‘For Heaven's Sake,' Carol Channing is still singing

“You’re looking swell, Dolly, We can tell, Dolly, You’re still glowin’, you’re still crowin’, You’re still goin’ strong.”

 And goin’ strong she is!

Carol Channing, the wide-eyed blonde with one of the most recognizable voices in the world, has just released — at the age of 88 — her first gospel CD, “For Heaven’s Sake.”

The CD features songs Channing knew and loved as a child, with spirituals she learned from her father as well as hymns and classic gospel tunes.

“I remember touring in Dolly and all across the country, especially in the Bible Belt, everyone knew these songs and just loved them like we did,” Channing told The Log. “I love them all, ‘Old Time Religion,’ ‘Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho, ‘Roll Jordon Roll,’ but I suppose ‘St. James Infirmary’ is a personal favorite.”

Larry Ferguson, producer of the project and manager of the late singer/songwriter, Dottie Rambo, told The Log Channing sang Rambo’s “One More Valley” on a tribute CD he put together.

“She nailed it and her husband (Harry Kullijian) and I really talked heavily about Carol doing a full-gospel project,” he said. “We ended up with about three non-gospel songs on an 18-track CD. When you hear it, you fall in love with her.”

Channing says her husband remembered all the songs her father had taught her.

“When the idea was suggested to do an album ... or CD ... that’s right, it’s a CD now. Harry suggested gospel.”

The CD is available on carolchanning.org and ferguson-music.com and will hit nationwide in October. A portion of the sales will go to the Channing-Kullijian Foundation for the Arts.

Early life

Channing was born in Seattle, Wash., Jan. 31, 1921. Her father, George, was a prominent newspaper editor and active in the Christian Science movement. The family moved to San Francisco when she was only two-weeks old.

She began “performing” in elementary school, where it has been said that those performances often landed her in the principal’s office.

“My first experience with the theatre was as a young child,” she said. “I was helping my mother deliver copies of the paper my father worked for (the Christian Science Monitor) and one of the stops was a theater. I remember how heavy the backstage door was. Walking out on that stage, I thought I was in church. I knew I was standing on sacred ground.”

At Aptos Junior High in the 1930s, Channing performed on the stage with her first boyfriend and future husband.

“Harry and I were on the stage together,” Channing said. “He was in the band.”

Decades later they were reunited and married in 2003 after Kullijian read her autobiography, “Just Lucky I Guess.”

“God couldn’t have sent a better man for Carol than Harry,” Ferguson said. “Within minutes of meeting him, I could see how much they loved each other. They were like two giddy school kids smitten with love for the first time.”

At Lowell High School, Channing was a member of the Lowell Forensic Society, the nation’s oldest high school debate team, and won a statewide speaking contest with her presentation on “What America Means to Me.”

She then attended Bennington College, studying dance and drama, before heading to New York where she performed in clubs before making her Broadway debut in the chorus of the musical “No For An Answer” in 1941.

Career

In 1949, Channing brought Lorelei Lee to life in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” with her signature song, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” She gained national prominence in 1964 when she became Dolly Levi in “Hello, Dolly!”

Always the true professional, Channing played the role more than 5,000 times without missing a single performance.

She has toured with her own shows, made numerous guest appearances and specials on television, and appeared in several film projects, including “The First Traveling Saleslady” where she gave Clint Eastwood his first big-screen kiss in 1956.

Channing was Oscar-nominated as a screwball heiress in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” with Julie Andrews, one of her favorite co-stars.

“She just knew I was going to win the Oscar,” Channing said. “I didn’t, of course, but when I was nominated she said ‘I told you so.’ She was just wonderful to work with. On days that they did my close ups, she didn’t have to come in, but she did, just to feed me my lines. She knew how important that interaction was.”

Channing, who has recorded 10 gold albums and made appearances around the country, says her favorite role is always the one she is working on, and she can’t help but love the song she is doing at that moment.

“Actors have to be in love with the person they are playing,” she said, adding that she is always asked to impersonate silent film start Cecilia Sisson, whom she played in “Carol Channing & Pearl Bailey: On Broadway” in a one-night performance which originally aired on ABC in 1969.

“Isn’t that wonderful that people remember her?” she asked.

Channing has won numerous awards, including a Golden Globe, three Tony’s, the Oscar Hammerstein Award for lifetime achievement in musical theater, the Julie Harris Lifetime Achievement Award from the Actors’ Fund of America and a Tony for Lifetime Achievement.

“I would love to get a Grammy nomination for my new gospel album,” she said. “Oh, anyway, I can’t think about that. It was fun to do.”

A good Foundation

Channing and her husband are extremely proud of the Channing-Kullijian Foundation for the Arts to restore Arts in the public schools in California. Although her heart will always be on the stage, she has now committed her life to the mission of the Foundation.

“The arts are so important to young minds,” Channing said. “It’s got to be included in education because what it does, is it fertilizes young minds. When they are exposed to the arts, they get smarter in other areas. That’s what happened to me. Harry and I are making it our mission to bring them back to public schools. Dropout rates are increasing and I just know it’s because the arts are being removed from the curriculum.”

The couple has had help from many of their friends, including Lily Tomlin and Florence Henderson..

“We are trying to reach Michelle Obama to help us, but we haven’t heard from her,” Channing said. “Well, I guess she has been busy.”

In 2004, Channing was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from California State University.

“So, I’m a doctor now ... and I do house calls for the Arts.”

“I think Carol Channing will always be remembered for her professionalism,” Ferguson said. “Those in the business who have worked with her know that she is extremely efficient, intelligent and yet has a childlike beauty and innocence. She is exactly as she is on television. Honest, kind, warm, engaging and full of love. I know the deep faith she has in God, and her gifts He gave her and love for people are what she emotionally feeds on.”

And how would this living legend like to be remembered?

“Oh, as someone who lifted the lives of others,” Channing said. “Wouldn’t that be a great way for people to remember you?”

“Look at the old girl now, fellas! Dolly’ll never go away again.”