Carol Elaine Channing (born January 31, 1921) is an American singer and actress. She is the recipient of three Tony Awards (including one for lifetime achievement), a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. Channing is best remembered for originating, on Broadway, the musical-comedy roles of bombshell Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , and matchmaking widow Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly! She is world renowned for her voice which is at once raspy, basso and caressing, her eyes as big as saucers, her wide smile, and the slightly other-worldly, childlike enthusiasm which informs her star presence. Her distinctive voice and persona are frequently parodied.

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Childhood and education

Channing was born in Seattle, Washington, to George and Carol née Glaser, and was their only child. Her father was a journalist, whose newspaper career took the family to San Francisco when Channing was only two weeks old. She went to school at Aptos Junior High School and then to Lowell High School in San Francisco. At Lowell, Channing was a member of its famed Lowell Forensic Society, the nation's oldest high school debate team.

According to Channing's memoirs, when she left home to attend Bennington College in Vermont, her mother informed her that her father, a journalist who Carol had believed was born in Rhode Island, had in fact been born in Augusta, Georgia, to a German American father and an African American mother. According to Channing's account, her mother reportedly didn't want [Channing] to be surprised "if she had a black baby". ^{[1] [2]} Channing kept this a secret to avoid any problems on Broadway and in Hollywood, ultimately revealing it only in her autobiography, Just Lucky I Guess , published in 2002 when she was 81 years old. Channing's autobiography, containing a photograph of her mother, does not have any photos of her father or son. ^[3] Her book also states that her father's birth certificate was destroyed in a fire. (The November 4 2002 issue of Jet (magazine) reported, based on her autobiography, that Carol Channing's father was African-American.)

Career

Channing was introduced to the stage while doing church work for her mother. In a 2005 interview with the Austin Chronicle, Channing recounted this experience:



Channing's first job on stage in New York was in Marc Blitzstein's No For an Answer, which was given two special Sunday performances starting January 5 1941 at the Mecca Temple (later New York's City Center). Channing then moved to Broadway for Let's Face It! , in which she was an understudy for Eve Arden. Decades later, Arden would play "Dolly" in a road company after Channing finally relinquished the role.

Five years later, Channing had a featured role in a revue, Lend an Ear . She was spotted by author Anita Loos and cast in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes as Lorelei Lee, the role that brought her to prominence. (Her signature song from the production was Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend .) Channing's persona was strikingly like that of the character: simultaneously smart yet scattered, naïve yet worldly.

Channing came to national prominence as the star of Jerry Herman's Hello, Dolly! She never missed a performance during her run, attributing her good health to her Christian Science faith. Her performance won her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, in a year when her chief competition was Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl . She was deeply disappointed when Streisand, who many believed to be far too young for the role, signed on to play the role of Dolly Levi in the film, which also starred Walter Matthau and Michael Crawford.

She reprised the role of Lorelei Lee in the musical Lorelei . She also appeared in two New York revivals of Hello, Dolly! , and toured with it extensively throughout the United States. She also appeared in a number of movies, including the cult film Skidoo and Thoroughly Modern Millie , opposite Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore. For Millie she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and was awarded a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.

In 1966 she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre. During her film career she also made some TV show cameos and did voice overs in cartoons. One of her best known voice over roles was Canina LeFur in the Disney show Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers .

Channing was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 1995 ^[5], and an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts by California State University, Stanislaus in 2004. ^[6] That same year, she received the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre. ^[7] She and husband Harry are active in promoting arts education in California schools. The couple resides in the Central Valley, California city of Modesto.

