She Was Born To Entertain
Carol Channing was the Broadway comedienne who originated unforgettable roles in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Hello, Dolly!. A born entertainer, her life off stage was at least as zany as that of her characters on it.
1. She Was All Alone
George and Adelaide Channing only had one daughter: Carol Elaine, born on January 31, 1921, in rainy Seattle, Washington. But with big eyes, a winning smile, and platinum blonde hair, Carol was meant for bluer skies. When she was just two years old, her father took a job in sunny San Francisco, uprooting the family. Some roots, however, moved with them.
Unknown; studio, Wikimedia Commons, Enhanced
2. She Had No Age
When Carol Channing was growing up, her parents were strict Christian Scientists who had sworn off bad habits like drinking—or celebrating birthdays. She wasn’t a big fan of not having a yearly fete in her honor—but there was an upside: She relished not having to share her age. Plus, it came with other perks.
Fairchild Archive, Getty Images
3. She Delivered Deliverance
As a small child, Channing delivered the publication Christian Science Monitor to San Francisco’s Curran Theater with her mother. She recalled seeing the heavy stage door in the alley on her first visit, and her mother opening it for her. And that’s when everything changed for Channing.
Carl Van Vechten, Wikimedia Commons, Enhanced
4. She Walked On Hallowed Ground
Call it fate or providence or divine intervention, but delivering Christian Science Monitor backstage at the Curran Theater was Channing’s first taste of the stage. Seeing the stage for the first time, she said, “I thought, I’m on holy ground. It was overwhelming…I had never seen a show before, and I wondered, ‘What happens on that stage?’”
She was about to find out.
5. She Winged It To Win It
Carol Channing discovered her natural gifts the same way she had discovered the stage: by accident. When she was just seven and running to be class secretary, she couldn’t think of anything to say to convince her classmates to vote for her. So, she improvised some impersonations, comedically imitating her principal and teachers. The gambit worked.
She won the election—and something far more important.
6. She Was No Longer Alone
As an only child, Channing must have yearned for a younger sibling to play with. But, after that school election, she gained a gymnasium worth of playmates. She started saying and doing things she thought were funny—and when they got a laugh out of her classmates, she was stunned. Realizing that they all shared the same idea of what was humorous made her feel less alone in the world.
In theaters, she also found an idol.
7. She Wanted To Be Like Waters
The theater remained a passion for Channing. So much so that she saved up all of her allowance and bought a ticket to see the legendary Ethel Waters perform. When Waters performed a song about a lynching, Channing was overcome with emotion. “All I thought was, ‘When I grow up, I want to be Ethel Waters’”. But she would forge a path of of her own.
William P. Gottlieb, Wikimedia Commons
8. She Had Persistent Puppy Love
Focused as she was on entertaining and elementary-school politics, Channing still found time for love. In her final years of junior high, Channing dated a boy named Harry Kullijian (remember that name). But it wasn’t all puppy love. He was the leader of a band that promoted her campaign for student-body vice president. With the clever slogan “If Carol is your vice, it’s a virtue,” she won the election handily.
Being the VP came with some perks.
9. She Walked Up To The Edge
Growing up in San Francisco in the 1930s, Carol Channing had an opportunity that few ever did: She watched the construction of the famous Golden Gate Bridge. Thanks to her position as the vice president of her student body, she was even allowed access to the unfinished monument. She said it felt like standing in the middle of the Pacific Ocea.
What happened next would require her to take a leap of faith.
Fairchild Archive, Getty Images
10. She May Have Been Part Black
After graduating, Channing prepared to head off to Bennington College. But, before she could go, her mother had a surprising secret to tell her. According to the elder Channing, Carol’s father had Black ancestry, meaning that Channing herself was part Black. She was never able to confirm the genealogy herself, but her mother hadn’t wanted Channing to be surprised if she got knocked up at college and had a dark-skinned baby.
She was too busy acting to get pregnant anyway.
