Carol Channing was born January 31, 1921 at Seattle, Washington, the daughter of a prominent newspaper editor, who was very active in the Christian Science movement. She attended high school in San Francisco and later worked as a model in Los Angeles. She attended prestigious Bennington College in Vermont and majored in drama and dance and supplemented her work by taking parts in nearby Pocono Resort area. She initially made her mark on Broadway in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" playing Lorelei Lee. In "Hello Dolly" she played Dolly Gallagher Levi, the witty, manipulative widow intent upon finding a wealthy husband. The musical won ten Tony awards in 1964, including Channing's for best actress in a comedy. Jacqueline Kennedy and her two children made their first public appearance after John F. Kennedy's death by seeing her perform in Hello Dolly and later visited her backstage. She appeared in the film Thoroughly Modern Millie. Her son is a Pulitizer Prize-nominated finalist cartoonist and she continues to practice her Christian Science religion.



Revealed in her autobiography "Just Lucky, I Guess" that her father was a light skinned African American who used one accent to help "pass" in the white world and another around the house, where he sang gospel music to entertain his daughter. Son Chan Lowe is the editorial cartoonist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper in Fort Lauderdale. Graduated from the prestigious Lowell High School in San Francisco, California in 1938. Her high school's theater is now named after her. In 1986-87, toured in the play "Legends" with Mary Martin, the subject of an excellent, highly amusing book by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright James Kirkwood Jr., "Diary of a Mad Playwright: Perilous Adventures on the Road with Mary Martin and Carol Channing". Despite the pressures, Kirkwood describes Channing as a true professional and a joy to work with. She donated a dress she wore in the stage production of "Hello, Dolly!" to the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute.