Carol Channing petition is now headed to Kennedy Center

Thank you! A petition on change.org that I’ve been talking about for the past week has now received more than a thousand signatures so it will be forwarded to the Kennedy Center for consideration.

The petition supports Carol Channing for a Kennedy Center honor for her lifetime achievement in the performing arts. Carol has been entertaining audiences since the 1940s. Her most iconic roles were Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! She also created a foundation with her husband Harry supporting arts education programs in public schools.

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One more push for Carol Channing

The one and only Carol Channing.

We’re so close. A petition on change.org supporting Carol Channing for a Kennedy Center honor needs only 66 more signatures as of the time of this post to reach 1,000.  When it gets 1,000 signatures it will be sent to the Kennedy Center. Won’t you please help and sign the petition today?

I am a fervent supporter of Carol Channing receiving this honor which celebrates lifetime achievements in the performing arts.

Many young people have no idea who Carol Channing is (she is 92 after all), but when I was young she was a huge influence on me. I would listen to her records, yes records, not CDs, and pretend I was her in Hello, Dolly!

Carol Channing deserves a Kennedy Center Honor

Carol Channing and Harry Kullijian at the Tribeca Film Festival. —Patricia Gay photo

It’s time for a Broadway legend to be recognized for her hard work.

Carol Channing, America’s Dolly Levi, deserves a Kennedy Center Honor.

The Kennedy Center Honors are awarded annually for exemplary lifetime achievement in the performing arts.

Last year’s Kennedy Center honorees were Buddy Guy, Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman, Natalia Makarova and the rock band Led Zeppelin.

In her introduction to the 2012 Kennedy Center award ceremony, host Caroline Kennedy said, “Tonight we salute honorees who, through their artistry and daring, have banished monotony and provided extravagant pleasure and joy to audiences the world over.”

That statement applies to the much beloved Carol Channing, who turned 92 this year. An entertainment icon, Carol first wowed audiences in 1949, as Lorelei Lee in the Broadway production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. In 1964, she became a huge sensation as Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly! which became her signature role. The show ran on Broadway for years, and in order not to disappoint fans, Carol never missed a performance.