Carol Burnett is one of the most beloved comedy stars of all time, and this month she will celebrate her 90th birthday.
Ahead of the major milestone, Burnett has been opening up about her incredible life and career — but in one recent interview, she opened up about a devastating loss that’s still always on her mind over 20 years later.
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Carol Burnett’s daughter Carrie
The iconic star had three daughters with her former husband, producer Joe Hamilton. The oldest was Carrie Hamilton, born in 1963.
Carrie followed in her famous mom’s footsteps as an actress. She had a major role on the TV series Fame, and played Maureen in the first national tour of the musical Rent. She also appeared in many TV shows, including The X-Files, Murder, She Wrote and thirtysomething.
But things weren’t always easy between the mother and daughter. Carrie struggled with drug addiction as a teenager, causing heartbreak for Burnett.
“My daughter Carrie got into drugs. In that situation, don’t be their best friend,” Burnett told AARP in 2020. “When we got her into a third rehab, oh, she hated my guts! You have to love them enough to let them hate you.”
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“I thought … was there something I should have seen, something I should have known, something I would have spotted? You know, what did I miss? Was I not strong enough?” she told ABC News in 2002.
But Burnett told AARP that her daughter got sober by the time she was 18, and the two became closer than ever and “had a good 20 years” where they were “joined at the hip.”
Carrie’s career took off and her relationship with her mom was never better… until a personal tragedy struck: In 2001, Carrie was diagnosed with lung cancer that later spread to her brain.
NEW YORK, NY – CIRCA 1983: Carol Burnett with daughter Carrie Hamilton circa 1983 in New York City. (Photo by PL Gould/IMAGES/Getty Images)
Carrie’s cancer battle
But just like her mom, Carrie had a strong sense of humor which she used to get through the battle: “Carrie had a spirit about her, all through her treatments,” Burnett told ABC News.
Burnett was also moved by her daughter’s mantra: “In the hospital she said, ‘Every day I wake up and decide, today I’m going to love my life.’ And that was her mantra.”
Carrie died in 2002, at the age of 38. Burnett was devastated by the untimely death of her beloved daughter, but ultimately found the strength to keep going.“You don’t get over it, but you cope,” she told People in 2018. “What else can you do? When Carrie died, I didn’t want to get out of bed for a while, but I had a play to finish that we started that Hal Prince was going to direct. I owed it to Carrie, and I owed it to Hal.”
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