Singer, actress, and commedian Carol Channing was born on this day in 1921. She is best remembered for creating the Broadway role of Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! as well as Lorelei Lee in Gentlement Prefer Blondes. She is the recipient of three Tony Awards. Her first Broadway role was as an understudy for Eve Arden in Let’s Face It! She was 19.
Channing won the Tony Award for Hello, Dolly! competing with Bea Lillie for High Spirits and Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl. Streisand would go on to play the role in the film version.
Channing was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981 and received a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 1995.