11. Her Revue Received Positive Reviews
By the time her third year at Bennington College rolled around, Carol Channing couldn’t wait to get on the stage. She began trying out for various parts on Broadway, ultimately landing a role in a revue. When the critics (briefly) praised her performance, she took it as a sign and dropped out of Bennington. True success wouldn’t come that easy.
But love would.
Evening Standard, Getty Images
12. She Was Married And Broke
Channing found her soulmate before she found the spotlight. In 1941, she married Theodore Naidish, a struggling writer. They had love—and little else. The couple barely scraped by and had trouble affording rent or food . Unfortunately, the marriage ran out before their savings did, and the couple got divorced a few years later.
Channing was getting more love on stage anyway.
Fairfax Media Archives, Getty Images
13. She Waited In The Wings
Finally, in 1941, Carol Channing got her foot in the door—but only just. Marc Blitzstein’s No for an Answer gave her her first New York stage credit. Then, it was lights, curtains, and…Broadway! Channing found her way to the heart of theater as the understudy of none other than Eve Arden in Let’s Face It! Eventually, however, Arden would be the one filling in for Channing.
If Arden could fill her shoes, that is…
14. She Towered Over The Competition
Channing had a big problem—six feet of it, in heels. Broadway directors simply didn’t have roles for six-foot-tall comedic blondes. But Hollywood certainly did. Thanks to an arranged audition, Channing landed a role in Gower Champion’s revue Lend an Ear. This time, standing out would help her. Channing became the fan and critic favorite in the hit show.
One man in the audience saw her potential.
15. Her Portrait Made Her Famous
Al Hirschfeld was Broadway’s most famous caricaturist—and the guy who made Carol Channing famous. Channing’s turn in Lend an Ear might have earned her a Theatre World Award, but she always insisted Hirschfeld’s portrait was the real award. His sketch of her as a Roaring Twenties flapper made the rounds, eventually landing in the hands of Jule Styne and Anita Loos.
They had a new musical to cast: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Graphic House (New York) photographer, Wikimedia Commons
16. She Found Her Best Friend
Lorelei Lee had one goal in life: land a rich husband. When Gentlemen Prefer Blondes hit Broadway in 1949, Channing introduced audiences to the bubbly gold digger they would love for decades. Night after night, her rendition of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” brought the house down. Hollywood, however, preferred a different blonde.
17. She Missed Her Close-Up
Channing had turned Lorelei into Broadway gold. But when the studio started casting the 1953 film version, she reportedly wasn’t even in the running. The part, famously, went to Marilyn Monroe, who turned Channing’s lovable Lorelei into the stereotypical “dumb blonde”. It was a bitter pill—and not the last one Hollywood would hand her.
20th Century Fox, Wikimedia Commons, Enhanced
18. She Married A Tough Guy
Channing’s second husband was about as far from Broadway as a man could get. Alexander F Carson—“Axe” to those who knew him—was a professional Canadian football player who moonlighted as a private eye. The unlikely couple had their first and only child in 1953. Sadly, just three years later, their worlds would prove too different, and the couple went their separate ways.
They did, however, have one connection for life.
19. Her Idol Became Family
Carol Channing never quite turned into Ethel Waters—but she wouldn’t have to. As it happened, the legendary singer had been pals with “Axe” prior to his marriage to Channing. So when their baby arrived, Waters didn’t need an invitation to make herself part of Channing’s family. “That’s my godson,” Waters declared. “I’ve decided”.
Don Pinder from Wright Langley Collection, Florida Keys Public Libraries., Wikimedia Commons
20. She Performed After Giving Birth
Hot off her long run as Lorelei Lee, Channing hit the summer-stock circuit in 1953 with George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Still, musicals kept calling her name. Just 10 months after giving birth, she was singing and dancing on Broadway again, this time stepping in for Rosalind Russell in Leonard Bernstein’s Wonderful Town.
Her next starring role wouldn’t be nearly so wonderful.
