BUENA PARK : A Legacy in Wax and Concrete

Nearly 200 fans came to the Movieland Wax Museum Friday to see Carol Burnett and Vicki Lawrence immortalized in wax and concrete.

The pair, honored at a ceremony unveiling new wax displays of stars from “The Carol Burnett Show” and “The Andy Griffith Show,” left handprints and scrawled their names in blocks that will be installed outside the museum.

“I can’t get out!” joked Burnett, her hands in the concrete. “We’re here forever!”

Burnett and Lawrence, a regular on the show, greeted fans outside the museum, at 7711 Beach Boulevard, with Burnett’s trademark Tarzan yell.

“This is more exciting than the earthquake,” said Evan Laundrie, a 9-year-old fan, who attended the event with his grandmother, Marie Davidson, the same person he was with when a 7.4 quake rolled through the Southland in June.

Burnett and Lawrence were a bit dismayed at their likenesses. “A little chemical treatment wouldn’t hurt,” said Burnett, looking at her wax figure, which appeared about 10 years older than the live Burnett. Lawrence crossed her eyes and grimaced to imitate her wax twin.

Betty Cholewinski, a 28-year employee of the wax museum, defended the figures. “You have to catch the sparkle in their eyes,” she said.

Rhonda McCune, the mayor of Buena Park, made the two actresses honorary citizens and gave them keys to the city. Burnett, who had received a key once before, quipped, “I guess you changed the locks.”

McCune’s mother, Thelma Gray, said her favorite episodes of “The Carol Burnett Show” are those in which Burnett is seen housecleaning.

Jennifer Dennis, a 9-year-old from Garden Grove, confessed to being a fan of Burnett’s since the age of 2. Was she better in person than on television? “I like her both ways,” Jennifer said.

Burnett and Lawrence’s concrete prints will join those of Lori Anderson, Ray Charles, Vincent Price and others on display outside the museum. Most of the stars also made their footprints in the concrete, but not Burnett and Lawrence.

“They didn’t bring the right shoes,” said Cholewinski.