Vicki Lawrence Schultz (born
Victoria Ann Axelrad on
March 26,
1949 in
Inglewood, California)
[1] is an
Emmy Award-winning
actress, frequent
game show panelist of the 1970s and 1980s,
comedian, and
singer. She is best known for her co-starring role on
The Carol Burnett Show, alongside
Carol Burnett, from 1967 to 1978, and as the sharp-tongued matriarch,
Thelma Harper (the
main character on
Mama's Family, airing from 1983 to 1990, which was spun off from
The Carol Burnett Show's The Family sketches).
She has also been credited as
Vicki Lawrence Schultz; Schultz being the surname of her second husband and Hollywood make-up artist, Al Schultz, to whom she has been married since
November 16 1974, and with whom she has two children, Courtney (born
May 3 1975) and Garrett (born
July 3 1977).
She is a graduate of
Morningside High School in
Inglewood.
Comedy
As a comedienne and actress, she is best known for her work on
The Carol Burnett Show, of which she was a part from 1967 to 1978. She was the only cast member, except for Burnett herself, who stayed on the show for the entire eleven seasons. Lawrence's ascension to become part of the Burnett show is part of Hollywood legend; she was literally hired for the show on the basis of a letter she had sent to Burnett and the producers, with a photograph of Lawrence that clearly showed her resemblance to Burnett. Despite her beginner's status, Lawrence proved to be a valuable part of the comedic team on the show, and played many memorable characters, particularly Thelma Harper (a.k.a., "Mama") in the recurring "Family" sketches.
After
The Carol Burnett Show ended in 1978, Vicki and her husband Al moved with their children to
Maui in
Hawaii but after a couple of years, returned to Los Angeles where they have remained.
Her portrayal of the "Mama" character was so popular that NBC created a sitcom,
Mama's Family, based on characters from the skit. (Burnett reprised the
Eunice Higgins character for the sitcom from time to time.) The series ran from 1983 to 1985 on NBC; after its cancellation from NBC, it was renewed from 1986 to 1990 in first-run syndication. The show was more successful in the renewed version. She also reprised the "Mama" character on stage for
Vicki Lawrence & Mama: A Two-Woman Show.
Lawrence has made appearances on other programs, such as the sitcoms
Home Improvement,
Roseanne,
Hannah Montana and
Yes, Dear. She has also appeared with Burnett,
Harvey Korman, and
Tim Conway in the Burnett show retrospectives that were broadcast in 2001 and 2004.
Other careers
As a singer, she is most known for her #1 hit, "
The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia," a song written by her first husband
Bobby Russell, which was released on
Bell Records in November 1972. (
Cher was offered the song first but, unbeknownst to her, her then-husband
Sonny Bono had turned it down.)
"He Did With Me," Vicki's follow-up to "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia," only managed to reach #75 in the United States (although it became her biggest hit in Australia, reaching #1 there in November of 1973). Two years later, in the fall of 1975, Vicki managed one last minor US chart entry on the
Private Stock label with the anti-feminist curiosity "The Other Woman" (#81).
As an emcee, she hosted the daytime
NBC version of the
game show Win, Lose or Draw, and has also appeared often as a popular panelist on such game shows as
Match Game,
Password,
Password Plus,
Super Password,
The $10,000 Pyramid, and
The $25,000 Pyramid, as well as
Hollywood Squares, where she appeared both as herself and in character as Thelma "Mama" Harper. Lawrence was nominated for a
Daytime Emmy Award for Best Talk Show in 1993 for the eponymous
Vicki!, but the show was canceled after two seasons.
She tours the country with her "two-woman" show with the first half as herself and the second half done as Thelma "Mama" Harper.
Vicki also plays 'Mamaw Stewart' (the mother of
Robby Ray Stewart and grandmother of
Jackson and
Miley Stewart) in the hit
Disney series
Hannah Montana, alongside
Billy Ray Cyrus, and his daughter
Miley Cyrus. Also, she is filming
Hannah Montana: The Movie
Vicki recently plays as "Mama" on a Ohio commercial, promoting that Casinos be brought into Ohio.
Vicki Lawrence also played Dan's old high school flame, Phyllis, in an episode of Roseanne. She has also been on a special episode of the
Anne Robinson version of
The Weakest Link Playing for her charity, She made it to the final two but ended up losing to a celebrity named Ed. She has also been on a special celebrity three week special of the
Jim Perry version of
Card Sharks.
Discography
Singles - All chart positions from Billboard (North America)
| Year
| Single
| Catalog #
| Chart Pos.
|
| 1969
| "And I'll Go"
|
b/w
"The Whole State of Alabama"
Elf 90035
|
|
| 1970
| "No, No"
b/w "Lincoln Street Chapel"
| United Artists 50748
|
|
| 1973
| "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia"
b/w "Dime a Dance"
| Bell 45303
| 1
|
| 1973
| "He Did With Me"
b/w "Mr. Allison"
| Bell 45362
| 75
|
| 1974
| "Ships in the Night"
b/w "Sensual Man"
| Bell 45409
|
|
| 1974
| "Mama's Gonna Make It All Better"
b/w "Cameo"
| Bell 45437
|
|
| 1974
| "Old Home Movies"
b/w "The Light on the Back Porch Door"
| EMI Int. 504
(UK only)
| n/a
|
| 1975
| "The Other Woman"
b/w "Cameo"
| Private Stock 45036
| 81
|
| 1976
| "There's a Gun Still Smokin' in Nashville"
b/w same title
| Private Stock 45067
|
|
| 1976
| "The Other Man I've Been Slipping Around With"
b/w "Love in the Hot Afternoon"
| Private Stock 45121
|
|
| 1976
| "Hollywood Seven"
b/w "Mississippi"
| Private Stock 45327
(UK Only)
|
|
| 1979
| "Don't Stop The Music"
b/w "Newborn Woman"
| Windmill LJ24
|
|
| 1979
| "Your Lies"
b/w "Star Love"
| Windmill LJ30
|
Albums
| Year |
| Title |
| Catalog # |
| 1973
| The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia
| Bell 1120
|
|
| 1974
| Ships in the Night
| SOSL10106
|
|
| 1979
| Newborn Woman
| WindMill L26
|
Books
- Vicki!: The True-Life Adventures of Miss Fireball (1995) - ISBN 0-6848-0286-4 (with Marc Eliot)
- Mama for President: Good Lord, Why Not? (2008) ISBN-10: 1401604099 ISBN-13: 978-1401604097 (with Monty Aidem)
External links
EmmyAward VarietyPerformance 1976-2000
DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Vicki
