The Screen Actors Guild has announced actress/singer/author Carol Burnett will receive the group’s Life Achievement Award during the 2016 SAG Awards. The Life Achievement Award is the guild’s highest honor and Burnett will take the stage on January 30, 2016 to accept the honor at the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.
The honor is bestowed on an actor who demonstrates the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” according to SAG. Making the announcement, SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard stated, “Carol Burnett is a creative dynamo and a comedic genius. She embodies the generosity and courage that the greatest actors use in creating enduring and memorable characters. From her heartbreakingly hilarious Starlet O’Hara to the adorably inept Eunice and alarmingly funny Miss Hannigan, Carol has delighted and inspired millions of viewers and thousands of comedic actors. She took risks as a performer and through her courage, encouraged fellow actors to try new things and always, always reach for the sky. Her innate love of actors led to the creation of an ensemble cast that made The Carol Burnett Show a masterpiece of variety programming.”
The SAG Life Achievement Award is just the latest honor for the beloved actress who has received a Peabody Award, Emmys, a Tony, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Kennedy Center Honor, and the Mark Twain Prize for Humor. Burnett’s a member of the Television Hall of Fame and the California Museum’s Hall of Fame, and has an intersection near Hollywood High School named in her honor.
The 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will air live on TNT and TBS.
