Eunice Harper Higgins
Encyclopedia
Eunice Higgins is a fictional character from the comedy sketch, The Family
(featured on The Carol Burnett Show
). Eunice was also featured in a film named after her in 1982, on CBS
. This film starred Carol Burnett
as Eunice, Ken Berry
as Phillip, Eunice's well to do brother (later dumbed down as a locksmith renamed Vinton for the TV series), Harvey Korman
as Ed Higgins
, Betty White
as Ellen Harper-Jackson
, Vicki Lawrence
as Thelma Harper
(Mama), and Dick Clair as the voice of Carl Harper. The film takes the Harper family on a 23-year journey. Eunice was also featured, to a much lesser extent, in its spin-off
television series, Mama's Family
. Eunice was again played by Carol Burnett
. Eunice made no appearances after Mama's Family left NBC
, and moved to first-run syndication
. However, she did once speak to Mama over the phone during the syndicated version of the show, but was voiced by Phyllis Franklin instead of Carol Burnett.
With a very stormy, irrepressible personality, Eunice is usually seen completely out of control and ranting on and on about something. The character is portrayed as a jealous antagonist in her appearances on Mama's Family, much more so than her appearances on The Family sketches. The final time the character is heard from was in the syndicated version of Mama's Family, in what was somewhat of a negative portrayal of the character as a bad mother: Eunice had called Mama and informed her that she couldn't make it for her son Bubba's high school graduation
. She wouldn't even inform Bubba of this herself, hanging up the phone on Mama after she said she was going to give Bubba the phone.
, whom she sometimes refers to as "Old Lady." Eunice eloped with a hardware store owner named Ed Higgins
. She is the second child. Her older sister is Ellen Harper
and her younger brother is Vinton Harper.
When she was younger, she tried to run away from home to the nearby community of Bump, which was across the river from Raytown. Her desire is to leave Raytown, which she thinks of as a hick town, and to become a star, but her talent (or lack thereof) keeps her squarely in Raytown.
.
Her relationship with her family in general, and Thelma in particular, is dysfunctional. She mockingly refers to Thelma as "Old Lady" (this same epithet was what Thelma had called her own mother).
Eunice is unhappy with her marriage. She views her husband, Ed, as a dolt and has called him a dumb cluck or a goon numerous times.
Eunice, in fact, was somewhat responsible for destroying her sister's marriage by spilling the beans about his extramarital affair with his secretary, named Peggy. The rest of the family, including incoming fiancee Naomi Oates
(who married Eunice's younger brother, Vint, tries to spare Ellen unwanted pain and lies to her, but Eunice gleefully tells her and rubs it in her face.
When she comes in to help set up for the wedding, and after overhearing a story about how she made an absolute fool of herself at a Christmas pageant, she announces her usually unwelcome presence, "Hello everybody! Eunice is here! Untalented Eunice, unwanted Eunice, caterwauling Eunice! Monster Eunice is HERE!!"
Some people would call Eunice a dissembler, because of her ability to practically ruin and even destroy every family get-together. She instigates things by saying something totally hurtful and then all hell breaks loose and she enjoys the carnage. She also has the tendency to hold grudges, especially over slights, real or perceived. In essence, she never forgives or forgets.
At her brother Vinton "Vint" Harper's wedding to Naomi (at which she also serves her chili dogs, to Thelma's disgust), she keeps pestering both of them to sing "Oh, Promise Me". Finally, Naomi relents, albeit reluctantly, which overjoys Eunice, who gets what she wants, but then proceeds to turn the wedding into a shambles once she discovers that a certain sapphire ring her late father, Carl, owned, and that she had coveted for some time, was given to Vinton over her by Thelma. This infuriates the very short-tempered Eunice who vowed "Old Lady, this time you've gone too far!"
Seething, and having consumed several beers on the front porch, in a failed attempt to help cool herself off, Eunice proceeds to ruin the wedding by beginning her song, and then systematically savaging every single member of her family one by one, but aiming her harshest remarks at her mother and, of course, her sister, Ellen. She even told her nephew and niece, Vinton "Buzz" Harper, Jr. and Sonja Harper
, "Why don't you go soak your heads in Clearasil
!"
Vinton and Naomi aren't spared her harsh tongue either, because Eunice calls Vint "Tinker Bell" and Naomi a "recycled bride", which angers both of them and almost provokes a fistfight between the sisters-in-law.
