Channing’s star shined brightly in Modesto
Whenever Carol Channing walked onto a stage the lights seemed to get brighter or the stars stood out a little clearer in the night sky. Carol Channing was a bona fide star. One of a kind; as unique as she was genuine.
Carol Channing, who died Monday in Rancho Mirage, was not a Modesto native. She lived in Modesto only eight years, starting in 2003. But the city loved her, celebrated her and embraced her as one of our own. And she returned the favor, which is why many here mourn her passing.
What brought Channing to Modesto was a storybook romance. She wrote her memoir – “Just Lucky, I Guess” – in 2002, recalling her middle school crush in Aptos. That was Harry Kullijian, by then a prominent Modestan and recently widowed. He read the book, recognized himself and the rest could be from a movie. She moved to Modesto with her new husband in 2003.
Modesto is a long way from Broadway, where she become synonymous with the lead role in “Hello Dolly” – winning three Tonys and doing some 5,000 performances. And when she opened “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” on Broadway, every performance sold out in 24 hours. “Hamilton” playwright Lin Manuel tweeted out an original verse in respect.
Despite the applause and awards, Channing told a Modesto audience that New York never felt like home. Modesto did.
She was a celebrity here, too, not because of her previous success but for what she brought to the city.
When the movie of her life, “Carol Channing: Larger Than Life,” previewed at the State Theatre, all the proceeds went to fund the Carol Channing and Harry Kullijian Foundation for the Arts.
She performed with MoBand – a century-old tradition of Modesto amateur musicians – at Graceada Park. She appeared at the Gallo Center and she and Harry helped fund Modesto’s Youth Entertainment Stage – or YES Company. Their foundation also spent $18,000 to provide instruments for students in Newman-Crows Landing. When she was honored by the Great Valley Center in 2010, she got three standing ovations.
But when Channing went to Downey High to see a production of “Hello Dolly,” she gave young Kodi Mattox a standing ovation of his own – which became the future Teen Hall of Famer’s favorite childhood memory. When Big Valley High put on the show in 2010, Channing went backstage before the first curtain rose to give a pep talk. She came back after the show to celebrate.
Kullijian was quite a piano player, accompanying Channing as they sang at many Modesto senior centers.
When Cloris Leachman brought her one-woman show to the Gallo Center, she insisted her old friend come to the show.
No one could miss Channing’s 1,000-watt star power, but she was entirely approachable.
She and Harry once walked into a local bank. In moments, virtually everyone there was surrounding Channing. Kullijian, meanwhile, quietly stepped to the front of the then-empty line and waited for the first teller to return.
Our favorite photo of Channing was taken at a MoBand concert. Frail but every bit the star, Channing wrapped an arm around a heavily tattooed young man, his hair in corn rows, then flashed that famous smile. He smiled, too. She was a star for everyone.
The Kullijians lived in Modesto, and had a home in Rancho Mirage. That’s where Harry died in 2011. That’s where Channing was when she died Monday.
Carol Channing lived in Modesto only a few years, but she made the most of them. Modesto will remember her.
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This story was originally published January 15, 2019 at 3:56 PM.