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For other persons named Brett Butler, see Brett Butler (disambiguation).

Brett Butler (born Brett Anderson on January 30, 1958, in Montgomery, Alabama) is an American actress and stand-up comedian, best known for playing the title role in comedy series Grace Under Fire. She grew up in Marietta, Georgia and is moving back home soon. She currently owns a farm in Georgia.

Butler was the oldest of five sisters. She worked as a cocktail waitress before she experienced success as a stand-up comic.

One of the first notable appearances for Butler was on Dolly Parton's ill-fated 1987 variety series, Dolly. Parton subsequently hired Butler as a writer for the remainder of the show's season, before it was canceled.

• Butler was arrested for and convicted of drunk driving in 1981 in Marietta, Georgia.
• During the run of Grace Under Fire Butler developed a reputation for allegedly difficult, unprofessional behavior on the set, and constantly clashed with producers and writers. The situation deteriorated so substantially that co-star Julie White did not appear in the last season of the show. [1]
• Towards the end of the sitcom's run, she went into rehab for painkiller addiction.

Butler published her memoirs, entitled Knee Deep in Paradise, in 1996. The book was started before attaining her celebrity status, and candidly addresses much of this time frame, ending the autobiography before Grace Under Fire's television debut.

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• She placed 87th in Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of all time.
• Butler guest-starred on a December 2005 episode of the sitcom My Name Is Earl, playing Joy's deceitful mother.
• Butler's most distinguishing characteristic is her trademark baritone speaking-voice.
• In the mid '90s, she filmed commercials for the now defunct department store Hill's.

• Official site
• Brett Butler at the Internet Movie Database

• Brett Butler at TV.com