CAROL
CHANNING - Biography Continued
Carol's
spectacular rise to international fame began in 1950 when she
landed the star role in "GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES".
She had retreated from New York to California to be with her
parents. As luck would have it though, Marge Champion was auditioning
hopefuls for a new revue, "LEND AN EAR".Carol auditioned
and, as she says, "I've never been out of work since."
"LEND
AN EAR" made theatrical history when the show was transplanted
from Hollywood to Broadway, and Miss Channing was well on her
way to stardom.When Anita Loos, who wrote "GENTLEMEN PREFER
BLONDES", saw Carol in the show, she said, "There
is our Lorelie Lee."Brooks Atkinson, dean of American Theatre
Critics, acclaimed the Channing characterization, "The
most fabulous comic creation of this generation."Later
Claudia Cassidy, of The Chicago Daily Tribune, was to hail Carol
in "Wonderful Town" as a genius".
Miss Channing
made her official nightclub debut July 8, 1957 at the fabulous
Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. Variety, the bible of show business,
headlined, Carol proves customers are a girl's best friend".
In 1961, this one woman entertainment billed as "SHOW GIRL"
was brought to Broadway, and again the critics tossed their
adjectives in the air.
With Gracie
Allen's blessing, Carol joined forces with George Burns, and
the Burns-Channing Show made box-office history. Carol also
starred at President Johnson's inaugural gala and has since
made many appearances at the White House.
The late
Lawrence Langner, founder and director of the Theatre Guild,
insisted that Miss Channing was an ideal Shavian heroine and
should star in "THE MILLIONAIRESS". Carol barnstormed
the circuit and made the box offices jingle with the biggest
grosses reported for a Shaw play ever.
After that,
she went to Broadway with "HELLO, DOLLY!", then toured
the country with the show, and directly into the film of Ross
Hunter's "THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE" with Julie Andrews,
in which she played the part of Mrs. Muzzy Van Hossmere. And
under Joe Layton's astute musical staging, Carol received an
Oscar nomination for her performance.
A television
special she did with Pearl Bailey, not only was the talk of
America, but was shown three times in England! In addition to
her own specials, Carol won reviewers' raves for her performance
in a Danny Thomas Special, and the nest of cuckoos on NBC-TV's
"LAUGH-IN" made her an honorary cast regular because
of the frequency of her visits.
Carol's
record albums have been enormous sellers and she is the holder
of several gold records.
Richard
Skipper recently won his second MAC award for his dead-on impression
of Carol Channing. This show has traveled to the stages of Carnegie
Hall, Atlantic City, casinos in Canada, The Signature Theatre
in Washington, DC, and the Plush Room in San Francisco to sold
out engagements.
