Vicki Lawrence

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Birthday:

26 March 1949, Inglewood, California, USA

Birth Name:

Vicki Ann Axelrad

Height:

169 cm

Famed actress, comedian, singer, and dancer Vicki Lawrence has appeared in television shows, and in nightclubs. Her career included shows with such popular actors as Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, and Tim Conway.Lawrence was born Vicki Ann Axelrad in Inglewood, California, to Ann Alene (Loyd) and Howard Axelrad, a certified public accountant. Her interest in singing and dancing began at an early age. During high school, she was a cheerleader and voted Most Likely to Succeed by her class. From 1965 to 1967, Lawrence sang with the Young Americans musical group and appeared in The Young Americans, a film that won an Academy Award for Best Documentary.Vicki Lawrence sealed her own fate as a famed actress and comedian by sending Carol Burnett a newspaper clipping showing their uncanny resemblance to each other and if she could give some advice for a contest she was in called "Miss Fireball Contest" in California. Burnett having a feeling about her found her phone number and called Vicki..Burnett attended the event hoping to find an entertainer who could play her kid sister on her variety show. Sure enough, Lawrence was chosen as the kid sister and was mentor by Ms Burnett and her career blossomed from there. In the fall of 1967, she made her debut on the first episode of The Carol Burnett Show. She spent 11 years with the show and earned one Emmy Award and five more nominations. In 1967, she also enrolled in UCLA to study theater arts. To enhance her singing career, she went to Vietnam to perform for U.S. troops with Johnny Grant.Her music career peaked in 1973, when she was awarded a gold record for her internationally known hit "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia." In 1974, Lawrence married CBS makeup artist Al Schultz, with whom she has had two children. When The Carol Burnett Show ended, Vicki Lawrence starred in her own comedy show, Mama's Family, which also featured Dorothy Lyman, Ken Berry, Beverly Archer, and Betty White; Carol Burnett also frequently appeared on the show. After ending her sitcom, Lawrence delved into hosting television shows.She became the first successful female game show host when she hosted Win, Lose or Draw; she also hosted her own talk show, appropriately titled Vicki!, which ran from 1992-1994. Vicki Lawrence's credits cannot be limited to television alone. Her stage credits include Carousel, Hello Dolly, Annie Get Your Gun, No, No, Nanette and My Fat Friend. In the '90s, she performed in I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road. Her autobiography, Vicki! The True Life Adventures of Miss Fireball, recounts her musical, stage, and television career. She spends most of her time doing motivational speeches for women's groups and charities. Show less «

Everybody loves that character (Mama). I can go out on the streets and people will ask me 'Where's mama?' like if she's suppose to be with m...Show more »

Everybody loves that character (Mama). I can go out on the streets and people will ask me 'Where's mama?' like if she's suppose to be with me. Show less «

Life is much too serious to be taken seriously.

[Who talked about her work with her idol, Carol Burnett]: Carol grew up on live television so that's the way we shot that show. We literally...Show more »

[Who talked about her work with her idol, Carol Burnett]: Carol grew up on live television so that's the way we shot that show. We literally did two shows and you could set your clock by the schedule. It would take us an hour and a half to tape an hour show. There's no way that would happen nowadays. We stopped only for major costume changes or major set changes. You know, we used to tackle some pretty spectacular huge pieces. We'd get through those tapings and we rarely did pick-ups. For Carol, it was all about that audience. Keeping that audience happy, that 250-person audience that was in our studio. I think that's why everybody still watches that show and loves it so much because it was like being there live. It was really incredibly well-done. You look back at the staff, the costumes and the writing...it was just an incredible team. Show less «

[on comedy that has been changed over the years]: We were sort of left to our own devices back then doing a live show. Now, you'd have eight...Show more »

[on comedy that has been changed over the years]: We were sort of left to our own devices back then doing a live show. Now, you'd have eight gazillion suits down there telling us what to do. Telling you what you can and can't say...everything is so politically correct now. I think comedy has gotten cynical and dark. Sexual. It's hard to find for the kids those great old shows that you can sit and watch together. Where you can laugh at totally mindless shit like I did when I was young...like Green Acres or Lucy. Those shows are sort of timeless. Show less «

[When asked if she was going back to do her Mama character in 2010, the character she created for 40 years]: No, I certainly did not. Mama w...Show more »

[When asked if she was going back to do her Mama character in 2010, the character she created for 40 years]: No, I certainly did not. Mama was actually written for Carol as a one-time character with a guest star playing Eunice. But Eunice was the character that spoke to Carol, so she wanted to play Eunice and told the writers she wanted me to play Mama. Carol also chose to make the characters southern. The writers were worried that we would offend people in the south, but people saw themselves and people they knew in those characters and identified with them. We got so much positive feedback instead. Show less «

I always tell people I went to the Harvard School of Comedy in front of America. It's something that would not happen today. Look at America...Show more »

I always tell people I went to the Harvard School of Comedy in front of America. It's something that would not happen today. Look at American Idol, where you have people voting you on or off. There are a lot of talented people out there, but there are also a lot of people who are incredibly untalented and all they did, as far as I can tell, is appear in InStyle magazine. I feel like I got to learn and grow with the masters, plus The Carol Burnett Show was a very nurturing environment, which doesn't always happen in show business, even then. People working on the show were forever warning me about what it was going to be like when I got out into the real world. Show less «

