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Carol Channing has died.  She's known, almost exclusively, as the star of Helly, Dolly!  But she had a career before that, of course.

Tall and striking, she first appeared on Broadway in the early 1940s.  By the late 40s she was getting great notices for her work in the musical revue Lend An Ear.  In late 1949 she became a star, originating the role of Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, introducing the song "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend."



She tried her hand at movies and TV, but never really made it there--her personality seemed to need the theatre for the audience to take her all in.

She has become so associated with Hello, Dolly! that it's easy to forget she wasn't the first choice for the lead.  In the planning stages, the musical, based on Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker, hardly seemed like a blockbuster in the making.  Composer Jerry Herman was not yet a big name, and a number of top directors weren't interested in taking on the show.  The brassy lead role of Dolly was offered to Ethel Merman--it almost seemed to be written for her--but she turned it down (though she'd later play it).  Mary Martin also said no.

It'd been a long time since Channing had created a hit, but she got the role.  And it fit like a glove--when Dolly comes back to old haunts and says she won't go away again, it's a lot like what Channing was doing.

The show needed a lot of fixing out of town.  Producer David Merrick even called in other songwriters for new material.  But somehow it all came together--Herman's songs and Gower Champion's staging perfectly showed off Channing, and they had a huge, award-winning hit.  And Channing had a career.  She would go on to tour in productions of Dolly, on and off, for decades to come, performing the role almost 5000 times.  She didn't miss a performance, because there was no show without her.

She never got to recreate her Broadway roles for the movies.  Marilyn Monroe played Lorelei Lee and Barbra Streisand played Dolly.  But it didn't matter.  Channing did something you don't see much any more. She became internationally famous for starring in a Broadway show.  And her indelible Dolly will love on, no matter how many others play the role.