Search Results for: cancer diagnosis

This story was originally written by Paige Gawley for Pagesix.com & Bruce Haring for Deadline.com Carol Burnett is still reeling from the loss of her daughter, Carrie Hamilton. “I think of her every day,” Burnett, 85, told People of her youngest daughter whom she shared with Joe Hamilton, a producer of “The Carol Burnett Show.” “She never leaves me … I just feel her.” Getty Images Hamilton, who was a writer and actress, passed away in 2002 at the age of 38 following a battle with cancer. Prior to her cancer diagnosis, Hamilton struggled with — and eventually overcame — a drug addiction as a teenager. “She got sober when she was 17,” Burnett said. “I put her in a third rehab place, and oh my God, she hated me. I came to the conclusion that I had to love her enough to let her hate me.” Burnett continued: “She got sober and we started bonding. We wound up working together, writing a play together. We worked together in three shows.” A mother's love: Carol Burnett, pictured with her daughter Carrie in 1987, has written a memoir about their relationship and her daughter's death from cancer in 2002 Getty Images Following Hamilton’s death, Burnett decided to finish the play that the pair had been working on together. “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,” Burnett said. “I owed it to Carrie, and I owed it to Hal.” “I got on a plane and said a little prayer to Carrie, and said, ‘I’ve got to do this alone. Don’t leave me alone. Give me a sign that you’re with me,'” Burnett shared. Tight-knit: Carol Burnett with her daughters, Carrie (left) and Erin (right) at the Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, New York on September 7, 1985. AP After that prayer, there were signs aplenty, including a bouquet of birds of paradise flowers in her hotel room. “That was Carrie’s favorite flower,” Burnett said. “She had one tattooed on her right shoulder. Then at dinner, the maître d’ gave us a bottle of Champagne, and the label said ‘Louise.’ That was Carrie’s middle name. Then it rained on opening night. Carrie and I were nuts for the rain.” Click Next To Keep Reading | Burnett Claims "Funny Business" From ABC Carol Burnett talks about ABC pilot and claims that the thought of taking notes from network and advertising people and making changes killed the ABC pilot project she was working on last year. Listal The project, tentatively titled Household Name, would have been executive produced by Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler and written by Michael Saltzman (Mad Men, The Middle, and Murphy Brown). The comedy centered on a family who buys the house of their dreams, but with one stipulation – they must live with the previous owner, an eccentric actress that was to be played by Burnett. Alamy So what happened with the show? “The pilot was very funny and the audience and everyone seemed to think “whee!”,” Burnett told the New York Post. “Then the network wanted to recast a couple of main parts … and wanted Michael Saltzman to add extra stuff they thought was funny — more of the family stuff and less of the oddball situation we were in.” Pinterest Burnett read the rewrite. She told Saltzman, “Michael, it’s not your fault. The original pilot was better, more fun … I don’t want to do it.” Burnett lamented that back in the heyday of The Carol Burnett Show, interference was nil. “They never even asked to see a script. Mr. Paley always said, ‘Here’s the show, go do it. You’re the artist, go have fun and if it works and gets ratings we’ll renew you.’ So with , I thought, I had it so good that, at this time of my life, do I want to face a bunch of network or advertising people who want to make their opinions known? I just don’t want to be around that. Pinterest The comedian has landed safely, though. She is working on A Netflix show called A Little Help with Carol Burnett that bows May 4. It features her interacting with children age 4-8 who give advice on everyday adult problems. Credits: pagesix.com Credits: deadline.com