From Tom Johnson, Cleveland, Ohio
Carol Channing's Loreli in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"was a unique comic creation which I cheered when the national tour, played the Palace Theater in Columbus. Years later, fresh out of the Navy and adrift in New York, I got on the television quiz show "Password" as a contestant. Carol was my partner. The prize word was "rodeo" and in exchanging the one-word clues , we BOTH used her"Awr-kin-saaw" Loreli voice. Amid a major fit of giggles, we won.
2
Carol Channing was a precious actress as she contributed so much to Broadway and she will be missed.
Refer to, Carol Channing: The Bigger than Life Queen of Broadway
Download: http://authl.it/B07MX3L77D
Ironic that Dolly opened 55 years ago tonite, and this is the night they are dimming the lights in her memory.
Goodbye, Dolly! #RIPCarolChanning
1
I regret I never saw her perform live but the cast album of Hello, Dolly! was prominent in the soundtrack of my childhood. Unforgettable.
4
In a truly off-beaten track, Carbondale, Illinois, the wonderful Carol Channing made an unforgettable impact on everyone in our university (SIUC) theater, one glorious night. She and the equally legendary Sen. Paul Simon met at an airport. Two large souls bonded. Senator Simon invited her to our campus. She descended and the energy level exploded. I said, "Hello, Ms. Channing." It was all I could have ever hoped to have done. She was a blessing.
I had the good fortune to meet Ms. Channing several years ago at a film festival in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, of all places. She invited me to come see her one-woman show, which I did and enjoyed, and possibly accompany her on tour (which never happened), but we did get to have lunch together after the performance. She was warm and engaging and our conversation ranged over many topics, from theater to the human condition and spirituality. I will never forget her. RIP, dear soul.
3
Her passing reminds me of the unabashed joy of the golden age of musical theater... as compared to the heavy-handed angst of today's theater. Sic transit gloria comedia musica... or something like that.
3
I traveled to NYC to work at the World's Fair in 1965. During that summer I saw Carol Channing in Hello Dolly and Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl. What a treat !
3
The don't make them like that anymore. RIP, babe
According to Enid Nemy, Channing "met with Gower Champion, who had been enlisted as [Hello, Dollys!] director and choreographer...and the role was hers."
But that was after David Merrick's first choice (Ethel Merman) had turned the role down and Nanette Fabray had proved unsuitable. (The Abominable Showman pg.289 - Kissel)
I saw Carol Channing in the 1977 revival of Hello Dolly. She was in a cab accident that day andbroke her arm. She was on stage that night with her arm in a cast and was fantastic. A true professional RiP.
2
I don't know when Ms. Channing made that remark about potato puffs, or when potato puffs first appeared in the production, but when I saw Ms. Channing in "Hello Dolly" at the Stardust hotel-casino in Reno many, many years ago, it was roast turkey that Dolly shoveled into her mouth while dining with Mr. Vandergelder. At the time I was a kid employed as a cook at the hotel, and the afternoon kitchen staff was tasked with putting a whole turkey into the rotisserie oven each night for the evening shift to hand off to the always harried stage hands at the appointed hour. I did the hand-off one night, but unbeknownst to me, the earlier shift had apparently forgotten to put the bird in the oven at the appointed time. I saw the carcass later on in the evening. Let's just say the bird's insides were a solid medium rare. I'm glad to read that Ms. Channing didn't really eat the potato puffs. I hope she was able to avoid eating the turkey that night. Just seeing the thing must have been bad enough. I don't know if this incident had anything to do with it, but the executive chef was gone a few days later. Anyway, that's my Carol Channing story.
5
I never understood all the hoopla, nor did I ever see the show. But I do know it's been part of a backdrop of something familiar in my life, over many years. I can hear her voice and see her face.
And I'm sorry it took me so long to do my research and at least see the filming of a production with her in it.
I get that I've missed something. In reading the reactions and how much Carol Channing was loved, I get it. And yay for her politics as well!
1
A few years ago, my wife and I were living in San Francisco, adjacent to the mansion owned by Robert Pritikin (a former ad man). Every year Mr. Pritikin hosted a lavish party on Labor Day, and he often managed to get a celebrity guest/performer, including Liberace, Tammy Faye Bakker, and, in one of the years we lived next door, Ms. Channing. I didn't know in advance she would be there, but I heard music coming from the house, and it sounded live. After a few minutes I thought, "That sure sounds like Carol Channing." I found out later that she had indeed been there. Now I wish I would have hopped the fence and said hello!
1
One of the great regrets of my life is that I never saw her in revival. I was a child during the original run of Dolly, but passed by the opportunities to see her later. There was no one else like her. I appreciate the depth of this article and the juicy little details. And can that be Ernest T. Bass as her co-star in the original Gentlemen Prefer Blondes?
1
Back in 1978 I was out on my first date with a young lady. After a near disaster at the restaurant where I mistook the waitress' raincoat for my own, we took a cab to the theater to see Hello Dolly. When we got to the theater we saw Carol Channing step out of a taxi with her arm in a sling. It turns out she had broken her arm earlier in the day. Like a trooper, she performed and was brilliant!
P.S. The young lady and I have been married for 39 years.
9
I was lucky enough to see Carol Channing perform four times: Lorelei at the Palace, Hello, Dolly! at the Lunt-Fontanne and years later in Orlando, and at Disney World the year they offered a series of Broadway themed summer concerts. Each was an amazing experience I will never forget. The lyric I will always hear her singing..."Before the parade passes by..."
2
One late night/early morning in the mid 90s a friend and I were dancing in the Pavilion, a disco in Fire Island Pines. "Look at that drag queen over there wearing harlequin slippers," I said. "She looks just like Carol Channing."
