Carol Burnett on Being a Female Comedian in the 1960s

"Men could get away with" what I couldn't, she said.

ByABC News
January 22, 2016, 10:38 AM

— -- Carol Burnett is a true comedy trailblazer and will be honored for her work at next weekend's Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The 82-year-old icon spoke to People magazine about how tough it was as a woman when she got her big break in the 1960s.

"If I spoke up or did what Jackie Gleason did [in the 1960's]...men could get away with it. But in my era, I would have been labeled a b----," she told the magazine.

PHOTO: Carol Burnett sits backstage during the filming of an episode of the television show 'The Twilight Zone' entitled 'Cavender is Coming' in Culver City, California, Jan. 23, 1962.
Carol Burnett sits backstage during the filming of an episode of the television show 'The Twilight Zone' entitled 'Cavender is Coming' in Culver City, California, Jan. 23, 1962.

But the legend said she figured out a way to be irreverent during a time of inequality.

"Instead of saying, 'Guys this stinks we've got to fix it,' I would say, 'I am not doing this right, can you help me out here?'" she explained.

Burnett also said she was inspired by another female comedy icon, Lucille Ball.