Obituary:  Carrie Hamilton, 38, Actress and Writer

Published Jan. 22, 2002

Carrie Hamilton, an actress, writer and musician and a daughter of Carol Burnett, died yesterday. She was 38.

The cause was cancer, said Ms. Burnett's publicist, Deborah Kelman.

Ms. Hamilton, whose father was the late producer Joe Hamilton, appeared in the television series ''Fame'' and had guest roles on other shows, including ''Murder She Wrote,'' ''Beverly Hills 90210'' and ''thirtysomething.'' She also starred in television movies.

She and her mother collaborated on a stage version of Ms. Burnett's best-selling memoir ''One More Time.'' The resulting play, ''Hollywood Arms,'' is scheduled to have its world premiere in Chicago in April.

Ms. Hamilton spoke publicly in the 1980's about her struggles with addiction and her decision to go drug free.

She starred as Maureen in the first national touring version of the musical ''Rent,'' had feature film credits and wrote and directed short films through the profit-sharing production company Namethkuf. She won ''The Women in Film Award'' at the 2001 Latino Film Festival for her short film ''Lunchtime Thomas.''

Ms. Hamilton is survived by two sisters, Erin and Jody Hamilton, and by Ms. Burnett.