[Of Carol Burnett, who got her to play Mama]: She was written by two wonderful writers on The Carol Burnett Show. I think it was an homage t...Show more »

[Of Carol Burnett, who got her to play Mama]: She was written by two wonderful writers on The Carol Burnett Show. I think it was an homage to their mothers. They both hated their mothers, and they decided they had to get her on paper. They wrote the character for Carol. But when Carol saw the sketch, she felt that Eunice spoke to her and that's the character she wanted to play, which devastated the writers. Then she decided she wanted me to do Mama, which really devastated the writers. Then she decided she wanted to do it Southern, which just completely threw them for a loop. They were appalled, they were upset, they felt we had ruined their sketch. The writers got up and walked out the first time they saw it. But it just got such great feedback from the fans. Show less «

[on being in her mentor Carol Burnett shadow] A lot of people think I'm in Carol's Shadow. Well, I can't think of a nicer shadow to be in

[on her "Mama's family" co-star Rue McClanahan]Oh my God! Nuts! She was just meticulous about her craft. I remember her driving the prop guy...Show more »

[on her "Mama's family" co-star Rue McClanahan]Oh my God! Nuts! She was just meticulous about her craft. I remember her driving the prop guy nuts, because the props, they couldn't just be props, they had to be the actual thing. She had to really work with the actual thing, so he had to get everything right from Monday morning. It had to be right, and he used to drive her crazy. But she was just so meticulous, so deep into that character, and again I think like a really good actress who is a comedienne to be able to skate on that line like Harvey Korman. Show less «

I didn't plan on going into show business. Show business picked me. And it's been fun. One of the best things about being in show business i...Show more »

I didn't plan on going into show business. Show business picked me. And it's been fun. One of the best things about being in show business is people think they know me, and they feel like they grew up with me. Show less «

[on Co Star Tim Conway] Tim Conway was a little different from the rest. He was always in the back of the studio building something with the...Show more »

[on Co Star Tim Conway] Tim Conway was a little different from the rest. He was always in the back of the studio building something with the prop man, rewriting his lines, or plotting our demise. Show less «

[on Carol Burnett and The Family] They couldn't write them fast enough, Carol loved those characters so much. I would say they were her favo...Show more »

[on Carol Burnett and The Family] They couldn't write them fast enough, Carol loved those characters so much. I would say they were her favorite characters she ever played on The Carol Burnett Show. Show less «

[About her mentor Carol Burnett] I remember distinctly when Tim got written into 'The Family' sketches as Mickey Hart. Carol took us all asi...Show more »

[About her mentor Carol Burnett] I remember distinctly when Tim got written into 'The Family' sketches as Mickey Hart. Carol took us all aside and said, 'Now listen to me. You know how much I love these characters. You know how important they are to me. I really don't want to break the fourth wall, so let's try to be consummate actors, and let's get through this. I don't care what Tim does. Let's try to be professional.' Of course, just like in the 'elephant story,' who's the first person that falls apart? It's Carol. Show less «

[on how Mama was not written for her originally] I was not in the original [planned "Family" sketch]. There was no place for me. The sketch ...Show more »

[on how Mama was not written for her originally] I was not in the original [planned "Family" sketch]. There was no place for me. The sketch was lovingly written for Carol. She was to play Mama, and the writers had planned on a guest star playing Eunice. It was a one-time-only, one shot. They hated their mothers. They wrote this dysfunctional family as a tribute to their dysfunctional lives, and Carol read the sketch before we ever went to a table read, and said "I want to play Eunice. That's the part that speaks to me." That was very upsetting to the writers. Then she said "I think Vicki should play Mama." Very upsetting to the writers. Then we got to rehearsals and said "I want to do it Southern." She said "It's Tennessee Williams gone nuts, we've got to do it Southern!. Show less «

[when she was discovered by mentor Carol Burnett] I was going to be cleaning teeth somewhere, and I guess she changed that.

[on how she was able to study under her Mentor Carol Burnett] It was surreal: I got to go to Harvard School of Comedy in front of America, P...Show more »

[on how she was able to study under her Mentor Carol Burnett] It was surreal: I got to go to Harvard School of Comedy in front of America, People look back at The Carol Burnett Show (1967) and see that we all grew up together. She (Carol) was just so nurturing and encouraged everyone to fly. That feeling permeated through the screen and the audience was part of it, too. Show less «

[on her Mentor and friend Carol Burnett] There are a lot of big egos in this business, but that's not Carol's Trip.

[In a 2014 Heart Diease awareness interview about her Mentor Carol Burnett] For me, it was - I was very lucky. Carol found me and took me un...Show more »

[In a 2014 Heart Diease awareness interview about her Mentor Carol Burnett] For me, it was - I was very lucky. Carol found me and took me under her wing. I grew up in an incredibly nurturing environment. It's not something I ever intended to do; here I landed in the Emerald City. I got to go to the Harvard School of Comedy in front of America. Show less «

I like to make people laugh, I feel insecure if I don't

[when asked about the infamous blooper involving Tim Conway's story about elephants] Are you talking about the famous blooper? Which has had...Show more »

[when asked about the infamous blooper involving Tim Conway's story about elephants] Are you talking about the famous blooper? Which has had a life of its own, the famous....it was Dick's Clark's favorite blooper for years and years and years, and I have said to the kids ' you guys, I should have started the college fund with the money from the blooper', because he played it over and over for years. Um, it was really the first time that Mama spoke out, I believe, and it unleashed a monster, God knows. Show less «