When she was in the beginning of her career, while having a job at a Night Club, an unknown wealthy man offered Carol Burnett and her husband Don Saroyan the money they needed to start their acting career and for that he had four requests: that she never tells anyone who he was, go to New York and try their luck, pay the money back in five years and help further on talented youths to start their career in the entertainment business.
Carol Burnett kept her word and after having success, she helped as she promised young artists like she once was to see what chances they have in this business. Since 1971, Carol Burnett sponsored the Carol Burnett Award at the UCLA Music Theater Workshop for very talented students. This is not a usual award; Carol Burnett wanted that every student has a chance to win the award by having a five minutes performance in the area he id most talented. In this way, the students have learned to focus on their qualities and their weaker points in order to create the performance which highlights what they can do best.
There is a professional jury which analyzes the acting students, singing or dancing or what ever they do and the best performing students get the Carol Burnett Award. It is a very high honor to get this award, but even the students which do not get it learn important things about their self when they prepare for this audition.
But young girls/boys do not always need money, they sometimes need advice and encouragement and many use to write Carol Burnett with the hope to get help to know in which direction they should go further on. What Carol usually advice them is to do something great with their lives no matter in which direction they are heading to: if they want to be singers, then they should make their best to become ones.
Carol Burnett is the woman who never forgot from where she started her career and is willing to help talented actors with strong will and confidence.