Vicki Lawrence

Famed actress, comedian, singer, and dancer Vicki Lawrence has appeared in television shows, and in nightclubs. Her career included shows with such popular actors as Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, and Tim Conway. Lawrence was born Vicki Ann Axelrad in Inglewood, California, to Ann Alene (Loyd) and Howard Axelrad, a certified public accountant. Her interest in singing and dancing began at an early age. During high school, she was a cheerleader and voted Most Likely to Succeed by her class. From 1965 to 1967, Lawrence sang with the Young Americans musical group and appeared in The Young Americans, a film that won an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Vicki Lawrence sealed her own fate as a famed actress and comedian by sending Carol Burnett a newspaper clipping showing their uncanny resemblance to each other, and asking if she could give some advice for a contest she was in called "Miss Fireball Contest" in California. Burnett, having a feeling about her, found her phone number and called Vicki. Burnett attended the event, hoping to find an entertainer who could play her Kid Sister on her variety show. Sure enough, Lawrence was chosen as the Kid Sister and was mentored by Ms Burnett and her career blossomed from there.

In the fall of 1967, she made her debut on the first episode of The Carol Burnett Show. She spent 11 years with the show and earned one Emmy Award and five more nominations.

In 1967, she also enrolled in UCLA to study theater arts. To enhance her singing career, she went to Vietnam to perform for U. S. troops with Johnny Grant.

Her music career peaked in 1973, when she was awarded a gold record for her internationally known hit "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.

" In 1974, Lawrence married CBS makeup artist Al Schultz, with whom she has had two children. When the Carol Burnett Show ended, Vicki Lawrence starred in her own comedy show, Mama's Family, which also featured Dorothy Lyman, Ken Berry, Beverly Archer, and Betty White; Carol Burnett also frequently appeared on the show. After ending her sitcom, Lawrence delved into hosting television shows.

Daughter, Courtney Allison Schultz, born May 3rd, 1975. Son, Garrett Lawrence Schultz, born July 3rd, 1977.

Mentor Carol Burnett was known to bring the writers on set of her show if she felt they did not give Vicki enough funny lines. Vicki recalled that one time Carol did this and ask the writers to come down to give Vicki more funny lines and Vicki asked her "I do?" And Carol responded, "Hush Now yes you do." Carol also helped make a Emmy show for her and Vicki won a Emmy for it in 1976. This coined the term when Vicki said on her own TV Show in 1990s in response to Robert Wagner if she had someone who influence her and Vicki said "we all know who took me under her wing.".

With the exception of Eric Brown (Buzz), Karin Argoud (Sonja), and Allan Kayser (Bubba), she was the youngest of the regularly-appearing actress and if counting the grandkids she was the 4th youngest, overall, in the cast of Mama's Family (1983), even though the character she played was the oldest. Ken Berry (Vinton), Dorothy Lyman (Naomi), Beverly Archer (Iola), Rue McClanahan (Aunt Fran), Betty White (Ellen), Carol Burnett (Eunice), late actor, Harvey Korman (Ed), were all older.

She travels all over the country speaking to charity groups about her life, career and women's health. Her efforts to protect women's rights were recognized in 1988 when she was the first woman to be honored as "Person of the Year" by the Coalition of Labor Union Women. Recently Lawrence was invited to join The Board of Trustees for Miller Children's Hospital at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, one of only eight children's hospitals in the state. She also hosts the annual Walk for the Cure in her hometown, where all the proceeds go to breast and ovarian cancer research at Long Beach Memorial Center.

For several decades, she was an active Republican who supported the unsuccessful presidential campaign of Elizabeth Dole. Prior to the 2000 Presidential Election she switched from Republican to Democrat and endorsed Al Gore. From 2004 onward, she has donated much of her time and money to many liberal political causes and is an honorary member of the Democratic National Committee.