21. She Survived A Flop
The Vamp was supposed to be Channing’s next big hit. Instead, it crashed harder at the box office than a spotlight into an orchestra pit. However, even if audiences had soured on her, Tony voters hadn’t. In 1956, they handed Channing her first nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Her biggest prize, however, wasn’t a trophy.
It would be a trophy husband.
22. She Married Her Manager
Not even a year after divorcing Axe Carson, Carol Channing found her new love—and he had been there the whole time. In September of 1956, she walked down the aisle and exchanged her vows with Charles Lowe, her manager and publicist. Fueled by their love, Lowe recharged Channing’s career. He even adopted Channing’s son from her previous marriage.
For better or worse, Lowe was now running the show—but Channing found a new leading man.
23. She Was Eastwood’s First
In The First Traveling Saleslady (1956), Channing starred alongside Ginger Rogers and an as-yet-unknown Clint Eastwood. She had no way of knowing then that she would become the envy of every girl in the country. When Channing locked lips with Eastwood on the set of the film, it was the first time he ever kissed anyone on camera.
It was the kiss of good luck.
Sunset Boulevard, Getty Images
24. She Was The Second Choice
Hello, Dolly! cemented Channing’s Broadway legacy—but it was never meant for her. The lead role in the adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s play The Matchmaker had originally been intended for Ethel Merman. However, Merman turned it down, and the part of Dolly Levi, the boisterous matchmaker who finds her own wealthy match, went to Channing.
Turns out the part truly was meant for her after all.
King c/o Sabinson, Wikimedia Commons
25. She Had A Pulitzer-Winning Superfan
Thornton Wilder found his Dolly Levi in Carol Channing. The Broadway actress recalled spotting The Matchmaker playwright in the audience every single week—that’s how much he loved Hello, Dolly! Wilder was so inspired by Channing’s performance of his beloved character that he began rewriting The Skin of Our Teeth just for her.
Unfortunately, Wilder passed on with the script still unfinished—though he was far from Dolly’s only fan.
Published by Bridgeport Telegram, Wikimedia Commons
26. She Had Become Dolly
Broadway fell head over heels for Dolly from the moment the curtain rose on January 16, 1964. Come awards season, Channing took home the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical—one of 10 the show collected. Throughout her life, Channing would return to Dolly on various stages all over the world, from New York to Australia and back again.
Even Hollywood royalty couldn’t resist.
27. She Upstaged Hamlet
When Hello, Dolly! opened in New York, Elizabeth Taylor had a choice to make: watch her husband, Richard Burton, in Hamlet (again), or sneak away and watch Channing. For her, the answer was easy. Taylor opted for the jazz-dancing ladies of Dolly. Husbands come and go, but seeing Channing as Dolly Levi? That’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
There just wasn’t enough Channing to go around.
28. She Almost Got Her Own Sitcom
In 1966, with Hello, Dolly! making Channing a household name, she got an opportunity for even more stardom: her own sitcom. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz floated the idea for The Carol Channing Show, a sitcom about a small-town girl in the Big Apple. Despite filming a pilot episode in front of a live TV audience, however, no network picked up the show.
If the small screen didn’t want her, the big screen did.
29. She Danced On A Xylophone
Carol Channing might have missed out on having her own show, but then she wouldn’t have starred alongside Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore, and Beatrice Lillie in 1967. For her performance in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Channing took home a Golden Globe and got a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Offstage, however, she was hiding a frightening secret.
Silver Screen Collection, Getty Images
30. She Was Keeping A Secret
By the late 1960s, Channing was at the height of her fame. But she was keeping a dark secret. Speaking in 2002, Channing finally revealed the truth: she had been battling cancer. The Gentlemen Prefer Blondes star confessed that, for months, she would leave after Saturday-night performances to get “cobalt and chemotherapy”.
Fortunately, she never suffered a relapse. Though, she might have wished that she had.