We danced a little bit closer. When she smiled, my friend said, "No, silly, that IS Carol Channing!"
Over the years the delightful Ms. Channing visited our magical island a couple of more times. The boys knew it was she as soon as she got off the ferry because multiple trunks--more than carried by any drag queen--preceded her.
Definitely a legend!
5
One of the first plays I bought tickets for were Carol Channing in one of her many revivals of LORELI LEE – this one was called GENTLEMEN STILL PREFER BLONDES.
She “owned” the role.
But it was when she peered out at the audience that the first, velvet shock wave, hit you: she was looking directly at you; she was singing only for you.
Maybe but I know a certain very young man who went home that night thinking only one thought: Carol Channing saw me!
Years later, at TOWN HALL, in the audience sat Carol Channing – complete in a barker red and white striped jacket, stood up, waved at Lily and blew kisses.
During intermission I did the impossible and probably what one should not do – I walked over to Carol Channing, stood in line, and offered her my hand.
With those obelisk sized eyes and monumental red lacquered mouth, she listened as I said, “You were the first star I ever saw in a Broadway musical and I fell in love with Broadway and you!”
“Why thank you young man,” she fairly screamed in delight and, if possible, her smile and her eyes grew larger. She tilted her head and squeezed my hand. My God Catherine – she actually meant it! She was happy to meet a fan.
That is a star and wherever you are Carol, when Broadway dims its lights tonight for a full minute, wherever you are, nobody or nothing can dim your light.
9
A fan of Ms. Channing since the Sixties, this native New Yorker had a most unsuspected and wonderful surprise in the mid-Nineties, when I found myself standing next to Ms. Channing at, of all places, the deli counter at D'Agostino's on West 57th. It was one of the rare occasions I broke the unwritten rule of New Yorker's - never bother a celebrity during their private time - and half apologetically, half gushingly, act like an over-the-top fan I normally frown upon when they do what I just done. I simply could not help myself. There she was, Dolly herself, standing right next to me.
Of course, Ms. Channing, responded like the great lady and ultimate pro she was, greeting me with that her classic beaming smile, and thanking me for being "too kind" in my glowing admiration. That occurred almost a quarter century ago, yet remains indelibly pressed in my mind.
Well, Hello Dolly indeed. I now bid her a fond adieu. A class act. Goodbye, Dolly.
DD
Manhattan
13
Loved her as Dolly, but I was lucky enough to see her at a staged reading in Greenwich Village maybe twenty years ago. It was the script for the subsequent movie "Bewitched." I was impressed with her professionalism. She read a relatively small part. When she was not reading her part, she sat "in character" and listened to all the other actors. (Some of the other actors just kept flipping through the script when their character wasn't reading.)
3
Carol Channing was one of those constants for those of us who grew up in the 60s and 70s. Her voice was unique, she was an effervescent individual: Champagne as a person, that never loses it's sparkle. She was also a voice actor in a small animation film called Tin Pan Alley. It made a big impression on my younger self. She will be missed in this world.
4
My goodness how I have loved and admired Ms. Channing. Certainly there were better voices, better dancers, actors and comics, but no one pulled it all together and sold it like she did. No one.
My favorite live moment with her was in Palm Springs, CA where she was to attend the unveiling of Kathy Griffin's star in the city's "Walk of Stars". With a crowd overflowing and blocking traffic, Ms. Channing's signature white Rolls Royce pulled up and as Griffin (also a megafan) looked on in utter hilarity, Ms. Channing walked to the microphone and stated in that beautiful, gravelly, booming voice, "I just love being here at Gay Pride!" The crowd went crazy as our love for her washed over the moment. I will miss her terribly.
2
I count myself as lucky to have seen her In Hello Dolly on Broadway in 1964. There was an electricity surrounding her that was infectious to the dancers and supporting players in that production, something that she was able to replicate each time she was on stage.
A truly remarkable thing, and a raw definition of star power: when she was onstage, you couldn't take your eyes off of her.
Carol Channing was born to perform. Farewell and thank you.
18
@Len I echo your sentiments. I remember when she performed with George Burns after Gracie died. Totally terrific - both of them.
1
I love, love, love Carol Channing-RIP at 97 ------she did it all with style. Mehitabel the cat...for me the character that I most related to--that was first introduced to me in Minnesota by a fabulously debouched alcoholic professor-- she moved with me across countries, continents-the words and the power of picking oneself up and just keeping on.
A life well lived-- and yes.. fabulous as the original Lorelei Lee --Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend, I loved this so much as a kid I got up on a table and sang it in Sunday School-- in Mr. Greenbergs class and was promptly kicked out ..the end of Sunday School.. Carol Channing a marvel.
9
Yes she was bigger than life... Those eyes, those big beautiful eyes drew you into her world and she did not disappoint - her craft was perfection...
8
A true icon. With a classic smile, and a legendary laugh. She always captured my attention as a young girl, she was alluring, eccentric, entertaining, weirdly feminine ...and also seemed kind, yet tough, like my grand aunt. I'd imagine something a woman of her era needed to be to not only survive in a man's world, but succeed. God speed Ms. Channing, you made this world brighter.
7
Goodbye, Dolly! You were one of a kind, a star from an era when it actually meant something ... and it was well earned. Thanks for the laughs and for the songs.
9
As I an adolescent my mom took me to see Channing in the roll of Dolly when the show went on the road. It was incomparable, even though there have been other great performers in that roll since. Channing had an amazing vocal range (listen to her in the verse of "Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend" for the cast album.
