All My Children

Elizabeth, dressed as Carol Burnett’s famous charwoman character from her eponymous variety show, The Carol Burnett Show, surprised her during the filming of an episode of All My Children.

Charwoman (Elizabeth): You’re Vera [sic]....Verla Grubbs—I knew your mother!
‍Verla (Carol): Oh, why that’s right! My goodness, why it’s nice to see you again.
‍Charwoman (Elizabeth): Lovely to see you. Oh, I see my table’s ready now.
‍Myrtle: Who was that?
‍Verla (Carol): I never saw her before in my life. I think that woman’s pilot light is out.

In her book, This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection, Carol recalled that “I was in a scene in a bar with Myrtle when someone dressed in the cleaning lady outfit I always wore on my show made an entrance mopping the floor. She proceeded to bump into my chair. This wasn’t in the script, so I jumped up, turned around, and heard this great big belly laugh coming out of her. The crew was howling. She took off the mop cap and there stood Elizabeth Taylor.

“Elizabeth and I had worked together in an HBO movie, Between Friends, earlier that year and had indeed become friends. ... Elizabeth, being the good sport she is, donned the outfit and hid out in one of the dressing rooms all day until the time came for the gag. The cameras kept rolling, and her belly laugh and my expletive (bleeped!) went on the air exactly as taped.”