Family life

She has been married four times. Her first husband, Theodore Naidish, was a writer. Her second, Alexander Carson, played center for the Ottawa Rough Riders Canadian football team. They had one son, Channing, who took his stepfather's surname and is now a Pulitzer-prize-nominated cartoonist publishing under the name Chan Lowe. ^[8] In 1956 she married her manager and publicist, Charles Lowe. They remained married for 42 years, but she abruptly filed for divorce in 1998. He died before the divorce was finalized. After Lowe's death and until shortly before her fourth marriage, the actress's companion was Roger Denny, an interior decorator. ^[9]

On May 10, 2003, she married Harry Kullijian, her fourth husband and junior high school sweetheart, who reunited with her after she mentioned him fondly in her memoir. The two performed at their old junior high school, which had become Aptos Middle School, in a benefit for the school. At Lowell High School, they renamed the school's auditorium "The Carol Channing Theatre" in her honor. The City of San Francisco, California proclaimed February 25, 2002 to be Carol Channing Day, for her advocacy of gay rights and her appearance as the celebrity host of the Gay Pride Day festivities in Hollywood. She shared the stage with Richard Skipper, a Carol Channing tribute artist. Carol was also a running gag by the stars of the hit show "Whoes Line is it Anyway?".

Channing and her husband currently reside in Modesto, CA.

Theatre credits

• No For an Answer (January 5 and January 11, 1941)
• Let's Face It! (October 29, 1941 - March 20, 1943) (understudy for Eve Arden)
• Proof Through the Night (December 25, 1942 - January 2, 1943)
• Lend an Ear (December 16, 1948 - January 21, 1950)
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (December 8, 1949 - September 15, 1951)
• Wonderful Town (February 25, 1953 - July 3, 1954) (replacement for Rosalind Russell)
• The Vamp (November 10 - December 31, 1955) (Best Actress in a Musical nominee)
• Show Girl (January 12 - April 8, 1961) (Best Actress in a Musical nominee)
• Hello, Dolly! (January 16, 1964 - December 27, 1970) (left show in 1967)
• Four on a Garden (January 30 - March 20, 1971)
• Lorelei (January 27 - November 3, 1974)(Best Actress in a Musical nominee)
• Julie's Friends at the Palace (May 19, 1974) (benefit performance)
• Hello, Dolly! (March 15 - July 19, 1978) (revival)
• Legends! (January 7, 1986 - January 18, 1987) (national tour)
• Hello, Dolly! (October 19, 1995 - January 28, 1996) (revival; farewell tour)

Filmography

• Paid in Full (1950)
• The First Traveling Saleslady (1956)
• All About People (1967) (short subject) (narrator)
• Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
• Skidoo (1968)
• Shinbone Alley (1971) (voice)
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) (Cameo)
• Alice in Wonderland (1985)
• Happily Ever After (1993) (voice)
• Thumbelina (1994) (voice)
• Homo Heights (1998)
• The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars (1998) (voice) (direct-to-video)
• Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There (2003) (documentary)
• Family Guy: 'Patriot Games (2006)

References in modern culture

Ryan Stiles often impersonated her on the American version of the improv comedy show Whose Line is it Anyway? , as did guest star Robin Williams in a single episode.

The red satin, sequin-bedecked costume, designed by Freddy Wittop, that Channing wore during Hello, Dolly! was donated to the Smithsonian by Channing and theatrical producer Manny Kladitis, following the thirtieth anniversary tour of the show. It is currently on display at the National Museum of American History. ^[10]

An outspoken liberal, Channing's name was included in Republican President Richard Nixon's now-famous "enemies list", and she has said that was the highest honor in her career.

References

1. Carol Channing reveals her father was Black
2. CNN.com
3. Cartoonbox.slate.com
4. Faires, Robert "The Carol You Don't Know, ''Austin Chronicle'' (July 22, 2005) Online Edition
5. Hodgins, Paul, "Carol Channing: A Lifetime of Experience", ''Orange County Register'' (February 4, 2006)
6. Moran, Frankie, "Carol Channing to Offer Highlights From Her Six Decade Career", ''North County Times'' (November 8, 2006)
7. Carol Channing Honored By York Theatre Company
8. Meet Chan Lowe
9. Looking swell: Carol Channing's back in the spotlight with memoir and plans for new show
10. "Hello, Dolly" Dress