{"id":36202,"date":"2013-03-18T06:10:32","date_gmt":"2013-03-18T11:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/?p=36202"},"modified":"2013-03-19T06:47:03","modified_gmt":"2013-03-19T11:47:03","slug":"vicki-lawrence-actress-singer-still-hard-to-forget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2013\/03\/18\/vicki-lawrence-actress-singer-still-hard-to-forget\/","title":{"rendered":"Vicki Lawrence: Still hard to forget"},"content":{"rendered":"

CINDY WOOD\/<\/strong>independent feature writer<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Actress Vicki Lawrence and her alter ego, Thelma "Mama" Harper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three words: You \u2026 will \u2026 laugh.<\/p>\n

Many of us remember her for her sidesplitting comedic skits on \u201cThe Carol Burnett Show\u201d, or as the wisecracking old biddy Thelma Harper, otherwise known as \u201cMama\u201d, on \u201cMama\u2019s Family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simply put, Vicki Lawrence, the fiery redhead who\u2019s excelled in just about every entertainment medium, is hard to forget. In fact, Burnett had a hard time forgetting her after Lawrence, a senior in high school at the time, wrote her a letter inviting her to the \u201cMiss Fireball\u201d contest.<\/p>\n

Lawrence included an article written by her hometown paper detailing the uncanny resemblance between herself and Burnett, who at the time was scouting actresses for a role as her kid sister. Burnett showed up at the contest, and Lawrence\u2019s career took off.<\/p>\n

She went on to spend 11 humor-filled years with Burnett, earning an Emmy and five nominations along the way. In the early 1970s, Lawrence ventured into the recording industry and scored a gold record with \u201cThe Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years later, she created the character of \u201cMama\u201d and America fell in love with the outrageous, but lovable, Thelma Harper. The show enjoyed tremendous ratings for five years and can still be viewed in syndication in many parts of the country.<\/p>\n

In 2002, Lawrence hit the road with her critically acclaimed stage production \u201cVicki Lawrence and Mama, A Two Woman Show.\u201d She will appear locally at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center on Friday, April 5.<\/p>\n

An evening performance has already sold out, but a 2 p.m. show has been added to accommodate those who want to attend the show.<\/p>\n

Lawrence said to expect the unexpected when it comes to her show. The first half will give attendees an inside look at \u201cThe Carol Burnett Show\u201d, including video and personal stories.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to the Harvard School of Comedy in front of America,\u201d Lawrence said, adding that her upcoming performance is a hodgepodge of entertainment this-and-thats. \u201cThe show is a mixture of stand-up comedy, music and my observations about real life.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the second half of the show, Lawrence appears as \u201cMama,\u201d bringing back to life a character that will leave the audience in stitches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people will get a kick out of the things Mama has an opinion about,\u201d Lawrence said, adding, \u201cwe\u2019re creating new material with a more modern and cutting edge. Where \u2018Mama\u2019 is concerned, expect the unexpected. There\u2019s really nothing she can\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawrence is looking forward to her upcoming performance and said the audience will get to see a side of her they may not recognize. \u201cI know people will be pleasantly surprised by a side of Vicki they have never seen,\u201d she said. \u201cI know they\u2019ll be looking forward to Mama, and, for her part, that crazy old gal will be up to the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since she was voted \u201cMost Likely to Succeed\u201d in high school, Lawrence has faced numerous challenges head-on and has enjoyed tremendous success in both her professional and personal life. As a young woman, Lawrence appeared in The Young Americans<\/em>, which received an Academy Award for Best Documentary.<\/p>\n

A staunch defender of women\u2019s rights, Lawrence was named \u201cPerson of the Year\u201d by the Coalition of Labor Union Women for her efforts. She later found success as a game show host of \u201cWin, Lose or Draw.\u201d<\/p>\n

From 1992-1994, Lawrence would star on her daytime talk show \u201cVicki!\u201d receiving an Emmy nod during her freshman year on the show. She\u2019s appeared onstage in numerous productions, and is an active fundraiser for a variety of charities. Married in 1974 to the head of CBS make-up, Al Schultz, the couple has two grown children, Courtney and Garrett.<\/p>\n

Tickets for \u201cVicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two Woman Show\u201d are on sale now at the NPAC box office or online at www.npacvw.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CINDY WOOD\/independent feature writer Three words: You \u2026 will \u2026 laugh. Many of us remember her for her sidesplitting comedic skits on \u201cThe Carol Burnett Show\u201d, or as the wisecracking old biddy Thelma Harper, otherwise known as \u201cMama\u201d, on \u201cMama\u2019s Family.\u201d Simply put, Vicki Lawrence, the fiery redhead who\u2019s excelled in just about every entertainment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-09 19:51:46","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}