Carol Channing - Family and Personal Life

Family and Personal Life

Channing has been married four times. Her first husband, Theodore Naidish, was a writer. Her second husband, Alexander Carson, played center for the Ottawa Rough Riders Canadian football team. They had one son, Channing Carson.

In 1956, Channing married her manager and publicist, Charles Lowe. They remained married for 42 years. During this time, Channing Carson took his stepfather's surname; he publishes his cartoons as Chan Lowe and has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his work. Channing filed for divorce from Lowe in 1998, but her estranged husband died before the divorce was finalized.

After Lowe's death and until shortly before her fourth marriage, the actress's companion was Roger Denny, an interior decorator.

On May 10, 2003, she married Harry Kullijian (December 27, 1919 – December 26, 2011), her junior high school sweetheart, who reunited with her after she mentioned him fondly in her memoir. The two performed at their old junior high school, which had become Aptos Middle School, in a benefit for the school. She and Kullijian were active in promoting arts education in California schools through their Dr. Carol Channing and Harry Kullijian Foundation. The couple resided in Modesto, California. Kullijian died on December 26, 2011, the eve of his 92nd birthday.

Channing is an ovarian cancer survivor.

Read more about this topic:  Carol Channing

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