Carol Channing

The Voice That Broke the Mold

Carol Channing stood nearly six feet tall and had a voice that sounded like it had been sanded with coarse sandpaper. She was never the standard naive ingenue of New York stages. In 1949, she took the stage at the Ziegfeld Theatre to bring Lorelei Lee to life in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and audiences realized musical comedy had just found its most unusual creation.

And it worked from the very first minute.

That portrayal of the blonde who preferred diamonds to kisses followed her for the rest of her career. But Channing was not a method actress, nor did she seek the psychological depth of the Stanislavski school. She worked from farce and physical energy. In 1964, she opened Hello, Dolly! under the direction of Gower Champion and won the Tony for Best Actress, beating Barbra Streisand from Funny Girl.

The film industry didn't always know what to do with her. Hollywood preferred more languid faces or sweeter voices for its major productions. So while other stars jumped to the big screen, she chose to stay on the stage. She played Dolly Levi in more than 5,000 performances over the course of her career.

She never tired of walking down that red staircase.

A Refuge on the Big Screen

Despite her love affair with the theater, she had her moments in front of the camera. In 1967, she appeared in Thoroughly Modern Millie alongside Julie Andrews. For this role, she earned an Oscar nomination and won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. In the film, she played Muzzy Van Hossmere and used her gift for slapstick in a luxurious, jazz-age setting.

But the movies turned their back on her with the film version of Hello, Dolly! in 1969. The studio chose Barbra Streisand because it wanted a star with greater commercial appeal at the international box office. Channing did not hide her disappointment (she considered it a casting mistake because of the age gap with the character), but she did not let the setback slow her pace of work.

She maintained an iron discipline with her diet and her health.

In 2002, she published her memoir, Just Lucky I Guess. In the book, she revealed that her father was biracial and that she learned this shortly before going to college. She kept the secret for decades to keep the industry's racism of the 1940s from limiting her career options. She only shared it once she felt that her career no longer depended on the approval of others.

A Comeback Out of Time

Channing's personal life had twists that outdid any Broadway script. In 2003, she married Harry Kullijian, who had been her high school sweetheart. They hadn't seen each other in seventy years. They spent their final years together promoting arts education in California's public schools through their own foundation.

Her last appearance on a prestigious stage took place in 2014 during a tribute at the Town Hall in New York. She was 93 years old and still kept the same booming voice and exaggerated smile that made her famous after World War II. She wasn't looking for nostalgia, but for the enduring power of pure showmanship.

She died of natural causes at her home in Rancho Mirage on January 15, 2019. She was 97 years old, and the medical report confirmed that she had suffered two strokes in the preceding months. That same night, the marquee lights on Broadway went dark for exactly one minute at 7:45 p.m.