For a real treat, add the YouTube segment of Channing in her stage act imitating Marlene Dietrich. It's spot on and as funny as anything I've ever seen—Channing sings a German rendition of "Falling in Love Again. She shows off her really terrific legs and also her talent for physical gags. Plaudite, amici, comoedia finita est.
4
Thank you.
What a wonderful and warm obituary.
I never saw her live anywhere - but I could be wrong - she appeared on Johnny Carson - is where I remember her from.
Mr Carson used to get a kick out of talking to her and her laughter.
6
I'll never forget when she came to California State University East Bay for a theatre benefit. She brought along a purse full of "diamond rings" for all the ladies.
6
Channing worked with George Burns after Gracie died and was quite wonderful with him. She was also beautiful to me- a great clothes horse who looked sensational in Rudi Gernreich in the Otto Preminger bomb, Skidoo. As a child, I absolutely loved the Hello Dolly original cast album. I thought “I Put My Hand In” was so funny and was bitterly disappointed when the number was replaced with Streisand’s bland “Just Leave Everything to Me.” Channing and Burns would have been classic in the film. Barbra was way too young and the film a dud.
8
1990’s, Saw Carol Channing do Dolly at Seattle theater and she was fabulous. Her hometown crowd went wild with standing ovations. What a pro!
5
I smile when I think of her. You can't fake that...Carol Channing was the real deal.
11
So "Hello Dolly" opened 55 years ago tomorrow. So I saw her at about age 28 and it remains clear to me, as only Broadway musicals do when they are that mind-blowing.
9
What I learned from Carol Channing: Housework is Just No Fun. Even if your soap or detergent or cleanser or cleaner or powder or paste or wax or bleach is the BEST soap or detergent or cleanser or cleaner or powder or paste or wax or bleach that there is in the Whole. Wide. World.
Rest in peace, Ms. Channing, being free to be you....(or me). Thank you for the sweet childhood memories.
7
RIP. My Mom loved Carol. She LOVED Hello Dolly.
2
And she was Mehitabel, the cat, to Eddie Bracken's cockroach, Archie, in "Archie and Mehitabel"..A musical
comedy based on the free verse of Don Marquis.
If you can find the old recording get it...Music by George
Kleinsinger is terrific... She and Bracken were, and are, wonderful...
4
An American original, and a good one too. Thank you Carol Channing!
5
R.I.P. to a very fine and gracious lady.
4
A genuine Broadway legend. She welcomed me to her dressing room in 1964 when I was 13. She had just finished talking to Jerry Herman & nothing could stop her from shooing the stage manager away to let me come into her dressing room. 30 years or so later, I took my aunt to see her in the Hello Dolly revival done in San Francisco. She greeted my elderly aunt as an old friend (they'd never met) and chatted away for 5 minutes. They don't make them like that anymore.....and what a mistake that she didn't get the role in the movie....it was awful.
13
As a young boy in the 70's, who frequently listened to "Free to Be You and Me" during family car trips, Carol Channing's voice rang loud and her message continues to resonate.
6
I once had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Channing for a magazine I was working for back in 2009. It was originally set to be a 30-minute telephone call with the woman herself, questions about her life, hoping that my only-mediocre interviewing abilities wouldn't bore her into hanging up early.
Instead, what I ended up with was a two-and-a-half-hour long marathon with Carol and her late husband Harry. So quickly, it felt like I was talking to that pair of grandparents we all wish to have: they threw lighthearted jokes back-and-forth at each other's expense; were welcoming and enthusiastic about any conversation that came up; I timidly threw out the fact that my local community theater had just staged a production of "Hello, Dolly!" and the roar of amused happiness that erupted from her was heavenly. At one point, she went off into an a cappella rendition of "Before the Parade Passes By." She sang the whole darned thing.
I was a goofball (nervous theater geek) journalist at a tiny little lifestyle magazine, and a woman of her value had no obligation to give me the time of day. Yet her warmth, generosity, and incomparable spirit were undeniable, and were responsible for one of the great conversations of my life.
At hearing this news, I miss her. However, I can express nothing but gratitude over the assumption that she, well, behaved this way with everybody. No reason she wouldn't have. What a wonderful, magical person; the world was a better place for her being in it.
21
@Austin This one says it all.
2
As a child, the LP soundtrack to Hello Dolly was rivaled only by the also well-worn cast album for West Side Story for records we played ad nauseum (at least until the original cast album for HAIR came at the end of the Sixties.
My parents drove my sister and I (barely more than toddlers) from the farm outside Iowa City to see Carol Channing at the KRNT Theater in Des Moines in 1965. Shortly after the Del Monaco's scene began leading to the famous potato poofs exercise (detailed in this lovely article), Ms. Channing and the actor playing Horace became still, and then calmly walked offstage. As we sat in our middle first row balcony seats (many layers of people away from any stairs or an exit), a metallic gray curtain came down to seal the proscenium and the smell of an electrical fire wafted through the sold out house. With panic growing, an archetypal Iowan behind us loudly declared "Now let's not loose our heads here-- SIT DOWN until they tell us what's happening." Even at age 8, I recall the immediate calm this clarion voice brought. An announcement came not long after that an electrical fire had been extinguished. We gave an ovation when Ms. Channing returned to the stage, and loudly asked, "Now, where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?"
At the final curtain, Ms. Channing told us we'd made history by dodging an iceberg. How I hope Robert Mueller and/or the new Congress can help us do the same for our Country today.
6
The first Broadway show I ever went to was the original Hello Dolly with Carol Channing. My parents took their three young daughters to the theater for the first time. What a treat that led to a lifetime of my love for the arts and Broadway. Although I do remember silently fighting with my sister for the armrest between us, I will never forget the thrill of seeing that show and that unforgettable performance. Thank you Carol Channing, I will never forget you.
