Remembering Carol Channing In A Different Way

Broadway Icon, Movie Actress…Carol Channing was an American household name, with an instantly recognizable wide-eyed look and brilliant smile.  Two of my three children are stage actors, and even though they’re barely out of their teens they could both sit Channing’s impact on American Musical Theater. As Hollywood and Broadway mourn the “Hello, Dolly!” star, who died this past Tuesday at age 97, Football historians are remembering a very different performance than the ones she’s so famous for…thanks to a recent article in “The Wrap” digital magazine, I became aware of something I’m sure most NFL fans are probably unaware of: that Carol Channing was the first celebrity performer for a Super Bowl halftime show in 1970, when the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 in Tulane Stadium in New Orleans! According to “The Wrap,” Channing sang “When The Saints Go Marching In” and was such a hit with the crowd that the NFL invited her back to sing again at The Big Game two years later…take THAT, Maroon Five 🙂

John Young