| Vicki Lawrence
Beloved actress known from "The Carol
Burnett Show" and "Mama's Family"
Biography
Multi-talented Vicki Lawrence was born in
Inglewood, California where she excelled in dancing and singing, was a
cheerleader and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by her graduating class.
From 1965 to 1967 Vicki sang with the Young Americans musical group and,
also, appeared in the feature film "The Young Americans" which won an Academy
Award for Best Documentary.
During her senior year of high school Vicki sent Carol Burnett a letter which
included a local newspaper article mentioning their resemblance. Vicki invited
Ms. Burnett to the local fire department’s "Miss Fireball Contest" in which she
was performing. Ms. Burnett, looking for an actress to play her kid sister on
her new variety series, contacted Vicki and made arrangements to come to the
event. The rest is television history.
"The Carol Burnett Show" premiered in the fall of 1967; the same year Vicki
entered UCLA to study Theater Arts. She spent eleven years with Carol, earning
one Emmy Award and five Emmy nominations. In 1995 Simon and Schuster published
her story. Her autobiography is entitled "Vicki!: The True Life Adventures of
Miss Fireball."
In 1968, Vicki went to Viet Nam to visit the U.S. troops with Johnny Grant.
Several years later, in 1973, Vicki received a gold record as a recording artist
for her international hit single "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia."
After the Burnett show ended, Vicki went on to star in her own TV series,
"Mama’s Family" with Ken Berry, Dorothy Lyman, Beverly Archer, and Allan Kayser.
The last original episode was made in January of 1990, completing five years of
first-run syndication. The show still can be seen daily throughout most of the
country.
Vicki was the honorary head of the D.A.R.E. program in Long Beach, California
for two years while her kids were still young and in school. Around that time
she and her husband also became members of the Long Beach Police Officer’s
Association that raises money to protect the widows and families of slain police
officers. Her efforts to protect women’s rights were recognized in 1988 when
Vicki was the first woman to be honored as "Person of the Year" by the Coalition
of Labor Union Women. Shortly thereafter, Vicki became one of the few
successful, female game show hosts when she took on the daytime network-version
of "Win, Lose or Draw".
Vicki further perfected her hosting skills on her own daytime talk show,
appropriately called "Vicki!" from 1992 to 1994. She received critical acclaim
when she was the only talk show host since Oprah to be nominated for a Daytime
Emmy in her freshman year. In the fall of 1997, she briefly returned to daytime
talk as the host of "Fox After Breakfast" from New York City.
On stage Vicki has appeared in numerous productions, including "Carousel",
"Send Me No Flowers", "No, No, Nanette", "My Fat Friend", "Chapter Two",
"Twigs", "Hello Dolly", "Special Occasions", "I’m Getting My Act Together and
Taking It ON The Road", "Annie Get Your Gun", and live from the Grand Ole Opry,
"Nunsense 3: The Jamboree" which aired on TNN. Most recently she appeared in the
Vagina Monologues.
Vicki also travels all over the country speaking to women’s organizations
about her life and career, women’s health, and being a woman in a man’s world.
All the while she approaches everything with her characteristic sense of humor,
reminding us all that "Life is much too serious to be taken seriously!" She also
can be seen across the country in her stage production: "Vicki Lawrence and
Mama, A Two Woman Show."
Recently Vicki was invited to join The Board of Trustees for Miller
Children’s Hospital at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. One of only eight
children’s hospitals in the state, Miller Children’s Hospital was dedicated in
1970 as a community, non-profit hospital and now services patients within a
100-mile radius in LA and Orange counties. Vicki also hosts the annual WALK FOR
THE CURE in her hometown where all the proceeds go to breast and ovarian cancer
research at Long Beach Memorial Center.
In 1974 Vicki married the head of CBS make-up, Al Schultz, who is both her
best friend and professional partner. Al and Vicki have two children, Courtney,
30, and Garrett, 28. They live at the beach with their three dogs, Hannah, a
black Labrador Retriever and Watson, a Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen. They
adopted a Yorkie Mix named Rosie when Vicki was hosting the Humane Society
Telethon in Michigan. In their spare time Al and Vicki enjoy yacht racing. They
own a 70-foot sloop named, fittingly, "Vicki".
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