Happy birthday, Carol Burnett: A 'friendly fire' in her own rite
1979 TV movie portrayal a grieving Iowa farm mother was one of her greatest roles.
WATERLOO — Carol Burnett turned 91 today. Those of us of a certain age grew up with her, first on the Garry Moore show in the early '60s, then her own long-running variety show, with its comedic host of players, that still shows up on reruns today.
I also remember her reprising her breakout stage role in "Once Upon a Mattress" for a CBS TV special in the '60s. Her Tarzan yell made me laugh as a little kid and it still makes me smile now.
But for all her roles, one holds special local and emotional significance -- when she played Peg Mullen of La Porte City in the 1979 ABC-TV movie, "Friendly Fire," based on C.D.B. Bryan's book about Peg and Gene Mullen's son Michael's 1970 death in Vietnam. Ned Beatty played Gene Mullen and Sam Waterston played Bryan.
The movie won four Emmys, including best drama. Ms. Burnett and Mr. Beatty also received acting nominations for their roles.
I remember reading in The Des Moines Register how flattered Peg Mullen was that Ms. Burnett played her. I had the honor of interviewing Peg a few years before her 2009 passing, as well as, on many occasions, Michael's friend Martin Culpepper who served with him and told the truth about how he was killed. Martin was very nearly killed himself. Gene and Peg Mullen put Martin through his training as an electrical contractor and they became a second set of parents to him. He is represented in the movie as well.
The Vietnam War is still a controversial topic and it certainly was in 1979, just a few years after it ended, and less than a decade after Michael Mullen's passing.
It may have taken Ms. Burnett as much courage to reach outside her outwardly comedic persona to take the role, and risk political and artistic criticism, as it did Peg Mullen to become a peace activist after her son's death.
“I prefer comedy, but there is no reason to put blinders on yourself.” Ms. Burnett told The New York Times in an April 1979 interview prior to the show's airing. "To my knowledge, this is the first time that the war has been looked at from the viewpoint of the folks at home...it was a real story about real lives, and we knew that there were people like the Mullens who were still living with the pain.”
Many still live with that pain. I know that in my own profession from years of interviewing veterans at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier and the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum.
I spoke with a Vietnam veteran at the museum just two days ago. In fact, Michael Mullen came up. He remembered Michael and became emotional as he talked about losing buddies in that war.
It could have been him, he said.
It takes an artist of great depth and perception to understand and empathize with that kind of pain. It was very apparent Carol Burnett had those qualities as I watched "Friendly Fire" for the first time as a college senior.
The movie is seldom seen today, but I am sure it is one that would stand the test of time -- because, regrettably, the war is not over for many veterans and their families and we have had additional conflicts, service and sacrifice since then.
While playing Peg Mullen may be one of Ms. Burnett’s least remembered roles, it nonetheless remains one of her very finest.
That's why, for my money, Carol Burnett is a towering master of performance art. Anyone who can make us laugh, make us cry and make us think and feel — and not forget the sacrifice of others — is definitely worthy of our attention, and our undying appreciation and respect. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2005.
I'm so glad we had this time together, Ms. Burnett. Happy birthday.
Pat Kinney is a freelance writer and former longtime news staffer with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier and, prior to that, several years at the Ames Tribune. He is currently an oral historian with the Grout Museum District in Waterloo. His “View from the Cedar Valley” column is part of “Iowa Writers Collaborative,” a collection of news and opinion writers from around the state who previously and currently work with a host of Iowa newspapers, news organizations and other publications. Click on their links below to sample their work.
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Mr. Kinney,
Good on you for remembering Peg and Gene and Carol. I wrote about the Mullens, including Michael, during my time as a DMR journalist. I enjoy your dispatches.
Wayne Svoboda
Terrific column, Pat!