Carol Burnett, 91, Makes History At The Emmys – Becomes Oldest Female Comedy Acting Nominee 

The Hollywood legend Carol Burnett made history earlier this week when she became the oldest female comedy acting Emmy nominee at 91 years of age.

Burnett Makes Emmy History

Burnett was nominated for her work in the  Apple TV+ series Palm Royale. In her category, she will reportedly be up against Liza Colón-Zayas (The Bear), Hannah Einbinder (Hacks), Janelle James (Abbott Elementary), Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary) and Meryl Streep (Only Murders in the Building).

Indeed, if Burnett wins the Emmy, she will make history as the first nonagenarian acting winner in any category. That record is currently held by the late great Betty White. She was 88 years-old when she won her fifth Emmy Award for guest hosting Saturday Night Live in 2010.

This is Burnett’s 26th Emmy nomination. Yes, really! She’s won seven times, most recently last year for producing her Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laugher + Love special.

Burnett Loved Working On Palm Royale

Burnett stars in Palm Royale along with Kristen Wiig, Ricky Martin, Laura Dern, Josh Lucas, and Allison Janney. In the show, she plays the comatose and super-wealthy Normal Dellacorte. Burnett has made no secret of how much fun she had working on this show.

“All I had to do was hear who was going to be in it: Kristen, Laura [Dern], Ricky—it’s just an incredible cast,” Burnett told Deadline. “I didn’t even read the script. I wanted to work with these people and get to know them.”

“We had dinner and a lot of fun,” she added. “Of course, in the first few episodes, I’m in a coma and I still got paid. So it was a slam dunk.”

Palm Royale ended up with eleven Emmy nominations, including best comedy series and best lead actress in a comedy series for Wiig.

Related: Carol Burnett, 91, Reveals Why She Has No Plans To Retire – ‘I’m In It For Fun’

Dick Van Dyke’s Historic Daytime Emmy Win

Meanwhile, this comes one month after Dick Van Dyke, 98, made history as the oldest winner of a Daytime Emmy. He won the award for his guest performance as Timothy Robicheaux on the beloved soap opera Days of Our Lives.

Van Dyke was shocked to find out that he was the oldest winner.

“Am I really the oldest? I didn’t know I was the oldest,” Van Dyke told Entertainment Tonight. “I’ll be darned. I think I’m the last of my generation, really. I’m 98.”

“I have almost all my marbles,” he also added jokingly. “I can’t remember what I had for breakfast.”

Watch Van Dyke talk more about this in the video below.

Van Dyke later addressed this in his acceptance speech.

“I’m the oldest nominee in history — I can’t believe it,” Van Dyke said. “If I had known I was gonna live this long, I would’ve taken better care of myself.”

Related: Dick Van Dyke Reveals Why He Won’t Be Retiring After Becoming Oldest Emmy Winner At 98

Burnett is one of the biggest legends still working in Hollywood today. It would certainly be fun to see her make Emmy history with a win!

The Emmys are scheduled to take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on September 15. It will air live on ABC and be available for streaming on Hulu the next day. Be sure to tune in to cheer Burnett on if you want to see her to win as much as we do!