Vicki Lawrence

I do love pasta. It gets me into trouble. If I could give up pasta and bread, I'd look like Cate Blanchett.

Even though I was in close proximity to everything, it never really dawned on me to pursue a career in show business.

Everyone has a crazy old lady in their family like 'Mama.' No one ever comes up to me and says 'Mama' is just like them, so no one is ever offended by her. Even young people like to laugh at her. I think she helps kids appreciate their own grandmothers more.

I went to UCLA, my dad's alma mater, and that was his dream.

I wanted to study to be a dental hygienist, marry a rich dentist, and hang it up.

I never intended to be in show business; I intended to be an extremely grounded person.

I feel like my life has been very serendipitous and really kind of humorous. Everything that's happened to me has been like an, 'Omigod, are you kidding me?'

I was married for 10 minutes into a Southern family.

Life is much too serious to be taken seriously.

I think for people that are dealing with this out there, the important thing to know is that this is real. It's called CIU, and there are solutions out there for you.

I didn't plan on going into show business. Show business picked me. And it's been fun. One of the best things about being in show business is people think they know me, and they feel like they grew up with me.

I always tell people I went to the Harvard School of Comedy in front of America.

I often feel like I could fall off the face of the Earth. As long as 'Mama' was around, nobody would really miss me. People really think of her as an actual person. People all the time see me and ask, 'Where's Mama?' Like she should be with me.

Things have always sort of happened for me. Something else always comes up.

The fun part for me is to just really push that envelope.

That's my opportunity to hide behind that old lady and say what I want to say.

It took me a lot of years on the 'Burnett' show to feel like I had earned the privilege to play in the sandbox with the grown-ups.

I went to Vietnam during the Vietnam War to visit all the troops. We would fly into a hospital and serve mess to the guys, and we ate whatever they were eating. Then we slept there and flew out the next day to little bases where there were maybe 10 or 20 guys. Then we flew to another hospital.

I feel it is time to lighten up and laugh about things and enjoy ourselves a little bit more.

I played Miley Cyrus' grandma on 'Hannah Montana,' and the first time I was on, they said, 'We love having veterans like you on because she's like a little sponge, and she's really appreciative of all the veterans that are coming on the show, and we just love that you're teaching her.'

This country wants to laugh. We want to, and we need to. I'm happy to oblige.

Making people laugh is what I really enjoy.

There's going to be a picture of 'Mama' on my obit.

Most of the cast and crew on 'Mama's Family' have been together since the 'Carol Burnett' days, so we work really well together. It's like I'm being paid to pretend I'm in show business.

TV's been good to me.

Yes, I love playing Mom.

I really feel my family is my priority.

I think it's time for people to stop being so serious about everything.

Anybody who has spent time with the networks - in fact, you don't even have to spend time with the networks, all you have to do is just watch primetime TV - and you think, 'What the hell are they doing? I could run the network better.' And I think everybody feels that way.

My parents raised me to believe that when one door slams in your face, turn around because there's probably another door opening up somewhere.

I really am a cockeyed optimist.

I'm very particular about what I want.

Dick Clark and I had such a hysterical relationship with each other.

I think coming East and doing something like Broadway would probably be a good career move.

A lot of the things that loved ones say to each other, friends would never accept.

I think it is a universal problem that we are so often cruel to the people we love.

Everybody has a dysfunctional family.

I don't get people baring their lives on television. Maybe it makes other people feel better about themselves. Is that what it is? You watch these people making total fools of themselves. It's like there's absolutely no privacy.

I definitely go with the flow because I feel like I have been so lucky, and so many things have happened to me that just never should have happened.

People would get Carol Burnett and Vicki Lawrence all mushed together in their brains, and, bless their hearts, it would come out Carol Lawrence.

I flew to New York to do a commercial back in the day when people could meet you at the gate, and the little agent when I came off the plane said, 'Oh, Miss Carr, we are so happy to have you here.' I went, 'Oh, for goodness sakes.'

We all know him: everybody has an Archie Bunker in their family, so you love to laugh at him, and you never take it personally; everybody just has a ball laughing at him.

I go out and speak to women's groups all the time, and I say, 'Guys, you gotta laugh and find the humor in things. You gotta pass it on.'