Tony award-winning Broadway star Carol Channing, best known for playing Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!, has died at the age of 97, with fans and industry greats mourning the loss of the trailblazing entertainer and gay icon.
Channing, who was Oscar nominated in 1967 for the film Thoroughly Modern Millie, was a longtime advocate for the LGBTIQ+ community, reportedly traveling to Fire Island on one occasion to perform for 500 gay fans.
"Channing was one of the few who paved the path for so many women in theatre and beyond," actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth tweeted in response to the news.
Bette Midler wrote: "She was a complete original, and there will never be another. Blonde, 6 ft tall and utterly hilarious, she was a legend. My condolences to the world; to those who knew her or saw her and those who never got the chance."
Channing's publicist B. Harlon Boll confirmed her passing in a statement to USA Today, writing: “It is with extreme heartache, that I have to announce the passing of an original industry pioneer, legend and icon: Miss Carol Channing."
He continued: “I admired her before I met her, and have loved her since the day she stepped … or fell rather … into my life. 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.
"We supported each other, cried with each other, argued with each other, but always ended up laughing with each other.”
Channing was awarded a special Tony for Lifetime Achievement in 1995 and will be remembered for the "unquenchable thirst for life" she shared with character Dolly Levi.
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