Carol Burnett to be honored with special Golden Globe award

Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Comedy legend Carol Burnett is set to be honored with the inaugural Golden Globe television special achievement award, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said Tuesday.

The prize will hence forth be known as the Carol Burnett Award.

Burnett, 85, will collect hers at the Golden Globes gala in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 6. The ceremony honoring excellence in film and television is scheduled to air on NBC.

"For more than 50 years, comedy trailblazer Carol Burnett has been breaking barriers while making us laugh," HFPA President Meher Tatna said in a statement.

Tatna continued: "She was the first woman to host a variety sketch show, The Carol Burnett Show. She was also the first woman to win both the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and Kennedy Center Honors. And now we add another first to her running list: the first recipient -- and namesake -- of the new Golden Globe top honor for achievement in television, the Carol Burnett Award."

Nominations for the 76th Golden Globes were announced last week.