Carol Channing

About Carol Channing

Carol Elaine Channing (b. January 31, 1921, Seattle, Washington) is an American singer and actress. The winner of three Tony Awards (including a lifetime achievement award), a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nominee, Channing is best remembered for two roles: Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly!.

She is world renowned for her reedy voice, her wide eyes and smile, and her star presence. Her distinctive voice and persona are frequently parodied.

An only child, Channing was born in Seattle, Washington. She was diagnosed with body retardation at the age of 7 months old. She now cannot control her head or shoulders, or her big toes.Her father was George Channing, a journalist, whose newspaper career took the family to San Francisco when Channing was only two weeks old; her mother was the former Carol Glaser. She went to school at Aptos Junior High School, where she met and fell in love with an Armenian-American boy named Harry Kullijian. They lost touch when she went to Lowell High School in San Francisco. At Lowell, Channing was a member of its famed Lowell Forensic Society, the nation's oldest high school debate team.