Ted Danson was honored with the Carol Burnett Award at the 2025 Golden Globes.
The actor, 77, accepted the award ahead of the live show during the Golden Globes‘ Golden Gala on Friday, January 3, at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. The accolade was presented by his wife, Mary Steenburgen.
“To him, all of you at the Golden Globes should know, receiving the Carol Burnett Award is like being allowed into creativity heaven,” the actress, 71, said of Danson while introducing him per The Hollywood Reporter. “Because whether it’s The Good Place, or Man on the Inside, Fargo, Damages, Board to Death, Becker, Cheers or the extraordinary podcast he does with Woody Harrelson, he, like Carol Burnett, has always known that it’s a precious honor to take people on a journey through television.”
In Danson’s speech, he joked that while he normally has a “confusing relationship” when it comes to receiving awards but he felt the complete opposite with this specific accolade.
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“If I win, I feel a little embarrassed and lonely. If I don’t win, I feel a little embarrassed and lonely. But not tonight. Not tonight,” he explained. “I am so thrilled to get this award, Carol. I cannot tell you how much it means to me. You have brought so much joy and happiness into households all over the world. You radiate kindness. I love you so much.”
Burnett, for her part, shouted “I love you,” to Danson from the audience.
The Carol Burnett Award is presented to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to television on or off the screen. The honoree is selected based on their body of work and the enduring impact of their television career achievements on the industry and viewers.
Since the award’s 2019 creation, Danson is the fifth recipient, following in the footsteps of Burnett, 91, Ellen DeGeneres, Norman Lear and Ryan Murphy.
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The Golden Globes named Danson as this year’s honoree in December 2024.
“Ted Danson has entertained audiences for decades with his performances that will forever be ingrained in television history,” Helen Hoehne, president of the Golden Globes, said in a statement at the time. “His career is a testament to his remarkable talent and versatility as an actor and bears resemblance to the award’s namesake. It is an honor to present him with the 2025 Carol Burnett Award to celebrate the tremendous impact he has made and continues to make in television.”
Danson is a three-time Golden Globe winner, having previously secured trophies for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television for Something About Amelia in 1985 and for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for Cheers in 1990 and 1991. Throughout his career, he has racked up 13 nominations, including for his work on Becker and Damages.
This year, Danson earned another nod for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for his role as Charles, a widower who goes undercover at a retirement community while assisting a private detective on a case, on the Netflix series A Man on the Inside.
In November 2024, Danson opened up about exploring themes of aging on the show.
“For us people, my age and older, you still have something to contribute hugely,” he told People at the time. “So get out there and keep going, and the way you engage life right up until the end is an inspiration to those younger people behind [you] that are coming up and your children. Because a lot of times people think there’s a shelf life to creativity and contributing to life. There isn’t. That’s self-imposed.”
