Comedian Carol Burnett and actor/singer Julie Andrews have both made valuable contributions to American entertainment. Burnett rose to fame with her comedy show The Carol Burnett Show, as well as Broadway shows and movies, and Julie Andrews rose to fame starring in Broadway shows such as My Fair Lady, as well as her classic movie roles in Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Princess Diaries, and more. Both stars have made waves in Hollywood and beyond, and it turns out that Julie Andrews & Carol Burnett have also enjoyed a decades-long friendship.
Andrews and Burnett had previously performed together on The Garry Moore Show, but their talents took center stage in 1962 when they starred on the CBS TV special, Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall. The comedy special was written by Mike Nichols, and featured Andrews and Burnett making jokes and singing various songs, including "You're So London." The special won the 1963 Emmy Award for Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Music. Andrews and Burnett teamed up again in 1971 for Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center, and for another special, Julie & Carol: Together Again, in 1989.
Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews know how to make audiences laugh and how have fun together onstage, but the two have just as much fun off the stage. The women have been friends for years, with Andrews and even making Burnett godmother of her daughter, and one story about their antics stands out among the rest.
Andrews recounted this particular story on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2020, and she also wrote about it in her book, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years. As the Oscar-winning actress explains in the story, she and Burnett were attending a benefit event and were waiting for their friend (and Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall writer) Mike Nichols to meet them in a hotel. The two eventually sat on a sofa in front of the hotel elevator to wait for him, and they figured he'd be the next person to get off the elevator, so they devised a prank to pull on him.
"I swear I don't remember which one of us decided that we would do something silly when Mike got out of the elevator. So one of us said, 'Well, let's be kissing or something,'" Andrews told Clarkson.
The two committed to the prank and shared a "big embrace" as the elevator arrived. However, the day of this benefit event also happened to be taking place on the same day and in the same location as Lyndon B. Johnson's inaugural, and when the elevator door opened, it wasn't Nichols who stepped out.
"The elevator went 'ping,' and we thought it must be Mike, and the doors open, and that elevator was simply packed with secret service men," said Andrews.
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Although their prank didn't go as planned on the first try, Andrews and Burnett kept at it, hoping to catch Nichols coming off the elevator. Then, a woman Burnett thought was former first lady, Lady Bird Johnson, got off the elevator and saw their display. Burnett was so embarrassed that she hid behind the couch, and that's when the woman approached Burnett and Andrews.
"By this time Carol was laughing so hard that she went around the back of the sofa we were sitting on because we both had tears running down our faces at being so silly," said Andrews. "The lady came and looked over the back of the sofa and said, 'Excuse me, are you Carol Burnett?' Immediately Carol said, 'Yes, and this is my friend Mary Poppins.'"
Andrews also chatted about her friendship with Burnett with Oprah Daily, saying that she is the "bad girl" when they get together and calling Burnett a "great chum."
"She brings out the mischief in me, and she's the quiet one," Andrews explained. "It's very funny."
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