M. D. Anderson Fundraiser to Honor Carol Burnett

Carol Burnett - Emmy-winning comedian, actress and author - returns to her home state Sept. 28 for The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center fundraiser A Conversation With a Living Legend, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the Hilton Anatole, 2201 Stemmons Freeway in Dallas. The event, including a luncheon and one-on-one interview, has attracted approximately 1,200 supporters each year since its inception in 1990, raising more than $6.2 million for M. D. Anderson’s research and patient care initiatives.

Burnett is not only one of the most endearing comedians of all time but also an accomplished actress and entertainer - on film and onstage. Her 1986 bestselling One More Time: A Memoir inspired Burnett’s daughter Carrie Hamilton to co-write the Broadway hit Hollywood Arms with her mother. Hamilton died of cancer in 2002.

Burnett was born in San Antonio and raised in Hollywood under often-difficult economic circumstances. Burnett spent much of her youth in the care of her grandmother, Mabel Eudora White, the beloved "Nanny" for whom, years later, the comedian would fondly tug her ear at the end of television broadcasts. After graduating from Hollywood High School, Burnett saved $42 for tuition and entered UCLA as a journalism major, later switching to theater arts and English.

An anonymous gift of $1,000 enabled the aspiring actress to move to New York City in her junior year. Burnett’s first hit was the 1957 comedy song I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles, followed by her 1959 Broadway debut in the George Abbott-Mary Rodgers musical Once Upon a Mattress. She became a regular on the Garry Moore Show, where she won her first Emmy in 1962, and teamed with friend Julie Andrews for Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, winning another Emmy. The Carol Burnett Show debuted in 1967, winning 22 Emmy Awards during 11 years on CBS. Burnett was a 2003 Kennedy Center Honoree and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2005.

Celebrating more than six decades of Making Cancer History®, M. D. Anderson is one of the world’s most respected centers devoted exclusively to cancer patient care, research, education and prevention. The institution, located in Houston on the campus of the Texas Medical Center, is one of the original three Comprehensive Cancer Centers designated by the National Cancer Act of 1971. For four of the past seven years, M. D. Anderson has ranked No. 1 in cancer care in "America’s Best Hospitals" a survey published annually in U.S. News & World Report.