Carrie Hamilton

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Carrie Hamilton (December 5, 1963 in New York City – January 20, 2002, in Los Angeles) was an American actress, singer, and playwright. She was the daughter of comedienne/actress Carol Burnett and the late producer Joe Hamilton.

Life

Hamilton worked in a number of productions for stage, film, video, and television. 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. 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 aka Yutaka Tadokoro) and a band that made it into the Tokyo pop charts Top Ten. She performed several songs in the movie.

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

Hamilton occasionally appeared with her mother on film. In 1987 Carol Burnett guest starred in an episode of Fame entitled "Reggie and Rose". They co-starred in a 1988 TV movie titled Hostage. Nine years later, mother and daughter also starred on an episode of Touched By An Angel entitled "The Comeback". Hamilton played an aspiring Broadway star whose mother (Burnett) had also made a run for Broadway fame but failed (thanks to a dirty trick on the part of her conniving best friend, played by Rita Moreno).

In 1999, she starred in a popular sixth season episode of the X-Files, entitled "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.

She was the inspiration for the 1983 hit single "Carrie's Gone" (#81, Billboard), written by former boyfriend Fergie Frederiksen and recorded by his band, Le Roux. She also dated American singer/songwriter Ryan Adams in the late 90's, he was hit hard by her death and many of his songs are also written about and/or dedicated to Carrie, including much of his albums Demolition and Love is Hell.^[1]

Hamilton worked with her mother to adapt Burnett's memoir, One More Time, for the stage play Hollywood Arms, but never lived to see it produced.

Death

Carrie Hamilton died from lung and brain cancer January 20, 2002, in Los Angeles at the age of 38, and is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

Carrie is survived by seven sisters: Kathi, Dana, Judi, Jennifer, Nancy, Jody, and Erin, and one brother, John Hamilton. Two other brothers died in 1994 and 1997 respectively: Joe and Jeffrey Hamilton.

Theatre

In July 2006, the former Balcony Theatre of the Pasadena Playhouse was dedicated the Carrie Hamilton Theatre in her memory (Burnett is a board member). The theatre hosts a readings series, "Hothouse at the Playhouse;" the Directors Lab West and the Furious Theatre Company. On February 19, 2007, the Playhouse announced that architect Frank Gehry will be redesigning the Carrie Hamilton theater.^[2]

References

External links

• Carrie Hamilton Unofficial Page
• Carrie Hamilton at Find a Grave
• The Carrie Hamilton Theatre
• Carrie Hamilton Theatre info on Pasadena Playhouse homepage
• Carrie Hamilton at Yahoo! Movies
• Carrie Hamilton at the Internet Movie Database