They were the moms, daughters, best friends, and wisecracking sidekicks who made us laugh every week. But when their famous sitcoms ended, many found Hollywood had little use for them.
Then came the surprise second acts. Some danced their way back into the spotlight, others conquered Broadway, and a few became bigger stars decades later than they ever were the first time.
From modest returns to legendary reinventions, here are the greatest sitcom actress comebacks, ranked.
#1: Vicki Lawrence, Taking Mama on the Road
Vicki Lawrence was only 24 when she played Thelma Harper, the grumpy, no-nonsense “Mama” on The Carol Burnett Show. The character got her own sitcom, Mama’s Family, which survived an early NBC cancellation and kept going in syndication until 1990. But Mama had more to say.
After a Carol Burnett reunion special pulled in more than 50 million viewers in 2001, Vicki brought Mama back on stage with a touring live show. She’s still at it today, and she co-starred on Fox’s The Cool Kids in 2018. It’s fun but modest, so she’s at the bottom of our list.