What is your idea of perfect happiness? Being at home, watching a good movie with my husband. Dining out with good friends.
What is your greatest fear? Fear.
Which living person do you most admire? Both Obamas.
What is the trait you most deplore in others? Bigotry. Narcissism.
What is your greatest extravagance? My Toto toilet.
What is your favorite journey? Coming home.
On what occasion do you lie? When it might hurt someone to tell the truth.
Which living person do you most despise? The one who thinks only of himself. (Fill in the blank.)
Which words or phrases do you most overuse? I’m so glad we had this time together.
What or who is the greatest love of your life? My husband.
Which talent would you most like to have? To play a mean piano. Also, to tap-dance like Eleanor Powell. (For those who are too young, check her out on YouTube.)
What is your current state of mind? Acceptance.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My tendency to worry about the future if there’s nothing you can do about it.
What do you consider your greatest achievement? Career-wise, it would be being the first woman allowed to host a comedy variety show.
If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be? Person: A good novelist. Thing: A palm tree in Hawaii.
If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be? My spoiled cat.
What is your most treasured possession? My late daughter’s cross necklace.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Hopelessness.
Where would you like to live? Right where I am.
What is your favorite occupation? Making people laugh.
What is your most marked characteristic? Optimism.
What is the quality you most like in a man? A sense of humor and kindness.
What is the quality you most like in a woman? A sense of humor and kindness.
What do you most value in your friends? A sense of humor and kindness.
Who are your favorite writers? John Steinbeck, Joan Didion, Stephen Sondheim, and lately, Randy Rainbow.
Who is your favorite hero of fiction? Atticus Finch.
Who are your heroes in real life? First responders. Caregivers.
What are your favorite names? Carrie, Jody, Erin, Kate, Zoey, Jack, Charlie.
What is it that you most dislike? Egotism and rudeness.
How would you like to die? In my sleep.
What is your motto? To be untouched by success and untroubled by failure.
~ Carol Burnett, from “Carol Burnett Answers the Proust Questionnaire” in Vanity Fair, June 17, 2020.
Portrait: Detroit Free Press. Carol Burnett @ The Golden Globes in 2016
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