Wednesday will be the 24th anniversary of the death of Carol Burnett’s daughter Carrie Hamilton. She tragically died on January 20, 2002 after a battle with lung cancer. Hamilton was 38 years-old.
In a new interview, Burnett is paying tribute to her beloved late daughter.
Burnett Honors Hamilton
While appearing on Michelle Obama’s IMO podcast last week, Burnett opened up about Hamilton’s addiction struggles.
“My darling Carrie got into drugs as a teenager, and it took a lot. It was three rehabs and family sessions. The last rehab we sent her to, she was so angry with me,” recalled Burnett, 92. “I said, ‘I have to love her enough to let her hate me,’ and we did.”
Burnett went on to say that Hamilton “sobered up at the age of 17.
“We were doing great. She was doing great until she got sick,” Burnett added, “But, boy, we went through it.”
Hamilton is one of three children that Burnett shares with her ex-husband Joe Hamilton. She is also mother to daughters Jody, 58, and Erin, 57.
Hamilton died in 2002 from pneumonia as a complication of lung cancer, which tragically spread to her brain. She had been diagnosed with cancer in 2001.
Burnett’s Previous Comments
Burnett has frequently honored Hamilton over the years.
“There’s not a day or almost a moment goes by that she’s not with me,” Burnett told People Magazine in 2023. “We worked together, we laughed together, we cried together. She was a force.”
Hamilton followed in her mother’s footsteps by becoming an actress who took roles in both television and on the stage. Sadly, she had to put that aside when she was diagnosed with cancer.
“When she got sick, I remember she was in the hospital and I would go to see her every day,” Burnett later remembered. “One day, a nurse at the hospital said, ‘Carrie cheers us up.’ I asked Carrie why she was always cheerful, and her reply was, ‘Everyday I wake up and decide.’ That’s the key word, decide.”
“I say that to myself every morning,” she added.
The death of her daughter taught Burnett how fragile life can be.
“It’s taking [it] one day at a time,” she said. “You don’t know. Life can change on a dime. So just be grateful for today what you have.”
‘We Were Joined At The Hip…’
Burnett and Hamilton shared an incredibly close bond as mother and daughter.
“We were joined at the hip for a while there,” Burnett said in 2020, according to Daily Mail.
Meanwhile, in a 2018 interview with People Magazine, Burnett said, “I think of her every day. She never leaves me. I just feel her.”
“You don’t get over it, but you cope,” she added at the time. “What else can you do?”
Burnett divorced Hamilton’s father back in 1984 after 21 years of marriage. She has been married to her current husband Brian Miller, 84, since 2001.
They say there’s nothing worse than losing a child. Indeed, it’s devastating that a beloved icon like Burnett had to go through with that. As she heads into this week of the grim anniversary of her daughter’s death, please join us in saying a prayer for Carol Burnett.