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 sang with the Young Americans musical group and also appeared in the feature film "The Young Americans" which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary.During her senior year of high school, Vicki Lawrence sent Carol Burnett a letter which included a local newspaper article mentioning their resemblance. Vicki 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 and made arrangements to come to the event. The rest is television history. In 1995 Simon and Schuster published her story. Her autobiography is entitled, "Vicki!: The True Life Adventures of Miss Fireball."In 1968, Vicki Lawrence went to Vietnam to visit the U.S. troops with Johnny Grant. Several years later, in 1973, Vicki received a gold record as a recording artist for her international hit single, "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia."After the Burnett show ended, Vicki went on to star in her own TV series, "Mama's Family" with Ken Berry, Dorothy Lyman, Beverly Archer, and Allan Kayser. The last original episode was made in January of 1990, completing five years of first-run syndication. The show still can be seen daily throughout most of the country.Vicki was the honorary head of the D.A.R.E. program in Long Beach, California for two years while her kids were still young and in school. Around that time she and her husband also became members of the Long Beach Police Officer's Association that raises money to protect the widows and families of slain police officers. Her efforts to protect women's rights were recognized in 1988 when Vicki Lawrence was the first woman to be honored as "Person of the Year" by the Coalition of Labor Union Women. Shortly thereafter, Vicki became one of the few successful, female game show hosts when she took on the daytime network-version of "Win, Lose or Draw."Vicki Lawrence further perfected her hosting skills on her own daytime talk show, appropriately called "Vicki!," from 1992 to 1994. She received critical acclaim when she was the only talk show host since Oprah to be nominated for a Daytime Emmy in her freshman year. In the fall of 1997, she briefly returned to daytime talk as the host of "Fox After Breakfast" from New York City.On stage Vicki 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 also travels all over the country speaking to women's organizations about her life and career, women's health, and being a woman in a man's world. All the while she approaches everything with her characteristic sense of humor, reminding us all that "Life is much too serious to be taken seriously!" She also can be seen across the country in her stage production: "Vicki Lawrence and Mama, A Two Woman Show."Recently Vicki 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, Miller Children's Hospital was dedicated in 1970 as a community, non-profit hospital and now services patients within a 100-mile radius in LA and Orange counties. Vicki Lawrence 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.In 1974 Vicki Lawrence married the head of CBS make-up, Al Schultz, who is both her best friend and professional partner. Al and Vicki have two children, Courtney and Garrett. They live at the beach with their two dogs, Hannah, a black Labrador Retriever and Watson, a Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen. They adopted a Yorkie Mix named Rosie when Vicki was hosting the Humane Society Telethon in Michigan. In their spare time Al and Vicki enjoy yacht racing. They own a 70-foot sloop named, fittingly, "Vicki."Photo Credit: Kevin Scott Hees