Legendary Broadway star Carol Channing has died, her publicist, Harlan Boll, told CNN on Tuesday. She was 97.
Boll released the following statement to Broadway World:
“It is with extreme heartache, that I have to announce the passing of an original Industry Pioneer, Legend and Icon – Miss Carol Channing. I admired her before I met her, and have loved her since the day she stepped … or fell rather … into my life. It is so very hard to see the final curtain lower on a woman who has been a daily part of my life for more than a third of it. We supported each other, cried with each other, argued with each other, but always ended up laughing with each other. Saying good-bye is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but I know that when I feel those uncontrollable urges to laugh at everything and/or nothing at all, it will be because she is with me, tickling my funny bone.”
Carol Channing began as a Broadway musical actress, starring in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1949 and Hello, Dolly! in 1964, when she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She revived both roles several times throughout her career, most recently playing Dolly in 1995. Channing 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, from The Ed Sullivan Show in the 1950s to Hollywood Squares. She had a standout performance as The White Queen in the TV production of Alice in Wonderland (1985), and had the first of many TV specials in 1966, An Evening with Carol Channing.
Channing was inducted into the American Theatre 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 released an autobiography, Just Lucky I Guess, in 2002, and Larger Than Life, a documentary film about her career, was released in 2012.
Here, below is a gallery of 18 amazing vintage photos of Carol Channing from between the 1950s and 1980s:
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| Carol Channing is shown in the role of Lorelei Lee in the original Broadway production of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City in 1950. The musical comedy opened on Dec. 8, 1949. (AP Photo) |
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| American singing star Carol Channing wears red and white striped gloves with her navy blue coat on arrival at London Airport, May 16, 1955. She will be on holiday here for two weeks, and then goes on to Paris and Istanbul. (AP Photo) |
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| Actress and comedienne Carol Channing performs in her first nightclub opening appearance in Las Vegas, Nev., on July 9, 1957. Channing wears an $11.85 costume as she impersonates Marlene Dietrich, who recently appeared on a neighboring stage in a $20,000 gown. (AP Photo) |
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| Carol Channing and Jules Munshin team up for photographer in dressing room pose backstage at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre after Broadway opening of “Show Girl” in New York, Jan. 12, 1961. Miss Channing stars in the musical revue. Munshin plays opposite her. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler) |
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| Fulfilling a longtime ambition, musical and nightclub star Carol Channing is about to appear in a big time production of a Bernard Shaw play. She’s rehearsing for “The Millionaires” June 26, 1963, which opens a seven-month tour on July 8 in Louisville, Kentucky. The title role will be Carol’s first dramatic stage part on Broadway when the play opens there after the tour. Carol is passing up profitable nightclub offers to carry out the dream she’s had since college days. (AP Photo) |
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