4
Just thinking about Carol Channing opens a window in the soul through which her light pours and reemerges as a smile.
After my Fisher-Price wind-up music box, a first, favorite "big boy" record was Marlo Thomas' Free To Be You And Me (1972), with Channing performing "Housework."
I didn't know from diamonds and feathers and elbow-length gloves, nor corsets and eyelashes and bleach-blonde hair. I couldn't even imagine that voice singing! I was introduced to her as simply a speaking voice. The poem worked on several levels—consumerism, interpreting media, gender roles—but the voice worked on many more. Speeding up and slowing down to emphasize certain points, her intonation and phrasing and accent was a sonic treat even before you got to how she imbued it with personality. Her heart was open and she cared, not just about who we were then but who we would become.
One night that voice emanated from the TV and I ran to see what the "Housework" lady looked like. As fascinatingly unique as she sounded, but infinitely more chic. Whether next to Flip Wilson, or Carol Burnett, or Pearl Bailey, I never stopped gravitating to that voice.
It says something about the times in which we live that I can't remember the last news that made me smile so much for so long as reading the obituaries of Carol Channing. That nova may have exploded in 1949 but its joyful energy is still beaming toward us seventy years later.
Next time you're doing housework, prove her wrong. Think of her, and smile.
7
Good bye, Dolly. Rest In Peace. Heaven is lucky to have you.
4
RIP, Soul Sister! Good bye, Dolly!
3
My first Broadway show was Dolly, in which Carol Channing toured Oklahoma City. Naturally, I was enchanted. After the show, I waited by the stage door. No Carol. After half an hour, I stepped inside and asked a young man where she was. I was told that after each show she napped, but if I left my program and my address, she would sign it. A week later it arrived, with even the envelope addressed by her. From that moment I was her fan forever.
9
RIP. I grew up in a rural area far from Broadway. My introduction to Carol Channing came when she was a celebrity contestant on the old TV game show Password. Even on a light quiz show, she was dazzling. Absolutely, one of a kind.
5
Carol Channing had one of those rare incandescent personalities, that whenever I watched her perform, no matter my mood, she brought a smile.
39
I saw many "Dolly"s. Channing gave Dolly warmth in addition to cunning. Saying "hello" to the waiters during the "Hello Dolly" number, at one point she says "Hello Stanley" then pauses "lose some weight Stanley". When she said it, looking straight at him, you felt her concern for the guy.
What a gal!
16
The roll of Dolly should be retired. There’ll never be another Dolly. To try to be would be folly.
15
A friend who worked on the crew of her national tour of "Hello, Dolly!" said that while on tour, they would occasionally find themselves with a free night in some small city somewhere. Often times, members of the cast and crew would take in a movie at a local theater. Ms. Channing would occasionally opt to join them, choosing to go "incognito" by wearing a very wide-brimmed hat and enormous sunglasses, which, given her statuesque presence, only made her stand out all the more!
Rest in peace, Ms. Channing -- you were one of a kind!
27
I'll never forget her. On the corner of Fifth and 61 St. She zapped me with that high wattage smile. I was transfixed. The curtain may go down but her radiance lives on.
24
I’ll never forget her. We met when she agreed to perform at the annual fundraiser for an AIDS hospice where I was the president of the board. She not only agreed to do the fundraiser, she also came to the facility, and ate lunch with the residents in their dining room. More than that, she went around to the rooms of residents who could not come to the dining room, and visited them individually, even singing for them. She could not have been more gracious and generous.
142
@Boone Callaway This was so moving, thank you so much for sharing!
7
Channing was a born cut-up with a marvelous face for comedy. Had she been born of a later generation, she probably would have had a much bigger career in films and TV. My guess is she also had the chops - albeit untested - for dramatic roles as well. Alas, because she wasn't a conventional beauty, she never got the full shot she deserved. Our loss. And in fact, photos from early in her career show she had an extraordinary face - full of warmth, humor and charisma. She had beauty beyond mere beauty.
27
When I remember Carol Channing, I shall be reminded of the thoughts of Saint-Exupery: "In one of the stars, I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night...You, only you, will have stars that can laugh. And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows), you will be content that you have known me."
46
A ONE OF A KIND!! A LADY FOR THE AGES!!
13
A long and fulfilling life. I still remember her in the 1970's T.V. commercial for "Accent" meat tenderizer, singing; "Accent is a girl's best friend", instead of Diamonds are a girl's best friend". About 45 years ago. I think she also sang the "I Love N.Y." song for N.Y.C.'s PR commercial, her and Bobby Short, also during the mid 1970's. Funny why we remember certain unimportant things that happened long ago.
10
I had a Carol Channing doll.
With the body of Barbie, a beautiful red gown and a ton of hair on her head.
Unfortunately, I decided at some point she needed more lipstick.
Quite a girl she was for real.
Enjoy your nap Carol...
8
Even as a 9-year-old, I knew when I saw Carol Channing perform "Hello Dolly" in 1964 I was witnessing pure magic.
Seated in a plush seat at the St. James Theatre clutching my Playbill I was dazzled. I couldn’t keep my eyes off this larger than life, fast-talking, gravely voiced powerhouse of a woman with the big saucer eyes gleaming with an innocence that belied her savyness. Her incandescent smiled glowed all the way up to our seats in the mezzanine. I was mesmerized, forever solidifying my love of Broadway and Miss Channing.
https://wp.me/p2qifI-4s8
16
@sallyedelstein
Sally, I had the same exact reaction when I saw Miss Channing in 1964. I was 13 years old and was convinced that the entire Saturday matinee was directed to me. After I finished college, I pursued a theatrical career, all because of that April Saturday afternoon. Thanks for sharing.
