Carol Burnett delights with rendition of Tarzan yell

An interview with Carol Burnett is a treat, but how about punctuating it with a performance of her famous Tarzan yell? That's quite the icing on this cake.

The legendary comedian, who is releasing a collection of episodes from the first five seasons of her classic CBS variety show this week (The Carol Burnett Show: The Lost Episodes, $59.95, in stores Tuesday), explains the beginnings of her signature call in an interview with Paste BN.
“The Tarzan yell happened when I was about nine years old. I had a beautiful cousin – we were the same age – a beautiful blonde girl. And we would see the movies and, after the film, we’d go back to her house and we’d play out what we’d seen,” Burnett says. “Naturally, she was Jane. I was Tarzan. So, I taught myself to do the Tarzan yell.”

Burnett, who will receive lifetime achievement honors at the Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony in January, follows with a beautiful, clear-toned rendition of the yell. And she isn’t even going full force, out of concern for Paste BN videographer Robert Hanashiro, who is listening to the recording with headphones.

“I didn’t use my full throat right then, because I didn’t want to spoil Robert’s ears,” she explains.

A queen of the jungle who is considerate toward her subjects. How about that? You, Carol. We, impressed.