Finally having had enough of her insolence and nastiness, Thelma orders Ed to carry her out of her house, which he does leaving with "Many happy returns!" while Eunice screams and rants and raves at them all, "I'll never forgive you for this! Never!" She always wants the spotlight on herself, and usually throws a temper tantrum whenever she fails to get her own way, which was often.
Another incident in which she tries to get her way—and fails spectacularly—is with a young man named Duke Reeves. Eunice harbors a serious crush on him, despite the fact that he is with another girl named Penny Perkins. The oblivious Eunice, who doesn't believe that her Duke is with someone else, feels that he is the true love of her life, and that he had come to listen to her singing at a mother-daughter banquet, in which her mother had lied to the head of the banquet to get Eunice on the program at all, because she had whined and begged to have her way. Not to mention that Thelma also lied in saying that Eunice had a beautiful voice, when her singing voice was terrible.
While at a picnic with some rich friends, Eunice got drunk on a few beers. She arrived at the Mother-daughter banquet, and was ordered to sit at a table to drink a lot of coffee and sober up. Then Thelma angrily ordered Duke to never see her daughter again. Eunice had discovered this, and was extremely angry. During their song, "Mother", she and Thelma got into a violent argument while on stage, and embarrassed themselves quite thoroughly.
Even though she has been married to Ed most of her adult life, Eunice always bemoans the fact that she should have married Duke Reeves. She still says that he is the true love of her life, a statement which usually angers Ed.
A fine example was during a birthday party for Eunice at the Bigger Jigger bar (the "Cellmates" episode of "Mama's
Family"), in which she bemoans that she should have been married to Duke Reeves, who, by this time, was a Congressman, and discovered that Thelma had driven him away for her own good. Eunice never forgave her mother
for this, and the two began to argue again. This time, Eunice decked a cop, and then Thelma decked another cop. They were thrown into jail
for this. While in jail, Eunice and Thelma were still squabbling over Duke Reeves, as a prostitute named Scarlett told both of them to bury that issue.
Meanwhile, Ed, despite Eunice's rants that she should have married Duke Reeves, still loved her and her mother enough to bail them out of jail.
The only connection to Eunice in the syndicated episodes was her son, Bubba Higgins
, who had moved in with his grandmother after Ed and Eunice moved to Florida. Staying true to her rather selfish nature, Eunice failed to mention the potential move to Bubba, who was in juvenile hall, basically abandoning him.
This latest act of selfishness on her part earned her the wrath of her mother, who has vowed to kill Eunice on more than one occasion.
The Family (sketch)
The Family is a series of skits that aired on The Carol Burnett Show. It was so successful that it became a recurring skit on The Carol Burnett Show and later spun off into the comedy series Mama's Family, a show which first aired on NBC, and then in syndication...
(featured on The Carol Burnett Show
The Carol Burnett Show
The Carol Burnett Show is a variety / sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33...
). Eunice was also featured in a film named after her in 1982, on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. This film starred Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...
as Eunice, Ken Berry
Ken Berry
Kenneth Ronald "Ken" Berry is an American dancer, comedic actor and singer. He began on stage as a dancer and later starred in television sitcoms.-Life and career:...
as Phillip, Eunice's well to do brother (later dumbed down as a locksmith renamed Vinton for the TV series), Harvey Korman
Harvey Korman
Harvey Herschel Korman was an American comedic actor who performed in television and movie productions beginning in 1960...
as Ed Higgins
Ed Higgins
Ed Higgins is a character in "The Family" sketches on The Carol Burnett Show and, to a lesser extent, on the sitcom spinoff Mama's Family. In both cases, he was played by Harvey Korman....
, Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
as Ellen Harper-Jackson
Ellen Harper
Ellen Jackson is a fictional character who made sporadic appearances in the sketch comedy, The Family, and its spin-off sitcom, Mama's Family. She was played by Betty White.-Biography:...
, Vicki Lawrence
Vicki Lawrence
Vicki Lawrence is an American actress, comedienne, and Billboard Hot 100 #1 singer, who was frequently a game show panelist in the 1970s and 1980s...
as Thelma Harper
Thelma Harper
Thelma Harper is a fictional character, who originally appeared on the ongoing Mama's Family on The Carol Burnett Show. She was portrayed by Vicki Lawrence...
