Carol Burnett, 93, shared “a lot of laughs and a lot of memories” with former “The Carol Burnett Show” co-star Vicki Lawrence during a recent reunion.
Lawrence, 77, shared a photo on social media on Monday from a fun night out on the town, showing the pair posing intimately.
“Special night. Dinner with Carol. Thank you Brian for the delicious meal. Lots of laughs and lots of memories. I love her so much…🥰,” she captioned the photo.
Lawrence first met Burnett when he was just out of high school, after his mother encouraged him to write a fan letter to the comedian.
Coincidentally, Burnett was looking for an actress to play his sister in an upcoming show, noticed a resemblance in appearance, looked up Lawrence’s family in the phone book, and asked her to audition for the role.
Lawrence appeared on “The Carol Burnett Show” from 1967 to 1978, playing many characters. Her best-known character is Thelma “Mama” Harper, who played the lead role in the 1983 spin-off series Mama’s Family.
This series continued until 1990. However, along the way, Burnett and Lawrence fell out as friends, which the actress later attributed to Burnett and Joe Hamilton’s difficult divorce.
During the breakup, Burnett appeared less frequently on the show and distanced herself from Mama’s Family, which Hamilton produced, and its cast.
“She went through a bad divorce,” Lawrence told Screen Rant in 2024. “So, it was almost…for a while there, it was like she divorced all of us who were involved[on Hamilton]. I know it was hard for her. She had a long time…”
“One night she talked to my husband,” the actress continued. “She called me. It was early in the morning when ‘Mama’s Family’ started airing. I was preparing dinner. My son answered the phone and she said, ‘Can I talk to your dad?’ And I said, ‘Who is that?’ And my son said, ‘It’s Carol.’ I said, “Does she want to talk to me?” And he said, “No, she wants to talk to her dad.” And it broke my heart.
“But she said to her husband, Al, ‘I promise you I’ll be back. I promise.'” And when she came back, she was whole again,” Lawrence recalled. “But I know it was a really difficult time for her. It was sad more than anything.”
However, the two stars eventually reconciled, so much so that Lawrence described their relationship as “closer than ever” in a 2024 interview.
“I’m glad we’re really good friends now,” Lawrence said.
The two reunited on-screen in Season 2 of Apple TV+’s Palm Royale, which premiered in November 2025.
