Vicki Lawrence

Vicki Lawrence

Multi-talented Vicki Lawrence was born in Inglewood, California, where she excelled in dancing and singing, was a cheerleader and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by her graduating class.

From 1965 to 1967, Vicki Lawrence sang with the Young Americans musical group and also appeared in the feature film The Young Americans, which won an Academy Award.

During her senior year of high school, Vicki Lawrence sent Carol Burnett a letter which included a local newspaper article mentioning their resemblance. Vicki Lawrence 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 Lawrence 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 Lawrence entered UCLA to study Theater Arts. She spent 11 years with Carol, earning one Emmy Award and five Emmy nominations.

In 1973, Vicki Lawrence received a gold record as a recording artist for the international hit single The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.

After the Burnett show ended, Vicki Lawrence went on to star in her own TV series, Mama's Family. The last original episode was made in January of 1990, completing five years of first-run syndication. Vicki Lawrence became one of the few successful female game show hosts when she took on the daytime network version of Win, Lose or Draw. She further perfected her hosting skills on her own daytime talk show, Vicki!, from 1992 to 1994. Lawrence received critical acclaim when she was the only talk show host since Oprah to be nominated for a Daytime Emmy in her freshman year.

On stage, Vicki Lawrence has appeared in numerous productions, including: Carousel; Send Me No Flowers; No, No, Nanette; My Fat Friend; Chapter Two; Twigs; Hello Dolly; Special Occasions; I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On The Road; Annie Get Your Gun; and, live from the Grand Ole Opry, Nunsense 3: The Jamboree, which aired on TNN. Most recently she appeared in The Vagina Monologues.

Vicki Lawrence travels the country speaking to women's organizations about her life and career, women's health, and being a woman in a man's world. She also can be seen her new stage production, Vicki Lawrence and Mama, A Two Woman Show.

Vicki Lawrence is married to Al Schultz and they have two children. She and her husband are members of the Long Beach Police Officer's Association, and for two years (while her kids were young), Vicki Lawrence was the honorary head of the D.A.R.E. program in Long Beach, California. Additionally, she hosts the annual Walk for the Cure in her hometown, where all the proceeds go to breast and ovarian cancer research.

In 1995 Simon and Schuster published her autobiography, entitled Vicki!: The True Life Adventures of Miss Fireball.

 

Copyright © 2009 American Entertainment International Speakers Bureau, Inc. Updated Monday February 8, 2010. Site Map

SEARCH FOR SPEAKERS