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Carol Channing
 Carol
was born Jan 31, 1921 in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of a prominent
newspaper editor, who was very active in the Christian Science movement.
At just two weeks of age, her father’s work took the family to San
Francisco, where Carol was raised, schooled and eventually found work as a
model. She majored in drama and dance and was able to supplement her
income by taking parts in the nearby Pocono Resort area.
A recipient of the 1995 Lifetime Achievement Tony Award, Ms. Channing has
been a star of international acclaim since a Time magazine cover story
hailed her performance as Lorelei Lee in Gentleman Prefer Blondes writing;
"Perhaps once in a decade a nova explodes above the Great White Way with
enough brilliance to re-illumine the whole gaudy legend of show business."
Since her 1948 Broadway debut in Blitzstein's No For An Answer, her
Broadway appearances include So Proudly We Hail, Let’s Face It , Lend An
Ear (Theatre World Award), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Show Girl, Pygmalion,
The Millionairess, The Vamp, Four On A Garden, and Wonderful Town. Making
theatrical history, she won the Tony Award in 1964 for her legendary
portrayal of Dolly Levi in Jerry Herman’s Hello, Dolly!
Jacqueline Kennedy and her two children made their first public appearance
after JFK's death by seeing her perform in Hello, Dolly! and later visited
her backstage. She has since played the role in over 5000 performances,
including a smash London engagement at the great Drury Lane Theatre
without missing a single performance. She then toured with her own revue,
Carol Channing and Her Ten Stout Hearted Men and critically acclaimed
tours of Jerry's Girls and Legends, in which she co-starred with Mary
Martin.
Ms. Channing's happiest film project was in the role of Muzzy in
Thoroughly Modern Millie, which set box office records and earned her an
Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award. Other films include Paid In
Full, The First Traveling Saleslady starring opposite Ginger Rogers and
giving new comer Clint Eastwood his first on screen kiss, Otto Preminger's
Skidoo (which she refuses to see), Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,
Archie and Mehitabel and Thumbelina.
Ms. Channing has starred in six TV specials, including Broadway at the
Hollywood Bowl, Carol Channing’s Los Angeles, Carol Channing and Pearl
Bailey on Broadway, George Burns – His Wit and Wisdom and to millions of
children worldwide is best known as the White Queen in Alice Through the
Looking Glass. Other television credits include (* indicates numerous
appearances) popular game shows as *What’s My Line, *I’ve Got a Secret and
*Password. Carol’s variety shows encompass *The Dean Martin Show, The Red
Skelton Show, The Milton Berle Show, *Rowen & Martin’s Laugh-In, *The
Carol Burnett Show, The Muppet Show, *The Rosie O’Donnell Show, *Hollywood
Squares, as well as many *Tony and Grammy broadcasts. A partial list of
Carol’s Episodic work consist of Playhouse 90’s Three Men on a Horse, *The
Love Boat, Magnum, P.I., The Nanny, Touched by an Angel and The Drew Carey
Show.
As one of the most easily recognized and highly imitated voices in the
world, Carol’s unique sound has been established as characters and
narrative in both TV series and documentaries like JFK: The Day the Nation
Cried, The Addam’s Family (voice of Granny), Thumbelina, Free To Be You
and Me, *Space Ghost, *Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers and The Brave Little
Toaster Goes To Mars. Ms. Channing also cut twenty children's albums of
classic stories on Caedmon records, including Winnie The Pooh and
Madeline.
Ms. Channing has recorded ten gold Albums and her original cast album of
Hello, Dolly! was an all-time best seller in its field, which knocked the
Beatles off the charts when it was released in 1964. When not performing
in theatre, Ms. Channing has numerously made appearances in most every
grand ballroom and concert hall in the country. Among her other
acknowledgements is a Best Nightclub Act of the Year Award and Harvard
University's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Award
In 2003, the octogenarian released her best selling memoirs, "Just
Lucky I Guess" and received the Julie Harris Lifetime Achievement Award
from the Actors’ Fund of America. Carol has been touring the nation (from
Broadway to the Hollywood Bowl) and abroad with her new one woman show
entitled "The First Eighty Years are the Hardest," after the very
successful preview given to New York audiences in Nov 2003 that prompted
the New York Times to say "Back Where She Belongs: Carol Channing
Reminisces . . . The audience jumped to its feet more than once. "We were
watching a master performer" and Associated Press declared "The audience
clearly was there to worship, and Channing did not disappoint." In 2004,
Broadway’s "first lady of musical comedy," also received an honorary
doctoral degree becoming Doctor Carol Channing at the 44th annual
California State University, Stanislaus Commencement ceremony in May 2004.
(This is only the third Honorary Doctoral Degree given in CSU Stanislaus
45-year history). In addition, Carol was presented with the Oscar
Hammerstein Award for lifetime achievement in musical theatre from the
York Theatre Company, in New York.
Carol was recently married to her junior high school sweetheart,
businessman Harry Kullijian, after a 70 year separation. She is also a
proud mother, her son is a nationally syndicated editorial cartoonist, who
has the distinction of being a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
The career of Carol Channing is varied and continuing. She performs with
the gusto of a young aspiring actress. However, her heart will remain on
stage even though she has recently committed her life to bring a refocus
of the Arts in the public educational system of California.
Scholarships, teaching and lecturing and performing, hoping to engage the
public support for education in the Arts.
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