3
When my mom took me to see the World's Fair, this Appalachian hillbilly kid hit the Broadway trifecta: Carol Channing in Hello Dolly!; Barbra Streisand in Funny girl; and Liza Minelli in Flora, the Red Menace. Then this by-now-long-time New Yorker was able to bring Mom (at 92!) from Florida to see Bette Midler in the role. She was superb, etherial. But Carol will always own the part.
22
With the passing of every luminary like Ms. Channing, we realize even more how we just do not have many stars in stage, screen or song who can even come close to matching the old guard for sheer talent.
30
An incandescent and remarkable human being! I second all her other well-deserved valentines,and look forward to more tributes including Carol Burnett's. Loved the story of her meeting her HS sweetheart and going on to marry; finding love again in her 80s.
10
The one, the only Carol Channing. Larger than life with a voice and presence made for the theater. Lucky to have seen her in Hello Dolly but never got tired of her singing "Diamonds..." RIP to one of the last Broadway dames.
40
If she couldn't put a smile on your face, you had to be dead.
75
While visiting my grandparents in Pittsburgh as a young child, I was taken to see Carol Channing in a one-woman show. The venue was the “Melody Tent”, which was a large circus tent with a small stage in the center. It was a rainy night, and the tent started to leak. On the tiny stage. Decades later, I still vividly remember that Ms Channing simply kept going. To the delight of the audience, she stepped around the raindrops and pressed on — even when the handheld, wet microphone gave her an electric shock! A real trooper, grandma told me.
A few years later, I saw Hello Dolly, her signature role, and was pleased that nothing awful happened to her during the wonderful performance. Grandma was right—a real trooper. God bless you Carol Channing. You were amazing.
100
@Meryl gi
Trooper = soldier
Trouper = actor, performer
Although sometimes in the profession one needs both qualities.
Flights of angels, Miss Channing. Dolly'll never go away.
43
Well done Carol!!
17
Bye, Dolly. Nice to have had u, Dolly. U blew your horn. Made ur presence known, Dolly.
23
She left us here in the desert in the midst of a rainstorm!
14
Ave, Fare Thee Well and many thanks...
10
Sad to see the old gal go
11
The best of the best!
16
Move over Ethel ... there's a new gal in heaven!
Her legacy is her originality. There never will be another Carol Channing.
Thanks for the memories.
30
I had the rare pleasure of seeing Ms. Channing in a touring company of Hello Dolly many years ago. She was a true original and her energy and enthusiasm were unrivaled.
11
She sat cross-legged on the green room floor, this gangly, kerchiefed middle-aged woman. Reaching deep into a large handbag, she retrieved a tin of Stein's, spit on it and applied. Eyelashes and a wig next. She transformed into Carol Channing right in front of us.
I will never forget it.
44
A woman who made me do nothing but smile. And still does.
20
As a young teenager, I joined the RCA record club and among the first records I received for free for joining, was the original cast recording of HELLO DOLLY! I remember thinking that Carol Channing's booming bass-baritone, and exaggerated way of speaking and singing text was strange. But Her charm, warmth, and comic timing soon had me listening and loving the show and especially her. Once with Carol Burnett, Channing and Burnett were playing two divas one-upping each other. Burnett couldn't top Channing and hilariously told her, "I've got just two words for you, lady!" Taking the bait, Channing replied, "what?" "B-A-R-B-R-A S-T-R-E-I-S-A-N-D!!!", Burnett roared in reply! The two ladies just howled with laughter as did the audience. Both ladies loved a good laugh and especially at their own expense. That's an indication of personal generosity. Channing was a generous personality and you couldn't help but love her. RIP, dear lady!
50
. . . and just how Black was Carol Channing's father? Perhaps this question will be taken up in the column of race in The NewYork Times.
5
To answer your question, his mother was a black woman from Augusta, Georgia and his father was a German. His mother was black enough that she brought him to Rhode Island and let someone raise him and his sister, so people wouldn't know that she was letting them pass for white.
This has been reported in several outlets over the years.
3
@John How do you like being the skunk at the picnic?
31
@John A great star of the Broadway community, truly one of the biggest performing personalities of the 20th century, a bona fide legend has just passed away. She was loved by millions of people, and I think I can say with no fear of contradiction that she was unique in all the world. So I'm just wondering, within that context, where your remarks fit in.
35
Good-bye Dolly :(
9
RIP Carol Channing
6
Hello Dolly. Good bye Carol. She will be an angel in heaven. May she Rest In Peace. And thanks for a remarkable career.
4
Oh, Carol! How could this obit not mention your relationship to the Gay community, which idolized you, particularly (kid you not) the leather segment.
In the 80's, living in New York, it was a particular delight for queers of a certain sensibility like me, to spot you around Manhattan where, as it was known, one saw your makeup first and then the rest of you.
In the 90's, living in San Francisco, I got to meet you in person after a performance of "Hello, Dolly!". You were gracious and divine and your performance, my first exposure to the show apart from the film, made me realize the horror of the Streisand casting. Marilyn as Lorelei I could comprehend, but Streisand as Dolly made as much sense as hiring Attenborough to direct "A Chorus Line".
Never saw you while living in Los Angeles but would always hear of your appearances at Gay benefit events, whether expected or not, to the delight and gratitude of the crowds.
And now, of all of life's many sad ironies, to know I've been living just a few miles away from you for all these years.
For as long as members of my tribe within a tribe with a memory are still around, you'll be remembered.
Love and appreciation.
Ney
190
@Brazilianheat Ms Channing introduced someone for the Stonewall celebration at Central Park in '94..."Please welcome to the stage...Laaay-deee Bunn-neee!!"
