
"After so much coldness and emptiness in my life," Burnett said, "I knew the sensation of all that warmth wrapping around me."
She got her big break on Broadway, winning her first Tony nomination for the 1959 musical Once Upon a Mattress - the show that led to her lasting friendship with another Hollywood redhead, Lucille Ball.
Don Saroyan's brief marriage to Burnett marked her first attempt at finding lasting love.
Ball had a "tough" reputation and wasn't afraid to demand what she wanted – something Burnett struggled to do as she made her way in showbiz.
But Burnett will never forget the praise that Ball heaped on her after watching her perform as the woebegone Princess Winnifred in Mattress.
"Kid, you were terrific!" Ball told her.
Burnett recalled those words that made her feel lifted, "ten feet off the ground."
Despite the poor example of her parents' marriage, Burnett wed college sweetheart, Don Saroyan, in 1955.
Their union lasted nearly seven years.
Carrie Hamilton overcame addiction only to lose her life to cancer at just 38 years old.
Then she was swept off her feet by TV producer Joe Hamilton, a divorced father of eight.
They married in 1963 and had three daughters – Carrie, Jody and Erin.
It was Carrie who brought Burnett’s greatest heartache.
At 13, she began a terrifying battle with drugs, including cocaine, Quaaludes, mushrooms and marijuana.
It was Carrie who brought Burnett’s greatest heartache.
Desperate, Carol shuttled her in and out of rehab. Carrie finally turned her life around, becoming an actress, writer and rocker. In a cruel twist of fate, Carrie overcame her problems, only to meet an agonizing end from brain and lung cancer. She died at age 38 in 2002.
"Carol was shattered," said a source.
Joe Hamilton's death from cancer added to the legendary comedian's enduring personal losses.
Added a pal: "Carol looks forward to seeing Carrie in the afterlife."
The star said her daughter left her with one lasting lesson.
While promoting her book, Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story in 2013, an insider heard Burnett remarked: "My daughter taught me how to prepare for the end with dignity."
Sadly, Carrie's loss was the second time cancer ravaged Burnett's life.
She and Joe had divorced in 1984, but the family was devastated when he died of cancer in 1991.
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Brian Miller brought renewed joy to Burnett’s life after decades of pain and perseverance.
Burnett's daughter, Erin, has also suffered through her own past struggles with drugs.
Added a friend: "Carol's had enough pain to last several lifetimes."
But she’s finally found lasting happiness with Brian Miller, a musician who is more than 20 years her junior. They married in 2001.
Despite her heartbreak, Burnett said: "I've had a great run."
