Carol Burnett to Receive Inaugural Golden Globe Television Special Achievement Award

By Danielle Turchiano

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Carol Burnett will receive the inaugural Golden Globe television special achievement award, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. (HFPA) announced Tuesday.

Aptly named the Award, this new honor will celebrate the highest level of achievement in the medium. Burnett, who is a five-time Globe winner — the most decorated in the television category — will accept the award at the live ceremony in January 2019.

“For more than 50 years, comedy trailblazer Carol Burnett has been breaking barriers while making us laugh,” said HFPA President Meher Tatna. “She was the first woman to host a variety sketch show, ‘The Carol Burnett Show.’ She was also the first woman to win both the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and Kennedy Center Honors. And now we add another first to her running list: the first recipient -– and namesake -– of the new Golden Globe top honor for achievement in television, the Carol Burnett Award. We are profoundly grateful for her contributions to the entertainment industry and honored to celebrate her legacy forever at the Golden Globes.”

Burnett is an acclaimed actress across film, television and Broadway, best known for “The Carol Burnett Show,” which ran for 11 years and received 25 Emmy Awards, making it one of the most honored shows in television history. This year marked the 50th anniversary of the show, which saw Burnett return to her CBS Television Studios stomping ground, where they dedicated a special artists’ entrance in her honor, to tape a new special highlighting classic sketches, costumes and beloved guests.

Burnett is also a six-time Emmy winner and the recipient of the Horatio Alger Award, an Ace Award, the Peabody, a Grammy, the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for Humor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She is a Kennedy Center Honoree and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in addition to being inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. She also received the life achievement award at the 2016 SAG Awards.

Burnett passionately supports the arts and education and established several scholarships around the country, including the Carol Burnett Musical Theatre Competition at her alma mater UCLA, and the Carrie Hamilton Foundation, to honor her daughter’s memory.

The 2019 will air live coast-to-coast Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019 from 8 – 11 p.m. ET / 5 – 8 p.m. PT.