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Carrie Hamilton

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Carrie Hamilton
Hamilton at the White House in 1983
Born
Carrie Louise Hamilton

(1963-12-05)December 5, 1963
DiedJanuary 20, 2002(2002-01-20) (aged 38)
Burial placeWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Alma materPepperdine University
Occupations
  • Actress
  • playwright
  • singer
Known for
Spouse
(m. 1994; div. 1998)
Parent(s)Joe Hamilton
Carol Burnett
RelativesErin Hamilton (sister)
Kipp Hamilton (aunt)

Carrie Louise Hamilton (December 5, 1963 – January 20, 2002) was an American actress, playwright and singer. Hamilton was a daughter of comedian Carol Burnett and producer Joe Hamilton.[1] She was also the older sister of Jody Hamilton, an actress and producer, and singer Erin Hamilton.

Biography

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Hamilton worked in a number of productions for film, stage, television and video. She took the role of Reggie Higgins in the TV version of the musical Fame for the fifth and sixth seasons (1985–1987), and portrayed the role of Maureen Johnson in the first national tour of the stage musical Rent to considerable acclaim.[2] She also studied music and acting at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.

One of her films was Tokyo Pop (1988), in which she played an American singer who journeys to Japan. There, she found a relationship with both a singer (played by Diamond Yukai also known as Yutaka Tadokoro) and a band who made it into the Tokyo pop charts Top Ten. She performed several songs in the film.

In 1992, Hamilton took a minor role in the live-action movie Cool World, which starred Gabriel Byrne, Kim Basinger, and Brad Pitt.

Hamilton married musician Mark Templin in 1994 on the same sound stage where The Carol Burnett Show was videotaped. The couple divorced in 1998.[3]

Hamilton occasionally appeared on television with her mother. In 1987, Burnett guest-starred in an episode of Fame titled "Reggie and Rose". The pair co-starred in a 1988 TV movie titled Hostage. They appeared on five episodes of Family Feud in 1995, competing with Hamilton's husband Mark Templin and mother-in-law Dalia Ward against a team led by Betty White.[4] in 1997, they starred on an episode of Touched by an Angel titled "The Comeback". Hamilton played an aspiring Broadway star whose mother (Burnett) had also made a run for Broadway fame, but failed (due to a dirty trick on the part of her conniving best friend, played by Rita Moreno).

In 1999, Hamilton starred in a popular sixth-season episode of The X-Files, titled "Monday". She played the role of Pam, the girlfriend of a would-be bank robber, who is forced to relive the same day over and over.

Hamilton was the inspiration for the 1983 hit single "Carrie's Gone" (number 79, Billboard), written by former boyfriend Fergie Frederiksen after they broke up and recorded by his band, LeRoux. The 12-year age difference (Carrie was 19 and Fergie was 31 at the time) was cited as the main reason for the breakup.[citation needed]

Hamilton worked with her mother to adapt Burnett's memoir, One More Time, for the stage play Hollywood Arms, but she did not live long enough to see it produced.[5]

To honor her daughter, Carol Burnett published a book called Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story. This was released on April 8, 2014, and became a New York Times bestselling memoir. People Magazine described it as a “loving, poignant” tribute book to Burnett’s eldest daughter.[6]

Hamilton had a three-year period of heavy drug and alcohol abuse that she successfully overcame by the time she was 15. Except for a brief relapse at 17, she remained drug- and alcohol-free for the remainder of her life.[3]

Death

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Hamilton died from pneumonia as a complication of lung cancer that spread to her brain[3] in Los Angeles, California, on January 20, 2002, at age 38, and is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

Theatre

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In July 2006, the former Balcony Theatre of the Pasadena Playhouse was rededicated as the Carrie Hamilton Theatre in Hamilton's memory (Burnett is a board member). It hosts a series of readings called "Hothouse at the Playhouse", as well as the Directors Lab West and the Furious Theatre Company. On February 19, 2007, architect Frank Gehry was selected to redesign the Carrie Hamilton Theatre.[7]

