Burnett was one of five honorees at the 26th annual D.C. affair, which also included tributes to director Mike Nichols, musician James Brown, singer Loretta Lynn and violinist Itzhak Perlman.

According to the Washington Post, Academy Award winner Julie Andrews introduced the segment devoted to her friend Burnett, offering a verse of "I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together," which Burnett made famous during her long-running CBS television show. Others who came out to honor Burnett included current Gypsy star Bernadette Peters, theatre veteran Elaine Stritch, recent Nine star Chita Rivera, "Brady Bunch" mom Florence Henderson and two of her TV variety show cohorts, Tim Conway and Harvey Korman.

The Burnett tribute featured the aforementioned stars dressed in signature Bob Mackie costumes from "The Carol Burnett Show." Peters was seen as the charwoman with mop and bucket, Stritch played the lovable loser Eunice, Rivera was the narcoleptic Stella Toddler and Andrews was Starlett O'Hara.

The segment honoring Mike Nichols included appearances by Tom Stoppard, Candice Bergen, Elaine May, Christine Baranski and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Two of the stars of the Nichols directed "Angels in America" — Meryl Streep and Patrick Wilson — were also on hand to pay tribute to the award-winning director.