31. She Made The Worst Movie Ever
To say that Carol Channing was unenthusiastic about appearing in Otto Preminger’s 1968 film Skidoo would be an understatement. Speaking in 2000, she recalled: “I thought, ‘This is going to be the worst movie ever made. I hope nobody ever sees it’”. However, by then, Skidoo had become a cult classic. Ironically, Channing confessed she had never seen the film herself.
But considering how Hollywood treated her—who could blame her?
Screenshot from Skidoo, Paramount Pictures (1968), Enhanced
32. She Suffered The Streisand Effect
When the role of Dolly Levi went to Barbra Streisand in the 1969 film adaptation of Hello, Dolly!, Carol Channing was furious. Even so, she kept all of her anger bottled up inside until she released her autobiography. Not only was she attached to the character of Dolly Levi, even saying that the production was her “baby,” she was also angry at how big of a flop it was—and laid the blame right at Streisand’s feet.
Unknown authorUnknown author, Wikimedia Commons
33. She Wasn’t Prepared For The Super Bowl
Carol Channing had pulled off some tough nights on the Broadway stage. But none of that compared to the 1970 Super Bowl. Not only was it the first halftime show, that made her one of the first celebrities to perform at the event, as part of a tribute to Mardi Gras. They barely had time to prepare, but managed to pull it together. She returned in 1972 to pay tribute to Louis Armstrong.
Not all of the attention she got was positive.
34. She Was Nixed By Nixon
When the Watergate investigation revealed Richard Nixon’s infamous “enemies list,” no one expected to see a bubbly blonde Broadway actress on it. But there Channing’s name was, in black and white like it was on a marquee. Instead of cowering at the idea of being Nixon’s “enemy”, however, Channing called it the “highest honor of her career”.
Thankfully, she had more meaningful roles than that.
Oliver F. Atkins, Wikimedia Commons
35. She Went Back To Lorelei
In 1973, Carol Channing reprised her role as Lorelei Lee—this time in Lorelei, a show named after the gold digger herself. It wasn’t clear who had missed the character more: Channing or the throngs of Oklahoma City fans who snapped up every ticket for the first six days’ worth of shows in just 24 hours. A cross-country tour later, Lorelei brought Channing back to Broadway in 1974 for 320 glorious performances.
That wasn’t the only character she returned to.
Shubert Theater, Wikimedia Commons
36. She Said Hello, Dolly! Once Again
Channing’s 1970s renaissance continued when she reprised her role as Dolly Levi in New York and London. And, despite the years, she hadn’t lost a step. Her performance as everyone’s favorite meddling matchmaker, in London, netted her an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. The key to Channing’s longevity? A curious diet.
37. She Couldn’t Drink From The Tap
For years, Carol Channing insisted on bringing her own food to the biggest Broadway parties and hottest New York restaurants. But, what most people thought was a funny quirk was actually a health requirement. Channing had become allergic to “something in tap water,” forcing her to have all of her food prepared with bottled water.
Clearly, the diet worked.
38. She Joined The Addams Family
With a career that started in 1941, Channing had done Broadway, TV, and film. But it wasn’t until 1992 that she added animation to her resume. For three years, Channing lent her distinctive voice to the animated show The Addams Family as Grandmama. Memorable as the voiceover role was, audiences still clamored for one character above all: Dolly.
Screenshot from The Addams Family, ABC (1992-1993), Enhanced
39. She Was “Beyond Criticism”
Even at the age of 74, Carol Channing couldn’t say goodbye to Hello, Dolly!. Returning to Broadway in 1995, she reprised the role of Dolly Levi one last time, netting a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement that same year. And what an achievement it was. Variety hailed her performance, putting her return as Dolly Levi up there with the great achievements of Western civilization.
40. She Couldn’t See
Channing was not, it turns out, immune to the “ravages of time”. In an interview in 2000, Channing revealed that her eyesight was failing her. “Well, I keep rolling off the stage,” she explained. “Because I’m near-sighted. And I can’t wear contact lenses”. Her poor eyesight had already cost her a broken wrist and thumb after she had taken a spill off the stage.
