Carol Burnett will be the the namesake and first recipient of an inaugural honorary award for achievement in television at the 2019 Golden Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced on Tuesday.
The Carol Burnett Award — intended to be the television equivalent to the HFPA’s longstanding Cecil B. DeMille Award for achievement in film — will be presented annually to an individual “who has made outstanding contributions to television on or off the screen,” according to the organization.
Burnett, a five-time Golden Globe winner, is the most-recognized individual ever in the television categories, with a total of 13 nominations for her work on the acclaimed “Carol Burnett Show” and other TV projects.
“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.”
Burnett will be presented with the award at the Sunday, Jan. 6 ceremony in Los Angeles, which will be broadcast live on NBC.