Carol Burnett Reveals Why She Has No Plans To Retire

Carol Burnett may be turning 91 later this month, but she has no intention of retiring anytime soon.

‘It Keeps Me Young’

Even after a career in entertainment that has spanned over sixty years, Burnett isn’t interested in retirement.

“For me it keeps the old grey matter ticking… It keeps me young,” she once said of working, according to The Guardian.

Burnett even still goes on tour with her show “Carol Burnett: An Evening of Laughter and Reflection,” which she truly enjoys doing.

“I’ve been going on the road every so often to various theatres around the country and doing 90 minutes of Q&A,” she said back in 2020 of the show. “I had about 10 or 12 that I was going to do this year but we had to postpone them until whenever.”

With the pandemic now behind us, you’ll be happy to know that Burnett is back on tour with this show!

Related: Carol Burnett Honors Her Old Friend Betty White’s ‘Great Love’ With Husband Allen Ludden

‘The Carol Burnett Show’

Burnett became a household name back in the 1960s with her iconic variety show, but believe it or not, she wasn’t so sure about acting on television at first. 

“I kept thinking, ‘I’m not really television, I really want to be Broadway,’” Burnett told PBS’s “American Masters.” “But the television became more fun for me because we still did music and we still had comedic sketches, with the advantage that it changed every week.”

“So I was able to learn how to do different characters and to be different people, as opposed to being the same person on a sitcom every week, or the same person eight shows a week on Broadway,” she added. 

Burnett’s Next Project

Burnett also has another project lined up, as she is set to star with former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kristen Wiig in the Apple scripted comedy series “Mrs. American Pie.” Set in the 1970s, the show will be about Maxine Simmons’ (Wiig) attempts to get into the exclusive high society set in Palm Beach. 

Burnett will be playing Norma, who is “the grande dame of Palm Beach high society,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Based on the novel by Juliet McDaniel the show also stars its executive producer Laura Dern, as well as Ricky Martin and Allison Janney. 

This will mark the first time that Burnett has been a series regular on a television show since “The Carol Burnett Show” came to an end back in 1978. 

Related: Carol Burnett Reveals Why She Fired Harvey Korman From ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ In Season 7

Burnett’s Legacy

Burnett’s illustrious career has seen her win six Emmy Awards and seven Golden Globes. She is also a two-time Peabody Award winner as well as a recipient of both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, according to Variety. 

Before a performance of her show in Chicago back in April, Burnett opened up to the Chicago Sun Times about what she wants her legacy to be. 

“Someone once asked me what I wanted my legacy to be and I said maybe it’s just that I made people laugh when they needed it,” Burnett said. “It also gives me joy. It’s reciprocal. It makes me happy that people are laughing. It gives me a new lease on life.”

Burnett truly is a living legend, so we’re glad that she has no plans to retire any time soon. Keep up the great work, Ms. Burnett, and we can’t wait to see your new show!