CAROL CHANNING - TYPED LETTER SIGNED CIRCA 1973 - HFSID 300553

CAROL CHANNING
Invitation to Theatre World editor John Willis to attend a "sociable" honoring George Burns and Jack Benny
Typed Letter signed: "xxx's Carol", 4½x8½. No place, no date, circa 1973. Accompanied by transmittal envelope. On personal letterhead to "Dear John [Ellis]", in full: "On February 17th, that's Saturday .,.. [Ellipses in original.] after the theatre, that's ten o'clock ... at Sardi's, that's the Belasco Room, we are honoring George Burns and his date (Jack Benny) with a 'sociable'! [signature] P.S.: Oh, yes, and I must say 'good bye' to each of you ... because the next day we leave on our pre-Broadway 'Lorelie' tour. ... And we won't see each other until next season here in New York." Stage and screen actress CAROL CHANNING (b. 1921) debuted on the Broadway stage 20 years later. She will always be linked to two spectacular Broadway roles, Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1951) and the title role in Hello, Dolly (1963), winning a Tony Award for her title role as Dolly. She also won a Special Tony in 1968 and a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tony Awards in 1995. Channing, who was also nominated for Tony Awards for The Vamp (1956), Show Girl (1961) and Lorelei (1974), won an Emmy Award (1966) for a TV special, An Evening With Carol Channing, and was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). She is the mother of Pulitzer Prize-nominated cartoonist Chan Lowe. Lorelei, in which she reprised the role she created with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, ran for 320 New York performances, beginning in January 1974, so this letter - referencing the pre-Broadway tour - must have been written in 1973. Theatre World, founded in 1945 by Daniel Blum, is America's oldest annual record of Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theatre, referenced by industry professionals, historians, students and theatre fans worldwide. Until 1998, when a separate nonprofit corporation was established, Theatre World's editorial staff bestowed the prestigious Theatre World Awards for outstanding Broadway and Off-Broadway debuts. Screen World (from 1950) and Dance World (from 1966), administered from the same office, furnished comprehensive information on those entertainment genres. John A. Willis (1916-2010), active in Theatre World from the beginning, became its chief editor in 1965, holding that position until 2008. Willis is regarded as one of the foremost theatre and film historians of the 20th century. While producing (and presenting) the annual Theatre World Awards, Willis also served on the nominating committee for the Tony Awards. Theatre World, which received its own Tony for Excellence in Theatre in 2001, continues under chief editor Ben Hodges. Normal mailing folds. Otherwise, fine condition.