On the Rialto

Carol Channing Collection Acquired by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

The late actor’s estate has given nearly 200 boxes of archival materials to the Billy Rose Theatre Division.

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts has acquired the archive of Carol Channing for the Billy Rose Theatre Division.

The collection includes nearly 200 boxes containing working scripts, photographs, scrapbooks, correspondence, and video and audio recordings from the Hello, Dolly! star’s records. In total, the collection contains 191 boxes, 9 oversize folders, and two tubes.

Ms. Channing was one of the most distinctly recognizable Broadway stars of the 20th century. Winning the Tony for her performance as Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!, a role with which she would be forever associated through countless return productions, she also introduced the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” in the original cast of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and portrayed Muzzy Van Hossmere in the film Thoroughly Modern Millie. Ms. Channing was the first celebrity to perform during the Super Bowl Half Time show, taking the stage in 1970.

Ms. Channing’s collection joins that of numerous other theatrical titans, including Elaine Stirtch and Dorothy Loudon, as we as the antemortem archive donations of Joel Grey, George C. Wolfe, and more. 

Ms. Channing died in 2019 at the age of 97. Researchers will be able to access her collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, housed at Lincoln Center.