12
@Brazilianheat True story, I swear it!! Carol Channing spent an entire weekend in Fire Island Pines, and only one person acknowledged her. Everyone else thought it was a drag queen doing Carol Channing!!!
50
"Raspberries!"
21
I saw her in Hello Dolly at the Muny Theatre in St. Louis in the 1970s. Shall never forget her voice! The show was superb. RIP
1
I've noticed that vegetarians like her almost never die
12
@frankly 32 Carol Burnett has great story about when Ms. Channing had to delay a performance on the Carol Burnett Show because she had eaten a bad piece of elk. "Never eat just any old elk," she said, once she recovered.
3
My condolences.
I have seen her in the movie “Thoroughly Modern Millie” (1967) singing “Jazz Baby” and “Do It Again”.
8
Saw her in a parade in her hometown of Seattle back in the late 1960s. Also, the story of her father is intriguing. He was a newsman. When the Seattle Post-Intelligencer offered him a job, they knew he was African-American (though he obviously passed for "white.") Legend has it that Old Man Hearst said he didn't care (or maybe his editors never told him), so the paper told Mr. Channing not to disclose his true racial identity and thus, he went on to a successful stint with the paper.
21
@Garrett Leigh
What do you mean by "true" racial identity? His REAL racial identity was WHITE because that was the majority of his ancestry. The nonsense that a predominately white person can be "black" and only "passes" as white is racist and based on the assumption of both white racial purity and the extreme inferiority of "black" genes.
1
@Apowell232
Identity is two things. It's what one thinks of oneself, and it's what others think of you.
The first can be completely within your control—though all too often ceded to others. The second can be infinitely easier to ignore now than for most of Ms. Channing's life, though we have a way to go. Both can be racist. And choices we make (social media, linguistic, sartorial) can amplify their effect on us.
For the first sixteen years of Carol Channing's life her racial identity was white. Her own words attest to her embrace of this aspect of her heritage and indeed of other people's heritage. She talked about the former late in life but she conveyed the latter throughout her life.
I agree the concept of "racial purity" is racist, but then, in a way, so is the concept that the determining factor of "racial identity" is "the majority of (one's) ancestry."
That's binary and immutable. The experience of a mixed-race person is not necessarily binary—and even when it is, it can still be fluid. Not-quite white with some white family, not-quite black with some black family, white with white friends, black with racist peers…
It's society—both black and white—that tells people of mixed race they ought to be one or the other, and which identity is preferable to whom.
And that's the only reason it matters. It's like "sexual preference." If you PREFER one, you're neither straight nor gay. Let's get over ourselves already and see one another for the content of our character.
1
She did not sing "Wow, wow, wow, fellas, / Look at the old girl now, fellas" from the top of the stairs, as anyone who has seen "Hello, Dolly!" once or 50 times can tell you.
10
@EdNY
They have since corrected the article.
3
There is nothing to say, since she said it all. Wherever I go when I die, I hope she’s there.
30
My goodness! Carol Channing is no more. What to say?
It staggers me to think of the changes in American theater this remarkable woman witnessed.
You think of the 1930's--the 1940's. The heyday of whom? Edna Ferber--Moss Hart--George Kaufman--Charlie McCarthy. The "well-made play.' Scrupulously plotted--liberally laced with snappy punchlines--ripostes--one-liners.
And the musicals! Well, New York Times--I'm no expert. I don't pretend to be. But then too--and later--the "smash hit." The song that's a "show-stopper."
A song like "Hello, Dolly."
But do I remember right? The composer was taken to court for one brief measure in that wonderful song--
--that closely resembled ANOTHER measure in a much earlier song--
--by someone or other whom I don't remember. And THAT song too--I don't remember.
But everyone remembers "Hello, Dolly." Don't they.
Is it my imagination? Am I just a crank? A fossil from an earlier day and age?
Or are today's musicals just a little more fuzzy around the edges? Playing just a bit more to the emotions, the sacred cows of today? A little less crisp--well-defined--snappy. A little less. . . . .less--
--and you know, New York Times, I think I'd better just stop.
You were an incredible person, Ms. Channing. My stars, what a life you had!
Rest in peace.
20
She was from the era where you understood every word that was said and sung and she didn't need a microphone to perform. RIP Miss Channing.
53
Thank you, Ms. Channing, for all the joy and laughter you gave us for all those years. Blessings on your journey.
14
Hang the crepe, beat the drum slowly. Carol Channing has left us, and the world is darker today.
A truly luminous star. I saw her in that 1990s tour of Hello Dolly. She moved with some difficulty, her voice was not what it had been, but what a performer! The title song, at the end of the first act, was one of the great moments in the American theater.
The curtain may have come down, but her smile and her voice will be with us forever. Truly, Dolly will never go away again.
66
My idol. She is why I spent my entire adult life working in the theatre. She was a star who never disappointed me. I had the privilege of telling her that when we crossed paths on West 57th Street in Manhattan. My guiding light has gone out. Thank you, Miss Channing. I will miss you.
12
From our vantage point now, when there are so many musical and theatrical big events, it's a little hard to remember the huge popularity and general cultural impact of Carol Channing and "Hello, Dolly" in the 1960s. Louis Armstrong's version -- itself a huge hit and cultural phenomenon -- is just one piece of evidence testifying to the huge popularity.
9
Her personality truly was larger than life! I simply adored her. She made everyone feel like they were special. She was beloved in Palm Springs, California and the entire Coachella Valley where she resided for the last decade or so of her life. RIP Miss Channing! We will never forget you.
