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Carol Elaine Channing was born in Seattle, Washington on January 21st, 1921. -
During high school Carol Channing moved to San Francisco, California. There she taught dance classes as well as began her own part time career as a model. ( 1934-1938 ) -
Shortly after high school Carol began enrolling at Bennington College in Vermont. During this time she intended on majoring in drama and dance for a year before dropping out to attempt to make it big in New York. -
At 19, Carol Channing preformed in her first ever show in New York, "No For An Answer" by Mark Blitzstein. -
Upon finally moving to Broadway, Carol Channing found her first on-Broadway job as the understudy for Eve Arden in the show "Let's Face It!" by Cole Porter. -
In 1941 Carol Channing Married her first husband, Theodore Naidish. However due to poor income and inability to truly support themselves this relationship did not last long. They divorced in 1944. -
In 1948 Carol Channing received a starring role in the show "Lend An Ear". Because of her role and performance, she received the "Theatre World Award" which truly launched her acting career. -
Due to her winning role, Carol Channing had made a huge name for herself within the world of Theater. Because of this, when Jule Styne and Anita Loos were looking for their next star for their musical adaptation of the book "Gentlemen prefer blondes" they knew exactly who to turn towards. During this show, Carol Channing starred as the main role of Lorelei Lee where she preformed her forever iconic musical number "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best friend!" -
In 1953 Carol Channing married her second husband, Alexander Carson, who was a Canadian football player. Within their marriage they gave birth to their only child, Channing Carson. However, they got divorced in 1956. (Unfortunately I was unable to find a photo or anything similar)
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In 1953 Carol Channing would give birth to her first and only child, Channing Carson. Channing Carson would go on to become a cartoonist. -
Carol Channing married her manager, publicist and soon to be husband in 1956. They would remain together until 41 years later, where Carol Channing divorced him for being, in her own words, "A control freak who bruised her regularly, squandered her considerable earnings and only had sex with her twice in more than 4 decades." -
In 1964, Carol Channing starred as the delightfully charismatic role of Dolly Levi in the show "Hello, Dolly!" by Jerry Herman. Because of her performance, Carol Channing received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. -
Due to her bursting popularity, Carol Channing was beginning to be invited to more events outside of just theater. One of the first being her performance of "Hello, Lyndon" at the 1964 democratic convention. -
In the 1967 movie, Carol Channing played the supporting role of Muzzy Van Hossmere where she delivered the line "Raspberries!" Because of her performance she won a Golden Globe award, as well as an nomination for an Oscar. -
In 1970 Carol Channing became the first ever performer to preform at the Super Bowl Halftime show. -
With the help of director Robert Moore and Choreographer Ernest O. Flatt, Carol Channing revived her role as Lorelei in the show "Lorelei" at the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall where she broke a box office all time high due to her performance raking in 6 days worth of profit within only 6 performances. Because of this momentous occasion the street outside the the Oklahoma City Civic Center was named Channing Square Drive in her honor. -
In 1981 Carol Channing was diagnosed with ovarian cancer while touring with a production of "Hello, Dolly!" and after the show closed she was treated at Manhattan's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. -
In 2002 Carol Channing released her autobiography "Just Lucky I Guess" -
In 2002 Carol Channing announces how she comes from African American decent, with her grandmother on her father's side being African American. She discusses how her mother told her right before college so that, just in case, she wouldn't be surprised if she "Had a black baby". In response, Carol replied with " Gee, I got the greatest genes in show business. … I’m proud as can be. …I’m so grateful.” -
In 2003, Carol Channing married her fourth and final husband Harry Kullijian. They stayed together until 2011, when Harry unfortunately passed away -
In 2009 Carol Channing wrote and starred in her own one woman show, "The First Eighty Years Are The Hardest", where she retells the story of her life up until that point -
Sadly, on January 15th 2019 Carol Channing passed away at the age of 97 in Rancho Mirage, California where she passed away of natural causes.