Comedy legend Carol Burnett will receive a unique honor, an award named after her, at next years Golden Globes. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which throws the gala, has announced that it has created a new special achievement trophy, the Carol Burnett Award, which is meant to honor the highest level of achievement in television, specially for the broadcast. The Association is likening it to its Cecil B. DeMille Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment. The Burnett Award will be given out annually to people who have made contributions to television both in front of and behind the camera.
Burnett has won five Golden Globes in the TV category, more than any other individual. She will accept the honor at the awards gala in Los Angeles on January 6th; it will be broadcast on NBC that night.
For more than 50 years, comedy trailblazer Carol Burnett has been breaking barriers while making us laugh, HFPA President Meher Tatna said in a statement. 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.
When Rolling Stone ranked the 40 Greatest Sketch Comedy TV Shows of All Time, The Carol Burnett Show ranked at Number Seven. In the past couple of years, she wrote a memoir, In Such Good Company, which won her a Grammy, she made an appearance at her own tribute special, The Carol Burnett Show: 50th Anniversary Special and she hosted her own new series, A Little Help With Carol Burnett.