I did an ad for American Express that starred Carol Channing
in the 1980's. She arrived at the photographer's studio in a floor-length fire-engine red vinyl "maxi-coat." She wasn't just Carol Channing, she was CAROL CHANNING. She carried a giant purse
and gave each person an imitation diamond ring as a souvenir. But she was no imitation; she was 100% larger than life. A lovely lady and a unique presence.
"That was my idea of what heaven would be, a land of outsize gestures, bright colors and mind-candy melody, all presided over by a figure of titanic self-assurance who was too grotesque to be beautiful and yet too beautiful to be grotesque."
Perhaps the sweetest line I've ever read in a tribute. It sums up everything about why we love Broadway and Ms. Channing, one and the same. Long live the theater and long live the NY Times!
8
We're all saying things like, they don't make 'em like that anymore, and it's true! With Merman and Martin and Gwen Verdon and Stritch, and now Ms. Channing all gone, who of the great musical performers truly born and made for the stage are left? There's Chita Rivera, of course, and of a later generation, the indomitable LuPone, and the brilliant and versatile Christine Ebersole, but I fear a sort of performing will be lost, or at least, ignored if people aren't to take what may seem like vaudeville schitck seriously.
It's far more than "schitck." It's deeper. Carol Channing was proof. What a lovely and affectionate tribute.
6
Angela Lansbury remains.
7
Yes! Don’t forget Angela Lansbury, for me, the other truly grande dame of the stage. I did see her come down her staircase in Mame in both the original production and on opening night if the revival. There’s nobody like her either. When she stepped out at the top of the staircase to begin her descent on that opening night the entire theater went nuts with the entire audience on their feet cheering. Angela and Carol! Two of our greatest.
7
Fair point, both. But Lansbury did have a very interesting film career before musical theatre stardom, and a very popular television success for a decade. Can we say the same for Merman, Verdon, Channing, et al? Mary Martin, of course, WAS Peter Pan onstage and on TV and continued to make wonderful specials for TV in the 1950s.
I guess it's a silly debate. Lansbury, too, is fabulous and eternal and theatre royalty.
2
I was lucky enough to dance at her side throughout the Dolly number in the original Broadway production. I was the original "Harry", as in Hello, Harry! She was a terrific gal and a friend, kind enough to include a passage about me in her book. We stayed in touch and as I got more and better work she often came to my performances in support. Even out of town. We had a great friendship and I will miss her tremendously. Let me tell you something - it was really an experience being about 12 inches away from those 'tarantula eyelashes'! And I loved every minute of it. As I loved her.
25
"WONDERFUL WOMAN! I always carry the memory of seeing her on tour in "Hello Dolly!" while in college. A great stage actress and woman. Broadway has lost a legend. Thanks for the memories Ms. Channing!
6
How sad that virtually none of the many well-deserved and touching tributes to Carol Channing mention the exceptionally talented Jerry Herman who composed all those memorable songs that helped to make her famous.
Sheldon Roskin
Scotch Plains,NJ
13
Dear Mr. Roskin: I share your admiration for the incomparable Mr. Herman, but please take heart! I just read Ms. Channing's Jan. 15 New York Times obituary by Enid Nemy, and I found the following two paragraphs (which I put in quotes to set them off from my comment). I hope reading them helps put your mind at ease!
" 'Hello, Dolly!,' with a score by Jerry Herman, opened at the St. James Theater on Jan. 16, 1964, and received ecstatic reviews. It went on to win 10 Tony Awards, including one for Ms. Channing as best actress in a musical.
"That same year she sang a rewritten, politically partisan version of the title song, called 'Hello, Lyndon!,' which President Lyndon B. Johnson, running for a full four-year term, played at campaign stops. She went on to perform the song, accompanied by Mr. Herman on the piano, in a show staged during the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City. Ms. Channing and the Johnson family became close friends, and there was some speculation years later that that relationship had landed her on President Richard M. Nixon’s infamous enemies list, a source of pride for her."
3
@SR He didn't pass away today, nor did he ever descend that grand staircase in that red gown.
4
This is so beautifully written, and so touching. My first point of contact was "Thoroughly Modern Milllie" and have been bewitched ever since.
10
I share the exact same relationship with Broadway and musical theater as Ben Brantley . . . watching it close-up from afar, absorbing every tidbit from the record jackets of original cast albums of shows I would never see but whose lyrics are indelibly emblazoned in my mind. I never saw Carol Channing in Dolly, but I saw Betty Grable, Pearl Baily several times, Martha Raye and Bette Midler, and I knew each time that my mind's eye was actually seeing Carol Channing. Yes, even from afar, Carol Channing was Broadway for me and it's her Broadway that has been a part of my blood stream and kept me going there ever since.
18