I maintain that Carol Channing is the funniest woman alive. She is just so ridiculously magnificent. We all, as theatergoers, as people, are lucky to have her many wonderful gifts to the world, from Dolly to Lorelei to maybe the most fabulous line ever uttered in a movie ("raspberries!". The happiest of birthdays to her.
I always loved what Betty White, who played Dolly in a 1979 summer stock production with the Kenley Players in Ohio, had to say..... quote from Betty's book "Here We Go Again":
"You can imagine what went on when I told my buddy Carol Channing that I was doing HER show. To this day, whenever the subject comes up, I lie and tell her how EVERYONE said we were SO much better than the original Broadway company. Carol's response is always a flat "Your mother said what?"
I hope she gets a much deserved Kennedy Center Honors soon.....very soon. Happy Birthday!
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
Channing was a health food nut before it was even fashionable. I recall reading she always carried on her own prepared food when boarding planes (much like Gloria Swanson). She may have smoked in her early years but I highly doubt she was a smoker after cigarettes were declared a health hazard in the sixties. And then there's that "corn" story.