In memoriam: Carol Channing

Broadway and screen legend Carol Channing died on Tuesday morning at the age of 97. The daughter of devout Christian Scientists, she got her first exposure to the theatre delivering copies of the Christian Science Monitor to San Francisco playhouses and she described her first taste of the craft as a religious experience. Her first lead role was in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes but she came to be identified most closely with the title role she originated in Hello, Dolly! In the ’50s, she produced The Burns and Allen Show. Other work ranged from the 1967 musical film Thoroughly Modern Millie, alongside Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore, to a 2006 Family Guy cameo. In 1995, she was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Tony. A teetotaller and ovarian cancer survivor, Channing passionately championed arts education and gay rights.