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Carol Channing
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Carol Channing
Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, comedian, singer and dancer who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Each of her characters typically possessed a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice.
Channing originated the lead roles in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1949 and Hello, Dolly! in 1964, winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the latter. She revived both roles several times throughout her career, playing Dolly on Broadway for the final time in 1995. She was nominated for her first Tony Award in 1956 for The Vamp, followed by a nomination in 1961 for Show Girl. She received her fourth Tony Award nomination for the musical Lorelei in 1974.
As a film actress, she won the Golden Globe Award and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Muzzy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). Her other film appearances include The First Traveling Saleslady (1956) and Skidoo (1968). On television, she appeared as an entertainer on variety shows. She performed The White Queen in the TV production of Alice in Wonderland (1985), and she had the first of many TV specials in 1966, titled An Evening with Carol Channing.
Channing was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1981 and received a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 1995. She continued to perform and make appearances well into her 90s, singing songs from her repertoire and sharing stories with fans, cabaret-style. She was one of the "legends" interviewed in the award-winning documentary, Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There. She released her autobiography, Just Lucky I Guess, in 2002, and Larger Than Life—a documentary film about her life and career—was released in 2012.
Channing was born in Seattle, Washington on January 31, 1921, the only child of Adelaide (née Glaser; 1886–1984) and George Channing (1888–1957). Adelaide Channing was of German Jewish ancestry. George Channing, born George Christian Stucker, changed his surname for religious reasons before Carol's birth. His birth certificate described him as "colored"; his mother was Black, and his father was German-American. George Channing became a Christian Science practitioner, editor, and teacher. A city editor at The Seattle Star, he took a job at The San Francisco Chronicle; the family moved to California when Carol was two years old. Carol Channing was raised in the Christian Science church.
During a 1994 interview, Channing revealed that she first wanted to perform on stage as a singer when she was in the fourth grade. She recalled being emotionally drawn to the stage after seeing Ethel Waters perform. Channing has said that in the fourth grade she ran for and was elected class secretary: "I stood up in class and campaigned by kidding the teachers. The other kids laughed. I loved the feeling — it was a very good feeling; it still is." She read the class minutes every Friday, often impersonating the children who were discussed. Her election to class secretary continued through grammar and high school: "It was very good training—like stock." She also considered the fact that she was able to see plays while very young to have been an important inspiration:
I was lucky enough to grow up in San Francisco and it was the best theater town that Sol Hurok knew and he brought everybody from all over the world and we schoolchildren got to see them with just 50-cent tickets.
Channing attended Aptos Junior High School and Lowell High School in San Francisco, graduating in 1938. She won the Crusaders' Oratorical Contest and a free trip to Hawaii with her mother in June 1937. When she was 17, Channing left home to attend Bennington College in Vermont, and her mother told her for the first time that her father had Black ancestry. Her mother felt that the time was right to tell her this since she was going off to college, not wanting her to be surprised if she ever had a Black baby. Channing wrote:
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Carol Channing
Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, comedian, singer and dancer who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Each of her characters typically possessed a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice.
Channing originated the lead roles in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1949 and Hello, Dolly! in 1964, winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the latter. She revived both roles several times throughout her career, playing Dolly on Broadway for the final time in 1995. She was nominated for her first Tony Award in 1956 for The Vamp, followed by a nomination in 1961 for Show Girl. She received her fourth Tony Award nomination for the musical Lorelei in 1974.
As a film actress, she won the Golden Globe Award and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Muzzy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). Her other film appearances include The First Traveling Saleslady (1956) and Skidoo (1968). On television, she appeared as an entertainer on variety shows. She performed The White Queen in the TV production of Alice in Wonderland (1985), and she had the first of many TV specials in 1966, titled An Evening with Carol Channing.
Channing was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1981 and received a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 1995. She continued to perform and make appearances well into her 90s, singing songs from her repertoire and sharing stories with fans, cabaret-style. She was one of the "legends" interviewed in the award-winning documentary, Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There. She released her autobiography, Just Lucky I Guess, in 2002, and Larger Than Life—a documentary film about her life and career—was released in 2012.
Channing was born in Seattle, Washington on January 31, 1921, the only child of Adelaide (née Glaser; 1886–1984) and George Channing (1888–1957). Adelaide Channing was of German Jewish ancestry. George Channing, born George Christian Stucker, changed his surname for religious reasons before Carol's birth. His birth certificate described him as "colored"; his mother was Black, and his father was German-American. George Channing became a Christian Science practitioner, editor, and teacher. A city editor at The Seattle Star, he took a job at The San Francisco Chronicle; the family moved to California when Carol was two years old. Carol Channing was raised in the Christian Science church.
During a 1994 interview, Channing revealed that she first wanted to perform on stage as a singer when she was in the fourth grade. She recalled being emotionally drawn to the stage after seeing Ethel Waters perform. Channing has said that in the fourth grade she ran for and was elected class secretary: "I stood up in class and campaigned by kidding the teachers. The other kids laughed. I loved the feeling — it was a very good feeling; it still is." She read the class minutes every Friday, often impersonating the children who were discussed. Her election to class secretary continued through grammar and high school: "It was very good training—like stock." She also considered the fact that she was able to see plays while very young to have been an important inspiration:
I was lucky enough to grow up in San Francisco and it was the best theater town that Sol Hurok knew and he brought everybody from all over the world and we schoolchildren got to see them with just 50-cent tickets.
Channing attended Aptos Junior High School and Lowell High School in San Francisco, graduating in 1938. She won the Crusaders' Oratorical Contest and a free trip to Hawaii with her mother in June 1937. When she was 17, Channing left home to attend Bennington College in Vermont, and her mother told her for the first time that her father had Black ancestry. Her mother felt that the time was right to tell her this since she was going off to college, not wanting her to be surprised if she ever had a Black baby. Channing wrote:
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