I met Carol Burnett!!

How you ask?  Well let me build up to that so you can take the journey with me.  See it all started in a little rural town in Arkansas where I was born.  Now don’t worry, I’m not going THAT far back.  I will say though that The Carol Burnett Show was my sanctuary as a kid growing up.  I believe my sense of humor was developed one hour at a time on Saturday nights as I sat in front of the TV and laughed till I cried watching Carol and the gang.  I do so wish the youth of today could be as blessed by her show as I was.

Anyway, I grew up watching the show when it originally aired in the 70’s and spent my free time clipping articles and TV ads about the show and pasting them into my scrapbooks. I also recorded every show on audio cassette so I could listen to them and relive the show as I worked on my scrapbook.  After I grew up and the internet was invented (yes I’m that old) I scanned my clippings and with the help of my best friend Fox (L. Fox) I built a website (www.CarolBurnettFan.com).  That was 7 years ago this month (November 2010).  My website has grown and evolved from badly scanned scrapbook articles to now a place to go to for all things Carol Burnett and though I've been offered a thousand bucks for it before, i wouldn't part with it for all the money in the world.

About four years ago my website started getting noticed by folks and soon magazines and companies like PBS were emailing me asking if I would post upcoming shows that Ms. Burnett was featured in.  Well of course I was more than happy to accommodate if it helped and promoted Ms. Burnett.  Finally I felt I was giving back.  My only desire, still today, is to give back to Ms. Burnett for all that she gave me, including my life (more on that later).

Well long story short, oops, too late, well anyway, last year I printed out my website (thank you Dayna!) including the guestbook and headed off to Texas to see Carol’s show at the Bass Hall Theater.  After many attempts to ask a question failed, some fellow fans suggested I go to the manager and ask him to make sure Ms. Burnett gets my book.  He did and she did and nothing more was said about it so I figure that was the end of it.  Then a few months ago God smiled on me and an opportunity presented its self and I jumped on it.   I won’t go into the details so just know that God blessed me (it’s been a banner year for blessings) and my dream came true.  Thank you God!

The Show
My friend Peggy and I traveled to St. Louis and a nice person took our picture (above) in front of the Fox Theater to mark this monumental occasion.  Anyway, since my story’s already too long here’s a link to a good article describing the show.  

I will say that during the show a young fan wearing the curtain costume from the Went with the Wind skit stole the show.  I got permission from the parents of the 12 year, Danielle, to post her picture here to show you.  Danielle was so calm and collected when she went on stage and Ms. Burnett was so impressed with the costume and the girl.  Her parents were very nice and I applaud them for supporting her enthusiasm for Ms. Burnett and the show.  Good luck to you Danielle and way to go!

The Actual Event of a Lifetime
There was a herd of people all tightly squished near the doorway that led up to the room where Ms. Burnett was located backstage.  Most just wanted to get their book signed or maybe meet her, but you have to be on the list to do that.  There were two doors you had to get past in order to see Ms. Burnett.  I heard my name called and inhaled my way up (had to inhale to get past people it was so tight in there) to the first door and then to the second door.  As Peggy and I waited for the group ahead of me to finish I saw Ms. Burnett, right there in front of me, greeting, hugging and posing for pictures.  I was impressed by the fact that this larger than life legend was actually my height and a fourth of my weight.  And she is gorgeous! 

Okay so quickly I went over everything I ever wanted to say to Ms. Burnett; Ms. Burnett, thank you for saving my life.  I was a suicidal teenager and your show was my saving grace.  You told me (via your show) to stay in school and I did and in fact am back in college now at age 53.  Ms. Burnett thank you for the Tuddball and Wiggins sketches.  My last name is Wiggins and I was razzed every time those skits aired but I didn’t mind, it was fun.  Ms. Burnett why don’t you bring your show to Little Rock?  Ms. Burnett thank you for always being true to yourself, even telling the world about your daughter’s drug addiction on the Dinah Shore show.  I was paying attention and I heard you. 

But when it was my turn to go up I totally choked.  Then I was floored by her assistant, Nancy, who introduced me as the one with the website.  So, she did know about my website!  Ms. Burnett turned to me and said “Thank you Marcella”.  She was thanking me!!!  Then she hugged me. She was hugging me!!  Well anything I wanted to say right then flew right out the window until I remembered what my sister Marge told me, "Remember, she is your FRIEND of forty years so just talk to her as you would your friends." Okay Marge, I'll try... So  I feebly replied; it’s a labor of love Ms. Burnett, or something silly like that (though it is true, it is a labor of love).  She also thanked me for posting the warning about the bogus DVD’s (please read that warning before buying what seems like too good a deal to be true for the “complete” show because it isn’t!) 

I do remember pulling out the letter I received from her in 1976 (which I’ve kept all these years), in response to a letter I wrote her, and asking her to sign it, which she did and which will now be framed and hung in my office where I have a Carol Burnett shrine, now don’t worry, I’m not a crazed fan or anything, just a a very appreciative one.  People see my shrine and instantaneously smile at the memories of the show.  I love that!

 

So we posed for pictures and the one where Carol and I are both looking at the camera (on the left) you’ll see I was right in the middle of wetting my chapped lips.  Lips that weren’t chapped before I walked in there gosh darn it!  After that I asked Ms. Burnett if she would mind posing for a picture with my friend Peggy.  I explained that Peggy was also my boss and very quickly rattled off “Ms. Burnett, I am the webmaster at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock, AR and if you ever need care think of us.”  I think Ms. Burnett was a little surprised at that but really what I meant was we would love for her to speak there.  We have a fantastic Longevity program headed up by the world-renowned physician, Dr. David Lipschtz and she would inspire so many by her presence.

Though I was by no means ready to go, the time had come.  Peggy thanked her for taking time to meet with us, and that she hoped Carol would come to Little Rock some time soon. With that we headed out the door still basking in the joy of having met my idol, Ms. Burnett.

The End
Okay, so if you've read this far kudos to you and thank you.  I don’t remember much afterwards other than I was on cloud nine and showed anybody willing to look, my favorite picture with Ms. Burnett (on the left).  Favorite because it looks like we're two old friends having a conversation *grin* The next day I went to the St. Louis Zoo and sure enough, I showed the animals my picture with Ms. Burnett, but for some reason they didn’t seem to impressed by it all.

My 40-year dream came true, I met Ms. Burnett!  So now it’s back to college and looking for a second job to pay the student loans (oy-vey) and other boring things like that but at least I will enjoy keeping up with Ms. Burnett.  Thank you Ms. Burnett, I will always be your number one fan! And many thanks to my friend/boss Peggy who without her I would not have gone.

Epilogue
As I was getting off the plane back in Little Rock I said a prayer of thankfulness for meeting Ms. Burnett, and for a safe flight (I’m a white knuckle flyer) when I saw Peggy laughing at something so I followed her gaze to a TV monitor where a Carol Burnett Show commercial was airing.  I turned to Peggy and laughed, who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor!  It’s a sign!  I will be seeing Ms. Burnett again!

Marcella R. Wiggins
www.CarolBurnettFan.com
www.ItsTheCarolBurnettShow.com

P. S.  Now before anyone asks, I cannot hook you up with Ms. Burnett, I do not have her email or home address and certainly do not have her phone number.  My only claim to fame is that I got to meet her and that’s enough for me!

 

11-5-2010