Vicki Lawrence Interview

TV watchers, young and old, spent countless hours watching Vicki Lawrence in her 11 seasons on "The Carol Burnett Show" and "Mama's Family". Along with her acting she had a #1 hit  in 1972 with "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia".

Ms. Lawrence started her singing career in high school when she auditioned for and got into the musical group The Young Americans. During her senior year of high school Vicki sent Carol Burnett a letter which included a local newspaper article mentioning their resemblance. Vicki invited Ms. Burnett to the local fire department’s "Miss Fireball Contest" in which she was performing. Ms. Burnett, looking for an actress to play her kid sister on her new variety series, contacted Vicki and made arrangements to come to the event. The rest is television history. "The Carol Burnett Show" premiered in the fall of 1967; the same year Vicki entered UCLA to study Theater Arts. She spent eleven years with Carol, earning one Emmy Award and five Emmy nominations.

After the Burnett show ended, Vicki went on to star in her own TV series, "Mama’s Family".Other TV credits of note include playing Miley Cyrus' grandma on “Hannah Montana”. The roll of "Mamaw" recurred numerous times during the series four-year run starting in 2006. 

I had the opportunity to talk to Ms. Lawrence Tuesday morning from her home in California.