Carol Burnett, the famous comedy legend, turned 91 in April!
After many years of making us laugh, Burnett still shines bright. NBC honored her amazing career last year with a special tribute called *Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter and Love.*
Many of Hollywood’s biggest stars attended the event to honor Burnett, sharing their admiration on the red carpet.
**Birthday Tributes to Burnett**
One of the attendees was Julie Andrews, the legendary star of *The Sound of Music* and a close friend of Burnett. She joked, “She brings out the best in me, and I think I bring out the worst in her. I don’t know why!”
Andrews remembered meeting Burnett at a Chinese restaurant long ago: “When we met, no one else could get a word in. We bonded like that, and it has never changed,” Burnett said about their lasting friendship.
Music icon Cher also shared stories about her friendship with Carol Burnett.
“I would sneak out through the fence to go to the farmer’s market, and we played practical jokes on each other,” Cher said. “It was just easy and fun, and that’s all we wanted to do.”
Actress Jane Lynch remembered meeting Burnett for the first time: “I was firmly in love; she’s exactly the person you hope she would be,” she told the Hollywood Reporter.
The guest list for the tribute show, which was taped in March, included many big names from both the past and present. Stars like Lily Tomlin, Steve Carell, Laura Dern, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Oprah, Michelle Obama, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Allison Janney, Jimmy Fallon, and Ellen DeGeneres all participated in celebrating Burnett’s remarkable career.
According to Playbill, some of Broadway’s biggest stars, like Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Sutton Foster, and Kristin Chenoweth, will perform musical numbers in honor of Burnett. She herself is a Broadway veteran, having received Tony nominations for *Once Upon a Mattress* and *Moon Over Buffalo*.
“I’m so excited NBC decided to throw me a birthday party and invited all of my closest friends,” Burnett said in a statement. “I can’t wait to look back at so many wonderful moments throughout my career. I feel so lucky to share this night with everyone.”
Carol Burnett is best known for her groundbreaking variety/sketch series, *The Carol Burnett Show*, which aired for 11 seasons on CBS. It was the first show of its kind hosted by a woman, and Burnett is widely seen as a trailblazer for female comedians.
She has recently received many lifetime achievement awards, including the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.
In 2019, the Golden Globes named their television lifetime achievement award after her, calling it the “Carol Burnett Award,” and she was the first person to receive it.
Last year, she returned to TV with an important guest role in the final season of *Better Call Saul*.
In an interview before her 90th birthday, Burnett shared that she doesn’t feel her age, calling herself a “late bloomer” compared to other performers.
“I can’t wrap my head around it,” Burnett told *People Magazine*. “I still feel like I’m about 11, but I’m amazed. It sure went fast. But I’m glad because I’ve got all my parts — my hips, my knees, and my brain, so I’m happy about that.”
As Carol Burnett celebrated her 91st birthday on April 26, the television legend was still making waves. She recently celebrated her role in the new miniseries *Palm Royale*, appeared on the cover of *Harper’s Bazaar* in March, and almost saw her playful birthday wish involving *Maestro* star Bradley Cooper come true during her appearance on *Jimmy Kimmel Live!* just days earlier.
Woman Turns Boeing Plane Into Fully Functional Home
Buses, small houses, and shipping containers have all seen a surge in appeal as potential building materials for one-of-a-kind dwellings.
These alternatives to standard lodgings offer the same level of comfort at a fraction of the price and with a wide range of personalization options.
But Jo Ann Ussery made her own unique house long before it was cool.
She bought a decommissioned Boeing 727 and transformed it into a lavish mansion.
(video of the plane can be found below)
One-of-a-kind housing
In 1993, Ussery’s home in Benoit, Mississippi was destroyed, marking the beginning of her journey.
Her husband had recently passed away, so she and her two kids needed a place to live but had very little money.
She had hoped that getting a trailer would solve all of her issues, but she soon discovered that she couldn’t afford a house that was big enough to accommodate her family of three.
Ussery’s brother-in-law, Bob, is an air traffic controller and proposed that they try living on an airplane.
Ussery was receptive to the concept, so he went to examine a Boeing 727 that was about to be broken up for parts.
She fell in love at first sight, and the price, including shipping, was only $2,000.
Ussery gave her Boeing 727 the moniker “Little Trump” after learning that Donald Trump also had a private Boeing 727.
She jumped right into her expensive and time-consuming home improvements.
Major refurbishment
She put in less than $30,000 (around $60,000 in today’s money) on the makeover.
She needed to make sure it stayed put in its current location while she worked on the inside.
Ussery made use of the lake that was already present on her property by parking the plane such that the nose pointed out over the water. Because of this particular reason, a substantial amount of concrete was used to secure the tail. She then started demolishing the nearly 1,500 square foot interior.
The plane measures 138 feet in length and has 76 windows.
The windows did not open, as is standard on commercial planes, but that was not a problem on the Ussery because the plane was equipped with air conditioning.
She upgraded the insulation and laid new flooring as well. What exactly from the original 727 has been preserved?
Having only one airplane lavatory and the overhead bins to store your belongings is a brilliant answer to the problem of limited space.
Interior features
Ussery was able to move on to the finer touches and extra comforts after the major renovations were finished.
There were three bedrooms, a living area, a kitchen, and even a laundry room in the updated plane.
It also had an oven and a phone in addition to the washer and dryer.
What Ussery did with the cockpit looking out over the lake was unquestionably the best improvement.
She renovated it into a master bathroom fit for a king, complete with a soaking tub.
She planned the room’s layout so that its occupants would feel as though they were floating in midair.
Most notably, Ussery did all the remodeling work by herself.
Between 1995 until 1999, she called her converted jet home before deciding to open it to the world as a museum.
It was being transported a short distance when it tragically fell off the carriage and was destroyed.
It’s a good thing we have these breathtaking snapshots below:
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