Carol Channing’s Unsual Burial Wish Revealed
Carol Channing had an unusual request a few years ahead of her death. The legendary Broadway star, best known for her iconic performance in the long-running hit show Hello, Dolly!, wanted to be buried in the alleyway between San Francisco’s Curran and Geary Theatres, two of the greatest stage in the world, Page Six reports.
While city ordinances will make Channing’s burial dream impossible, Curran theater owner Carole Shorenstein Hays is reportedly “exploring options” for her lifelong friend Carol Channing’s memorial. The Page Six insider revealed that the Curran owner wants to give Carol Channing “the greatest send-off in San Francisco history,” adding, “Don’t be shocked to see a full-scale parade down Geary Street.”
On the 50th anniversary of the Hello, Dolly! premiere, Carol Channing herself dished that she wanted her final resting place to be between San Francisco’s most famous theaters.
“I want to be being buried between the Curran Theater and the Geary Theater,” Channing told interviewer Ken Kleiber of the YouTube channel That’s Kenertainment in 2014, per KQED News.
Of the Geary and the Curran, Channing said, “There’s a fire escape there, but they’ll have to take that out.”
At the time, a spokesperson for the Curran Theater said it’s was unclear whether Channing’s wish would be able to be fulfilled.
Hollywood stars remember Carol Channing https://t.co/CLaWih8n61 pic.twitter.com/3FDGldgT13
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 15, 2019
Carol Channing’s affinity for the San Francisco stage, most notably the Curran, was well documented. While Channing went on to become of the biggest stars in musical theater of the 20th century, the dancer and actress never forgot her childhood hometown of San Francisco. Channing was born in Seattle but her family moved to San Francisco when she was just two weeks old.
“Do you know the Curran was the first theater I ever saw a show in?” Channing told The San Francisco Chronicle in 1978. “I was a very little girl. So little that a lady sitting next to me took pity and put me up on her lap. The show was Ethel Waters in As Thousands Cheer. I was so thrilled, I was gone from then on.”
Carol Channing passed away last week at her home in Rancho Mirage, California, of natural causes at age 97, as previously shared by the Inquisitr.
Theaters from the Bay Area to Broadway dimmed the lights in memory of the legendary star, while fans posted tributes to the stage legend and recalled her famous songs, such as “Before the Parade Passes By.” In addition, Entertainment Weekly reported that the current touring company of Hello, Dolly! also dedicated a performance to the late star.
