(Conversational in style, and written entirely by Miss Cha...)
Conversational in style, and written entirely by Miss Channing, this star-studded chronicle gives you the feeling that you are sitting down with this fascinating woman and having her delight you with tales from her long and amazing life, both personal and professional. You'll be invited behind the scenes for stories featuring an all-star cast of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Barbra Streisand, Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Tallulah Bankhead, Gower Champion, Clint Eastwood, Julie Andrews, Marlene Dietrich, David Merrick, Noël Coward, Al Pacino, and Yul Brynner. And you'll learn of the not-so-glamorous times, too, as Miss Channing reveals her theatrical triumphs, her heritage, and her winning battle with ovarian cancer.
Carol Channing was a noble American actress and singer who became a real theatrical legend. She starred in Broadway musicals till 1995, appeared in films and TV shows. Her best-known roles include Dolly Levi in Jerry Herman's Hello, Dolly! and Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Background
Ethnicity:
Carol's father had African-American and Euro-American roots, and her maternal grandparents were of German-Jewish origin.
Carol Channing was born on January 31, 1921, in Seattle, Washington, United States to the family of an editor and reporter George Channing and Adelaide (Glaser) Channing. Carol was the only child. When she was two years old, the family moved to San Francisco. Her father worked as editor-in-chief of several Christian Science newspapers, and as a young child, Carol accompanied her mother to the Curran Theatre to help distribute these newspapers backstage.
Education
In San Francisco, Carol attended Aptos Junior High School and Lowell High School. After graduation from the latter in 1938, she moved to Vermont to study at Bennington College. She was majoring in drama and dance.
Already during the junior year, Carol started acting parts on Broadway and as soon as her career began to take off, she dropped out the college.
When Carol left college, she had to perform at small functions for the next four years. She also worked for Macy's bakery.
Channing's first big break came when Marge Champion, of the dance team of Marge and Gower Champion, auditioned her for a part in Lend an Ear, which opened in California and came to New York the following year. Her role led to others, including the lead in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and films, notably Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she received a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway on January 16, 1964, and Channing played it across the United States, United Kingdom, and in Australia. Channing was still reviving the famous role of Dolly Levi in the 1990s when the theater legend was in her seventies. She performed the role more than 5,000 times and missed only one performance when she suffered food poisoning in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Channing's role of Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes has become almost as well known, as her signature song from that show, "Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend." When Marilyn Monroe was given the role in the film version, the studio bought her a ticket to watch Channing perform it on stage, and Monroe attended every performance for three weeks. At the end of that time, she went backstage to visit Channing and said "That’s my last show, and I was never bored."
Apart from Broadway productions, Channing appeared in movies. Among them: First Traveling Saleslady, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Skidoo, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. In addition to it, the star was well-known as a TV entertainer.
Together with her fourth husband Harry, Channing promoted arts education in California schools through their Dr. Carol Channing and Harry Kullijian Foundation.
Carol Channing was often welcomed to major events, including those at the White House, where she might sing.
Channing was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960. Besides, the star was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. In 1995 she received a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award.
In 1966 Channing starred in the 1966 TV special An Evening With Carol Channing, which earned three Emmy nominations. She later achieved an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win for her supporting work in 1967′s Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Over her years in show business, she appeared in everything from Broadway masterpieces to television and film to Super Bowl halftime shows. In fact, Carol was the first Super Bowl performer.
In 2004, Channing received an honorary doctorate from California State University, Stanislaus.
During the 1964 presidential campaign, Channing took her signature song, "Hello, Dolly!" and transformed it into President Lyndon B. Johnson's theme song, "Hello, Lyndon!" Channing sang the latter song in Johnson's honor at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City.
Being an outspoken liberal Democrat, Channing's name was included in Richard Nixon's now-famous "enemies list", and she said that was the highest honor in her career.
Views
Quotations:
"Performing is the only excuse for my existence. What can be better than this?"
"I'm terribly shy, but of course no one believes me. Come to think of it, neither would I."
"My mother said to me, "You're revolting. And on top of that, you're not very feminine." Well, that led me to the stage, which is an accepting and comfortable place. So in a way, I have my mother to thank."
About the theater from the Austin Chronicle: "I stood there and realized - I'll never forget it because it came over me so strongly - that this is a temple. This is a cathedral. This is for people who have gotten a glimpse of creation and all they do is recreate it. I stood there and wanted to kiss the floorboards."
Personality
Carol Channing had a very distinctive appearance - tousled hairdo, headlight-size eyes, exaggerated mouth, and could be proud of extraordinaire voice, gravel-toned and capable of sinking to subterranean levels.
Channing remained active well into her 80s.
Physical Characteristics:
Channing's height was 1.75 m. Her average weight was 62 kg.
Quotes from others about the person
From the Life magazine cover story: "Finding roles that suit the strange and wonderful charms of Carol Channing has always been a problem to Broadway showmen. She looks like an overgrown kewpie. She sings like a moon-mad hillbilly. Her dancing is crazily comic. And behind her saucer eyes is a kind of gentle sweetness that pleads for affection."
Time magazine on Channing's role as Lorelei Lee: "Perhaps once in a decade a nova explodes above the Great White Way with enough brilliance to reillumine the whole gaudy legend of show business."
Brooks Atkinson, the drama critic of The New York Times, on Channing's role as Lorelei Lee: "the most fabulous comic creation of this dreary period in history."
Interests
theatre
Connections
Carol Channing was married four times. The first two marriages, to Theodore Naidish, a writer, and Alexander Carson, a professional football player, ended in divorce.
In September 1956, immediately following divorce from Carson, Channing married her manager and publicist Charles Lowe. They were together for more than 40 years. Channing filed for divorce from Lowe in 1998, but her estranged husband died before the divorce was finalized.
In 2003 Carol married Harry Kullijian who had been her junior high school sweetheart. He died in December 2011. The actress is survived by the only son by her second husband.