(Mama), and Dick Clair as the voice of Carl Harper. The film takes the Harper family on a 23-year journey. Eunice was also featured, to a much lesser extent, in its spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
television series, Mama's Family
Mama's Family
Mama's Family is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 22, 1983. It was cancelled in May 1984, but NBC would continue to air reruns until September 1985. In September 1986, Mama's Family returned in first-run syndication, where it aired for an additional four seasons,...
. Eunice was again played by Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...
. Eunice made no appearances after Mama's Family left NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, and moved to first-run syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
. However, she did once speak to Mama over the phone during the syndicated version of the show, but was voiced by Phyllis Franklin instead of Carol Burnett.
With a very stormy, irrepressible personality, Eunice is usually seen completely out of control and ranting on and on about something. The character is portrayed as a jealous antagonist in her appearances on Mama's Family, much more so than her appearances on The Family sketches. The final time the character is heard from was in the syndicated version of Mama's Family, in what was somewhat of a negative portrayal of the character as a bad mother: Eunice had called Mama and informed her that she couldn't make it for her son Bubba's high school graduation
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
. She wouldn't even inform Bubba of this herself, hanging up the phone on Mama after she said she was going to give Bubba the phone.
Family/Early life
Eunice's mother is Thelma HarperThelma Harper
Thelma Harper is a fictional character, who originally appeared on the ongoing Mama's Family on The Carol Burnett Show. She was portrayed by Vicki Lawrence...
, whom she sometimes refers to as "Old Lady." Eunice eloped with a hardware store owner named Ed Higgins
Ed Higgins
Ed Higgins is a character in "The Family" sketches on The Carol Burnett Show and, to a lesser extent, on the sitcom spinoff Mama's Family. In both cases, he was played by Harvey Korman....
. She is the second child. Her older sister is Ellen Harper
Ellen Harper
Ellen Jackson is a fictional character who made sporadic appearances in the sketch comedy, The Family, and its spin-off sitcom, Mama's Family. She was played by Betty White.-Biography:...
and her younger brother is Vinton Harper.
When she was younger, she tried to run away from home to the nearby community of Bump, which was across the river from Raytown. Her desire is to leave Raytown, which she thinks of as a hick town, and to become a star, but her talent (or lack thereof) keeps her squarely in Raytown.
Relationships
She envies her older sister Ellen's ability to do anything with ease, an ability she does not possess. She resents Ellen being the favorite of her mother, Thelma HarperThelma Harper
Thelma Harper is a fictional character, who originally appeared on the ongoing Mama's Family on The Carol Burnett Show. She was portrayed by Vicki Lawrence...
.
Her relationship with her family in general, and Thelma in particular, is dysfunctional. She mockingly refers to Thelma as "Old Lady" (this same epithet was what Thelma had called her own mother).
Eunice is unhappy with her marriage. She views her husband, Ed, as a dolt and has called him a dumb cluck or a goon numerous times.
Eunice, in fact, was somewhat responsible for destroying her sister's marriage by spilling the beans about his extramarital affair with his secretary, named Peggy. The rest of the family, including incoming fiancee Naomi Oates
Naomi Harper
Naomi Harper is a fictional character from the sitcom Mama's Family. She was played by actress-director Dorothy Lyman.-Character overview:...
(who married Eunice's younger brother, Vint, tries to spare Ellen unwanted pain and lies to her, but Eunice gleefully tells her and rubs it in her face.
When she comes in to help set up for the wedding, and after overhearing a story about how she made an absolute fool of herself at a Christmas pageant, she announces her usually unwelcome presence, "Hello everybody! Eunice is here! Untalented Eunice, unwanted Eunice, caterwauling Eunice! Monster Eunice is HERE!!"
Some people would call Eunice a dissembler, because of her ability to practically ruin and even destroy every family get-together. She instigates things by saying something totally hurtful and then all hell breaks loose and she enjoys the carnage. She also has the tendency to hold grudges, especially over slights, real or perceived. In essence, she never forgives or forgets.
At her brother Vinton "Vint" Harper's wedding to Naomi (at which she also serves her chili dogs, to Thelma's disgust), she keeps pestering both of them to sing "Oh, Promise Me". Finally, Naomi relents, albeit reluctantly, which overjoys Eunice, who gets what she wants, but then proceeds to turn the wedding into a shambles once she discovers that a certain sapphire ring her late father, Carl, owned, and that she had coveted for some time, was given to Vinton over her by Thelma. This infuriates the very short-tempered Eunice who vowed "Old Lady, this time you've gone too far!"
