Vicki Ann Lawrence ( Axelrad; born March 26, 1949), sometimes credited as Vicki Lawrence Schultz, is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for her character Mama (Thelma Harper). Lawrence originated multitudes of characters beyond Mama on CBS's The Carol Burnett Show from 1967 to 1978, the variety show's entire series run. In The Carol Burnett Shows 7th season, Lawrence debuted her famed Mama role on a comedy sketch called The Family. Only created as a one-off skit, The Familys unexpected success with audiences led to it having recurring installments for the final 5 seasons of the program. With Lawrence portraying the character of a cold, unaffectionate, widowed elderly mother to the neurotic, misfortunate Eunice (played by Burnett despite Lawrence being 16 years younger), The Family bred some of The Carol Burnett Shows most famed blooper moments. The success of The Family skits eventually spun off into Lawrence landing her own television sitcom, Mama's Family, her character becoming the focal point and Mama's traits expanding and evolving dramatically. Continuing Mama's evolution, Lawrence has hosted an untelevised stand-up comedy routine since 2001, "Vicki and Mama: A Two Woman Show." Moreover, Lawrence has made numerous post-Mama's Family guest TV show appearances in her famed Mama role. In 1973, Lawrence became a one-hit wonder songstress, landing on the U.S. chart with "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia". It reached number one on both the United States and Canada charts. She also released an album on Bell Records. Lawrence has multiple Emmy Award nominations, winning one in 1976. She is also a multiple Golden Globe nominee, all for The Carol Burnett Show. She also made several guest appearances in the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana. Most recently, Lawrence starred in the Fox sitcom series The Cool Kids from 2018 to 2019. Early life Lawrence was born Vicki Ann Axelrad in Inglewood, California, the daughter of Anne Alene (née Loyd) and Howard Axelrad, a certified public accountant for Max Factor. The family surname was legally changed to "Lawrence" when Vicki was young. She is a graduate of Morningside High School in Inglewood, class of 1967. Lawrence had originally planned on being a dental hygienist. She attended UCLA while on The Carol Burnett Show, and changed her major to theater arts, but dropped out after two years. In high school, she auditioned for and got into the musical group The Young