The Carol Burnett Show star always had a dream of attending the University of California, Los Angeles, but her family was unable to afford the tuition - until a mystery sponsor stepped in to donate the funds.

She says, "My grandmother raised me and we were living in a one-room apartment in Hollywood...

"I wanted to go to UCLA, but we had no money. Our rent was $30 a month and the tuition at the time... was $43, so we couldn't afford it... (But), I knew I was going to get to go. It wasn't like I wished or I had hopes or anything. I saw myself on campus, I knew I would get there, but I didn't know how.

"One morning I went to the... mailbox... and there was an envelope and I got it out and my name was on it... and I opened it up and there was a $50 bill and to this day I don't know where that came from... but I got to go to UCLA."

Burnett studied theatre arts and English while attending the school in the 1950s.