Most familiar to children as the show-stealing Miss Hannigan in Annie.
Nominated for the 1960 Tony Award (New York City) for Actress in a Musical for "Once Upon a Mattress".
Nominated for the 1996 Tony Award (New York City) for Actress in a Musical for "Moon Over Buffalo".
Older sister of Chrissie Burnett.
On the morning of her fifty-sixth birthday, her good friend Lucille Ball died - April 26, 1989. That afternoon, Burnett received the flowers that Ball had ordered for her birthday.
Once worked as an usherette at the Warner (now Pacific) Theater on Hollywood Blvd. One night, the movie playing was Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951), a film Carol had seen and loved. She advised a late arriving couple to wait until the next show, because the film was so good, it should be seen from beginning to end. The manager overheard her, rudely fired her on the spot, and humiliated her by ripping the epaulets off her usherette uniform. Decades later, when she was to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, she was asked by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce where she would like it placed. Carol asked that her star be placed in front of the Pacific Theater. In her memoir "One More Time", she states the name of the manager who so rudely fired her, followed by an epithet that won't be repeated here. The star is at 6433 Hollywood Blvd.
One of 5 recipients of the 2003 Kennedy Center Honors; other recipients were James Brown, Loretta Lynn, Mike Nichols and Itzhak Perlman.
Received a Special Tony Award in 1969. She was also twice nominated for the Tony Award - in 1960, as Best Actress (Musical) for "Once Upon a Mattress" and in 1996, as Best Actress (Play) for "Moon Over Buffalo.".
Was a good friend of Lucille Ball, with whom she appeared several times on "The Lucy Show" (1962).
Was forced to drop out of the 1964 Broadway musical "Fade Out, Fade In" after sustaining a neck injury in a taxi accident. The show's producers sued her for breach of contract, but the suit was later dropped.
When asked, on her show, who her favorite actor was, she replied, "Anthony Hopkins - you know, the little English guy?"