22
While I was working as a producer at Channel Thirteen here in the city about fifteen years ago, we interviewed Carol. Upon greeting her, I mentioned that we had met before. I was born in the same hospital at the same time as her son. She immediately said "I recognize you from the nursery." As she left the station, I asked her if I was the cutest baby in the maternity ward. She answered "you were the smallest." She was fast, warm and singularly fabulous.
45
My parents took me and my sister to see her on Broadway. I remember the blond hair, red velvet form fitting dress and the feathers in her hat. Good times
3
What a walk down Memory Lane. I can remember a time when Al Hirschfeld needed no introduction.
12
'You dear, dear people of Heaven and Environs.....' As someone wrote here, 'God help heaven,' those upstairs need to get ready!
Larger-than-life, there was no one like Carol Channing. She embodied show biz. If you were part of the theatre, she embraced you like no other. If you reminded her of a particular moment on stage and got something wrong, she'd perform the scene perfectly for you. Anyone who saw her eat potato puffs in 'Dolly,' will never forget seeing a comedic genius at the top of her game. She went on tour with 'Sugar Babies,' bringing comic expertise to the Burlesque musical. Following a performance of 'Legends,' she'd drag Mary Martin to the lobby to greet matinee ladies and encourage them to tell their friends about the show. She was Broadway personified.
Thank you, Carol. The world is less magical today. All who saw you, knew you, loved you... will continue to follow in your footsteps, bringing your special kind of joy to this thing we call life.
20
In our current world devoid of much humor, just the thought of Carol Channing makes me smile. Isn’t that as good an epithet as any of us can ever hope for?!
33
"Leave them laughing", Carol Channing indicated. She did and does.
7
There are a few individuals for whom the phrase 'a force of nature' is most apt. Carol Channing is one of them. RIP.
69
Ms. Channing was unique. Many fine actors and many fine performers have play Dolly. But each of them, no matter how wonderful and some certainly were!!!, each of them was either performer or actor. Miss Channing was both.
3
There will be a new star in the heavens tonight.
It will be brighter than all the rest.
14
When live musical comedy finally dies, encyclopedias will say "See under Carol Channing."
7
RIP Carol Channing; you had a great run.
2
I still laugh out loud as I remember Carol Channing appearing in a Charles Gaynor review called SHOWGIRL. She was appearing in a tryout at the New Locust Theater in Philadelphia and was magic and hysterical throughout. But when she performed a monologue about Cecelia Sisson she brought the house down and brings me to hysterics some 60 years later.
I will miss Ms. Canning very much.
14
Her face and voice make you smile and feel love. Her stage will never go dark. Her individuality is eternal.
7
I enjoyed Ms. Channing in a summer stock production of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" outside of Cleveland in 1969. It is hard to put into words, but her performances resonated at a most intrinsic level which instilled a much appreciated feeling of joy.
The mold is broken.
8
Even though I was only 13 in 1964, I can still remember listening over and over to the Hello Dolly record my older sister bought. I still own it.
She was a legend.
7
A favorite memory was from an early 1980s tour of "Sugar Babies":
At the bows for “Sugar Babies,” which was really a lavish burlesque variety show, she did a curtain call shout-out to the location on the tour the way rock stars did, and when she referred to "the Greater Boston area" she hit "greater" with a look to her co-star Robert Morse that seemed to wonder if there were a not-so-great Boston area that the tour was skipping.
It was very much in keeping with the "Sugar Babies" humor, like a deli customer telling her "I don't want tongue. I don't want to eat something that comes from a cow's mouth." And as the waitress, she said "OK, how about some hard boiled eggs?" - and gave a broad take meant to reach the last row way of the second balcony, but grew as the laugh grew, and probably could have reached the Shubert Theater and the Wilbur Theatre two blocks away.
I wonder if her persona was too big for movie stardom, but what great fortune for theatergoers that she loved working onstage so much!
7
Nothing to add, but a fond farewell
4
A stellar talent that worked in stage,TV and the big screen. She will be missed.
2
I saw Ms. Channing perform in Hello Dolly in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl years ago. So much fun.
I also had the pleasure of meeting her on another occasion, and I quickly realized that she was the personification of a walking infectious smile. Everyone in her orbit seemed to be smiling.
4
A GREAT Broadway stage star! RIP
But in my opinion, her persona blossomed on the stage, not on screen, much like Ethel Merman. I think Monroe and Streisand were far better choices for the film versions of her roles. (I’ll duck now)
6
Oh, oh, oh, a SUPER NOVA just blasted the heavens above and the skies will be sparkling tonight! Diamonds just dim in comparison to the light of Carol. Thank you for all the joy! RIP, Dolly.
5
What an American icon! Right when we need more people who can remind us of what we celebrate as a nation, Carol Channing gave it her all leaving so many shared moments worth remembering. Wherever she showed up, she stole the scene--in the best way.
So long, doll! You were a showstopper . . .
7
Great performer. Rest in heaven Carol Channing.
1
A Broadway and theater legend, albeit from a different era. Thanks for using the Hirschfeld drawing - took a while to find the hidden Ninas (probably because I'm out of practise). Broadway's lights will dim for a true original.
10
Heralded (and Hirschfeld'ed) from her first show as a chorus girl in "Lend an Ear" some seventy years ago in 1949 and she always looked the same in life and in Hirschfeld's drawings--which for Carol are as inextricably linked to her visage and image as much as playing Lorelei Lee. She will certainly be missed as will her generosity and humanity for helping those of us in the gay community in particular with her HIV fundraising and awareness work. Canonizing Carol would be a start, but her selflessness is an even better example for others to emulate. Will miss you, and so happy to have met you...