Seething, and having consumed several beers on the front porch, in a failed attempt to help cool herself off, Eunice proceeds to ruin the wedding by beginning her song, and then systematically savaging every single member of her family one by one, but aiming her harshest remarks at her mother and, of course, her sister, Ellen. She even told her nephew and niece, Vinton "Buzz" Harper, Jr. and Sonja Harper
Sonja Harper
Sonja Harper is a fictional character in the American television sitcom, Mama's Family. She was played by Karin Argoud.Sonja was the teenage daughter of Vinton Harper and his first wife, Mitzi. In typical teenage fashion, she often appeared bored...
, "Why don't you go soak your heads in Clearasil
Clearasil
Clearasil is the top-selling brand of skin care and acne medication, whose products contain chiefly benzoyl peroxide, sulfur & resorcinol, triclosan, or salicylic acid as active ingredients...
!"
Vinton and Naomi aren't spared her harsh tongue either, because Eunice calls Vint "Tinker Bell" and Naomi a "recycled bride", which angers both of them and almost provokes a fistfight between the sisters-in-law.
Finally having had enough of her insolence and nastiness, Thelma orders Ed to carry her out of her house, which he does leaving with "Many happy returns!" while Eunice screams and rants and raves at them all, "I'll never forgive you for this! Never!" She always wants the spotlight on herself, and usually throws a temper tantrum whenever she fails to get her own way, which was often.
Another incident in which she tries to get her way—and fails spectacularly—is with a young man named Duke Reeves. Eunice harbors a serious crush on him, despite the fact that he is with another girl named Penny Perkins. The oblivious Eunice, who doesn't believe that her Duke is with someone else, feels that he is the true love of her life, and that he had come to listen to her singing at a mother-daughter banquet, in which her mother had lied to the head of the banquet to get Eunice on the program at all, because she had whined and begged to have her way. Not to mention that Thelma also lied in saying that Eunice had a beautiful voice, when her singing voice was terrible.
While at a picnic with some rich friends, Eunice got drunk on a few beers. She arrived at the Mother-daughter banquet, and was ordered to sit at a table to drink a lot of coffee and sober up. Then Thelma angrily ordered Duke to never see her daughter again. Eunice had discovered this, and was extremely angry. During their song, "Mother", she and Thelma got into a violent argument while on stage, and embarrassed themselves quite thoroughly.
Even though she has been married to Ed most of her adult life, Eunice always bemoans the fact that she should have married Duke Reeves. She still says that he is the true love of her life, a statement which usually angers Ed.
A fine example was during a birthday party for Eunice at the Bigger Jigger bar (the "Cellmates" episode of "Mama's
Family"), in which she bemoans that she should have been married to Duke Reeves, who, by this time, was a Congressman, and discovered that Thelma had driven him away for her own good. Eunice never forgave her mother
Mother
A mother, mum, mom, momma, or mama is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally...
for this, and the two began to argue again. This time, Eunice decked a cop, and then Thelma decked another cop. They were thrown into jail
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...
for this. While in jail, Eunice and Thelma were still squabbling over Duke Reeves, as a prostitute named Scarlett told both of them to bury that issue.
Meanwhile, Ed, despite Eunice's rants that she should have married Duke Reeves, still loved her and her mother enough to bail them out of jail.
Mama's Family
Although she was featured most prominently on The Carol Burnett Show, and a subsequent television special called Eunice, the character wasn't always seen on Mama's Family. Eunice only appeared in seven episodes of the series. Carol Burnett played Eunice for only five of those episodes. The other two featured different actors playing Eunice as a child and a teenager.The only connection to Eunice in the syndicated episodes was her son, Bubba Higgins
Bubba Higgins
Bubba Higgins is a fictional character in the television situation comedy, Mama's Family. He was played by Allan Kayser.-Character overview:...
, who had moved in with his grandmother after Ed and Eunice moved to Florida. Staying true to her rather selfish nature, Eunice failed to mention the potential move to Bubba, who was in juvenile hall, basically abandoning him.
This latest act of selfishness on her part earned her the wrath of her mother, who has vowed to kill Eunice on more than one occasion.