Actress and singer Carol Channing died early Tuesday at the age of 97 at her home in Rancho Mirage, California. Her longtime publicist B. Harlan Boll confirmed the entertainer’s death from natural causes.
Whether you knew her as Dolly, Lorelei, Muzzy or just Carol, Channing was a one-of-a-kind talent who captivated any audience. Her razor-sharp wit, gravelly voice and big, bright smile became the trademarks of a performer who originated some of Broadway’s most iconic roles throughout the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. Channing continued to share her gifts on stage into her late 90s, enshrining her in a class of Broadway luminaries all her own.
Harlan Boll said “it is with extreme heartache” that she announced “the passing of an original Industry Pioneer, Legend and Icon.”
“I admired her before I met her, and have loved her since the day she stepped… or fell rather… into my life,” the publicist said in a statement. “It is so very hard to see the final curtain lower on a woman who has been a daily part of my life for more than a third of it.”
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