15
It was the last preview of "Hello Dolly" and I was in the audience. When she came down the stairs in the second act, the audience went wild. I had never seen her before and was totally amazed. I remember going over to the Astor Bar in the Hotel Astor with my friend and telling everyone to buy tickets to this wonderful new show. At that moment I never could have realized that within a year from then I would have the luck of working for her as her personal assistant.
Carol was a wonderful, thoughtful and generous person. The time we shared together will always remain a special highlight in my life.
177
@Helen Merber
I am sorry for your loss.
7
Loved her voice. And loved her on Broadway. Amazing woman.
1
Carol Channing lived a great life. So sad she's gone but, the memory of her will forever be in our hearts.
1
No wonder it is raining today.
My hand is on my heart with a fond farewell to her and the many years of delight she bestowed on us all.
Blessings to her friends and family.
6
I remember listening to my sister's record of the songs from "Thoroughly Modern Millie." I'd forgotten all about that until I read this tribute. It's fun to think about a little farm girl in the Midwest listening to those songs. Ms. Channing was definitely a one-of-a-kind performer.
2
I remember seeing "Dolly" with Miss Channing at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit in the 1970's revival. At curtain call, she remarked how happy she was to be back at The Fisher were "Dolly" began on November 18, 1963 before heading to Broadway in January 1964.
3
Carol and I met as she came out the stage door of Hello Dolly in NYC. Most recently, we had several chance meetings in Palm Springs starting about six years ago. It became a game of tag "hello" always followed by "Raspberries!" On one occasion she spotted my truck and had her town car pull up to me, rolled her window down and did it. Rest in Peace you beautiful, talented, wonderful soul. I will miss you so.
24
I had the opportunity to see her in Seattle in 94/95 and will never forget that performance. She was so lively and such a joy to watch. When she descended from the staircase the whole audience stood and applauded for minutes and she was grinning with her signature smile and nodded back to the audience.
Last year I saw the revival at Schubert Theater with Bernadette Peters. It was an excellent production, though I sure missed Carol Channing. May she rest in peace.
1
The first Broadway Musical I had the privilege of seeing, was Lorelei in 1974 with Carol Channing. I was 13 and hooked on Broadway after that. She personified what I still think of as the theatre. RIP Carol Channing.
2
My father took me to see "Hello Dolly" with Ms. Channing in Cincinnati, sometime around 1980. What I remember most was the thunderous, rapturous, standing ovation the audience delivered at the conclusion of the performance, and how genuinely touched she seemed to be to receive it. Unforgettable.
8
I saw her perform the role in Seattle in the early nineties. Her grace, effortless charm and pluck were boundless. The crowd gave her an enthusiastic standing ovation after the title song and stood so long at the end she gave a nice speech and told us to sit down.
2
I don't know her never met her. She was a class act, we never heard of her for any other reason that the work that legitimately made her famous.
Would that so many of the reality set had enough self respect to get this, and then go away.
8
There is only one Carol Channing.
And now the stage goes dark.
112
She was the kind of personality whom you were somehow flattered to have run into for no reason. She caught my mother staring at her in an elevator at the Pierre Hotel because, well, she was Carol Channing; Carol said, "Yaas?" rather pointedly. My mother, flustered, tried to cover by saying, "Oh, I was admiring your hair. Carol barked out a laugh and said, "It's a wig! My real hair is the color of a dead mouse!" Which, reading this, isn't too funny a line--unless you hear it as spoken by Carol Channing.
126
Ms. Channing was a brilliant entertainer!
Condolences to her loved ones.
54
Raspberry! An Original whose like Broadway never saw before and never will again. Rest In Peace.
102
"“Hello, Dolly!” ran for almost seven years on Broadway. Ginger Rogers assumed the title role when Ms. Channing left to take the show on the road in the summer of 1965, and Pearl Bailey, Ethel Merman and other marquee names later played it as well. (Bette Midler and Bernadette Peters starred in a hit Broadway revival that began in 2017.)"
Pardon me, New York Times, but Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters, AND Donna Murphy starred in a hit Broadway revival that began in 2017.
59
@Arthur Lundquist Thank you! I had little interest in this revival until I heard the amazing Donna Murphy would be appearing.
3
Yes! I saw all three and Murphy acted, sang and danced rings around the more famous leading ladies.
8
Her shinning brilliance will continue…
My sincere condolences to all near and dear.
57
The world seems a little gloomier today. Thank you Ms. Channing for those wonderful nights in the theater. It's been a privilege to share the world with you.
77
@jim I knew her, from my work as a stage hand in the 70s and 80s. It's been gloomy in San Francisco all week.She was One of a kind, truly unique.
7
God help Heaven. Here she comes.
271
Saw her in the revival of hello Dolly. She was absolutely amazing. A great entertainer. R.I.P.
49
And Mehitabel the Cat. Don't forget Mehitabel. "As long as Toms come creepin' 'round, There's a dance or two in the old girls yet. mehitabel. ... mehitabel. It's cheerio, my deario, Prance and pirouette, It's cheerio, my deario, There's life in me yet, Toujours gai, toujours gai, Toujours gai, ..."
84
@Dick Wexelblat---Archy and Mehitabel!!!! Why has this Don Marquis classic been forgotten??? One of the joys of my young life!!!!!!
7
@Dick Wexelblat
A big purr to you for remembering Mehitabel
11
@Dick Wexelblat
Thank you for referencing archy and mehitabel.
7
Some stars are legends. Carol Channing is far more.
104
A true American original who graced our city for a few years and who could be found at Costco from time to time, enjoying the samples with regular folks. She was glamorous and real and became one of our own. We will miss her. Godspeed MS Channing.
152
If only she'd been able to get over the shyness...
19