Anaheim University Carrie Hamilton Entertainment Institute

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On March 23, 2010, Carol Burnett participated in establishing the Anaheim University Carrie Hamilton Entertainment Institute with Anaheim University Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. David Nunan, reading this quote from Hamilton:

ABOUT ART...The legacy is really the lives we touch, the inspiration we give, altering someone's plan – if even for a moment, and getting them to think, rage, cry, laugh, argue...walk around the block, dazed...(I do that a lot after seeing powerful theater!) More than anything, we are remembered for our smiles; the ones we share with our closest and dearest, and the ones we bestow on a total stranger, who needed it then, and God put you there to deliver.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1985 Love Lives On Kathy
1988 Hostage Bonnie Lee Hopkin Also stars her mom, Carol Burnett
Made-for-TV movie
Tokyo Pop Wendy Reed
1998 Shag Nadine
Single Women, Married Men April Clay
1990 Checkered Flag Alex Cross
1991 A Mother's Justice Debbie
1992 Cool World comic-book store cashier

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1986–1987 Fame Reggie Higgins Main role- 29 episodes
1988 Knightwatch Tracy Hood Episode: "Hard Day's Knight"
1990 Murder, She Wrote Geraldine Stone Episode: "Trials and Tribulations"
1991 Equal Justice Jillian Weeks Episode: "Sleeping With the Enemy"
Beverly Hills, 90210' Sky Episode: "Stand (Up)! and Deliver"
Thirtysomething Callie Huffs Episode: "Melissa in Wonderland"
1995 Walker, Texas Ranger Mary Beth McCall Episodes:
"Whitewater: Part 1"
"Whitewater: Part 2"
1997 Touched by an Angel Allison Bennett Episode: "The Comeback"
this episode also starred her mom, Carol Burnett
1998 Brooklyn South Gerrie Fallon-Scranton Episode: "Fools Russian"
1994 The X-Files Pam Episode: "Monday"
1999 P.1 Alarm 9 minute short
2000 The Pretender Jill Arnold Episode: "Junk"

Soundtracks

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  • "Where Does the Night Begin?" (on Fame)
  • "Always You" (on Fame)
  • "Who Put the Bomp" (on Fame)
  • "The Shoop Shoop Song" (on Fame)
  • "Some Day, Some Way" (on Fame)
  • "We Are the Ones" (on Fame)
  • "Catch Me I'm Falling Fast" (on Fame)
  • "Look and Learn" (on Fame)
  • "It's Love I'm After, After All" (on Fame)
  • "East of Eden" (on Fame)
  • "Only Love Will Hold Fast" (on Fame)
  • "We Have The Right" (on Fame)
  • "Think" (on Fame)
  • "See Your Face Again" (on Fame)
  • "He Looks Like Romeo" (on Fame)
  • "A Couple of Swells" (on Fame)
  • "(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman" (on Tokyo Pop)
  • "Do You Believe in Magic?" (on Tokyo Pop)
  • "Never Forget" (on Tokyo Pop)
  • "Home on the Range" (on Tokyo Pop)
  • "Diff'rent God" (music video)
  • "I Am a Boy" (music video)

References

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  1. ^ "Carrie Hamilton, 38, Actress and writer". New York Times. January 22, 2002.
  2. ^ Taylor, Markland (December 1, 1996). "Rent". Variety. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Smolowe, Jill (February 4, 2002). "Another Heartbreak". People. Vol. 57, no. 4. Archived from the original on April 25, 2016. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  4. ^ Stein, Ruthe (February 19, 1995). "CAROL BURNETT HOSTS AIDS BENEFIT IN SAN FRANCISCO". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  5. ^ Nolasco, Stephanie (May 2, 2018). "Carol Burnett gets candid about her daughter's death: 'I didn't want to get out of bed for a while'". Fox News Channel. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  6. ^ Jones, Kinsey. "Carol Burnett's Daughter Carrie Hamilton | Her Career & Tragedy". veryceleb.com. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  7. ^ "CARRIE HAMILTON THEATRE". Archived from the original on January 11, 2008. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
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