But her eyesight was good enough to see one thing clearly.
Allan Warren, Wikimedia Commons
41. She Wanted Out
To the outside world, Channing’s marriage to Lowe looked as happy as one of her musicals. But, in May of 1998, she sang a different tune. Filing for divorce, she accused Lowe of squandering her fortune and mistreating her mentally and physically. She also claimed they had been intimate only once or twice throughout their long marriage.
Lowe firmly denied it all—and came back with accusations of his own.
Ron Galella, Ltd., Getty Images
42. Her Husband Fought Back
Lowe wasn’t about to let Carol Channing have the last word. In 1999, he sued her for defamation, accusing her of spreading false rumors about his orientation and the nature of their marriage. And he wasn’t finished yet. He further alleged that Channing had been cruel, abandoning him within days of a life-altering stroke. This was one show that wouldn’t have a happy ending.
43. She Never Got Her Divorce
Whatever the truth of their marriage, Channing and Lowe managed to come to an agreement. Carol Channing agreed to retract her statements disparaging her husband, but she wouldn’t get the divorce she wanted. Sadly, Lowe passed on in September of 1999 before the couple could officially resolve their issues.
However, Channing would get another chance to tell her story.
44. She Wrote Her Own Lines
Channing had spent her career bringing other people’s words to life. But, for her 2002 memoir, Just Lucky I Guess, she insisted that the words be her own. Going old school with pencil and paper, Channing holed herself up in a Rancho Mirage condo for over four years and wrote down all of the secrets the Broadway spotlight hadn’t already exposed.
Some of her story, however, stayed off the page.
45. She Remembered The Good Times
If anyone hoped that Channing would share the details of her acrimonious final years with Lowe in her memoir, they were sorely disappointed. Throughout the entire book, Channing didn’t say a word about it. It seemed as though her memory of Lowe had softened, and she later talked about his sense of humor and their shared interest in the theater.
Another man from her past, however, was harder to forget.
46. Her First Love Came Calling
Remember Harry Kullijian? In early 2003, department-store founder Mervyn Morris read Channing’s memories of her first love and encouraged Kullijian to call. When they reconnected in Rancho Mirage, it was like nothing had changed. “We went on talking from the last conversation when we were 15 years old,” Channing recalled. “We just picked up from that. The years between disappeared, just disappeared”.
47. She Finally Married Harry
Channing and Kullijian were quick to dispel the rumors that her mother had forced the young couple to break up all of those decades earlier. Instead, Carol Channing explained, their careers had simply drawn them apart. But, just weeks after reconnecting, they made their bond unbreakable when they got married. That wasn’t the only blast from the past for Channing.
San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers, Getty Images
48. She Went Back To School
School was where Channing and Kullijian had fallen in love. So, it was only fitting that school would be where they kept that love alive. Together, the couple founded the Dr Carol Channing and Harry Kullijian Foundation, bringing arts education to California’s schoolchildren. To help raise funds, they even performed in a benefit at their old school.
Her final act, however, was coming sooner than anyone knew.
49. She Lost Her First Love
Channing’s time with Kullijian was cut short sooner than she had hoped. On December 26, 2011, the day before his 92nd birthday, Kullijian passed on. Thankfully, the documentary film Carol Channing: Larger Than Life, released the very next year, told her life story, from her career to the love she had found again. The story of the Broadway blonde, however, was coming to its final chapter.
Screenshot from Carol Channing: Larger Than Life, Entertainment One (eOne) (2011)
50. She Took Her Final Bow
For a woman who wasn’t supposed to have an age, Carol Channing had quite the run. She passed on from natural causes at her Rancho Mirage home on January 15, 2019, aged 97, leaving behind her son. To say that Broadway was less bright without her would be accurate. Following her passing, on the anniversary of Hello, Dolly!’s Broadway opening, the famous theater district dimmed its lights in her honor.
It had finally come time to say goodbye to Dolly.
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