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Have you had an apology telephone call from an iconic stage, screen and television star lately?

Lib Daly of New Bern has. Carol Burnett phoned her up Thursday to apologize for not having Daly and her family backstage last year when Burnett appeared at the Durham Performing Arts Center.

In a round of misadventures, the call came a year after Daly's children laid the groundwork.

The four children gave their mother a ticket to see Carol Burnett.

"I didn't know it, but my son David Daly wrote Carol Burnett a letter, asking her if his mother could go backstage in Durham to meet her before or after her performance," Daly said.

Burnett only got the year-old letter last Thursday.

"She told me her manager brought a bag of mail to her house and she just saw the letter," Daly said.

The letter explained how Daly was a fan of Burnett's and how the family sat around the black and white television set in the 1960s and '70s to watch her show, which debuted in 1967.

David Daly wrote that their mother was a Southern lady who kept the family together and gave them good values.

The phone rang Thursday at 8:30 p.m. "I answered the phone, the lady on the other end asked if I was Lib Daly. I said yes. Then she said, 'This is Carol Burnett.'"

Daly said she was flabbergasted and shocked.

Her son, David Daly, was having a birthday dinner with his two daughters that same night in Chapel Hill. His phone rang three times. On the fourth ring, he picked up. Her son's phone number was on the letter he had written a year before. Burnett asked him for Lib Daly's phone number.

"When she called I did not have anything to take notes with, so I wrote on the back of an envelope," Lib Daly said.

"She was so gracious. She apologized several times, saying if she had gotten the letter, she would have arranged for us to go backstage. She told me she would have loved to meet me," Daly said.

Burnett ended her call with these words, "Please give your family my love."

Daly said there was a smile in Carol Burnett's voice.

Daly, 80, became a fan years ago, when Burnett got her start on the Garry Moore variety show. She and Burnett had something in common: They both had red hair.

She has followed Burnett's long career and watched her whenever she appeared on television in movies or guest spots.

"I like her because she is funny and seemed down to earth," Daly said.

One of Daly's favorite Burnett bits is "Went with the Wind." Burnett portrays a Southern belle devastated by the Civil War and wears drapes taken from her window.

She also cracked up (as did the cast) in the sketch where Burnett plays secretary Wanda Wiggins to boss Mr. Tudball, played by Tim Conway.

Daly said there are no shows on television today to match Carol Burnett's show, which ended in 1978. Daly watches news and documentaries these days.

It was exciting for the mother of four and retired schoolteacher to receive Burnett's phone call.

"I'll never forget it," Daly said.