Carol Channing died on Tuesday, January 15, and now, National Enquirer has dug up some of her biggest life secrets. The Broadway actress passed at age 97 from unknown causes, and throughout her 10-decade-long life, she experienced some surprising ups and downs. Click through the gallery above to unveil the most scandalous secrets from Channing’s life…
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She claimed her third husband, Charles Lowe, had an affair with a man
In 1998, Star published Channing's claims that her husband she was divorcing after 41 years, Charles Lowe, had been cheating on her with ... a man! "I know finally realize the truth is that Charles left me for another man. I know he's been having a homosexual relationship."
Even though Lowe denied it, Channing also made a claim that the two only had sex twice in their four-decade-long marriage. "Shortly after my marriage, my husband announced that he was impotent and we have never been intimate again to the present day," she previously said in court papers. "At that time, I did not know that our lack of intimacy had, in fact, nothing to do with my husband's alleged impotency or any other psychological or physical conditions."
When he died in 1999, she told National Enquirer, "He's gone and I hope he rests in peace. Regardless of our differences, I'm not looking back. I just want to go forward and be surrounded by the love of my son and my family," despite previously alleging to the magazine that he physically and emotionally abused her.
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She had a secret battle with cancer
Back when Channing was starring in her biggest hit, Hello, Dolly!, she was secretly battling deadly cancer. "In the mid-'60s — when she was touring with 'Hello, Dolly!' — Carol began experiencing female problems, which turned out to be cancer of the uterus," a source told National Enquirer in 2002.
"Carol courageously continued the show, and secretly flew back to NYC every two weeks to visit Sloan-Kettering hospital. There she received lifesaving radiation and chemotherapy under the phony name of Rifka Schwartzbach!" the insider added. "The wigs she wore onstage — along with her fake eyelashes — successfully hid her chemotherapy-caused hair loss, and no one ever discovered her secret illness!"
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Her father was black
In Channing's memoir,
Just Lucky I Guess, she revealed that her father was black. Before the publication was released in 2002, a source gave
National Enquirer a sneak peek.
"Carol writes that her father, George, was highly respected Christian Science lecturer whose light skin allowed him to pass for a while," said a source familiar with the book at the time. "Even though he taught her rhythmic Negro spirituals — which the two of them would sing together — she never once suspected."
"Then when she was 16 her mother told her that George was the son of a German father and a black mother. He turned his back on his 'colored' past when he moved from Georgia to Connecticut," the insider continued. "Carol says her mother told her in case she ever married a white man but produced a black baby."
She claimed her third husband, Charles Lowe, had an affair with a man
In 1998, Star published Channing's claims that her husband she was divorcing after 41 years, Charles Lowe, had been cheating on her with ... a man! "I know finally realize the truth is that Charles left me for another man. I know he's been having a homosexual relationship."
Even though Lowe denied it, Channing also made a claim that the two only had sex twice in their four-decade-long marriage. "Shortly after my marriage, my husband announced that he was impotent and we have never been intimate again to the present day," she previously said in court papers. "At that time, I did not know that our lack of intimacy had, in fact, nothing to do with my husband's alleged impotency or any other psychological or physical conditions."
When he died in 1999, she told National Enquirer, "He's gone and I hope he rests in peace. Regardless of our differences, I'm not looking back. I just want to go forward and be surrounded by the love of my son and my family," despite previously alleging to the magazine that he physically and emotionally abused her.
Photo credit: Getty Images
She had a secret battle with cancer
Back when Channing was starring in her biggest hit, Hello, Dolly!, she was secretly battling deadly cancer. "In the mid-'60s — when she was touring with 'Hello, Dolly!' — Carol began experiencing female problems, which turned out to be cancer of the uterus," a source told National Enquirer in 2002.
"Carol courageously continued the show, and secretly flew back to NYC every two weeks to visit Sloan-Kettering hospital. There she received lifesaving radiation and chemotherapy under the phony name of Rifka Schwartzbach!" the insider added. "The wigs she wore onstage — along with her fake eyelashes — successfully hid her chemotherapy-caused hair loss, and no one ever discovered her secret illness!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
Her father was black
In Channing's memoir,
Just Lucky I Guess, she revealed that her father was black. Before the publication was released in 2002, a source gave
National Enquirer a sneak peek.
"Carol writes that her father, George, was highly respected Christian Science lecturer whose light skin allowed him to pass for a while," said a source familiar with the book at the time. "Even though he taught her rhythmic Negro spirituals — which the two of them would sing together — she never once suspected."
"Then when she was 16 her mother told her that George was the son of a German father and a black mother. He turned his back on his 'colored' past when he moved from Georgia to Connecticut," the insider continued. "Carol says her mother told her in case she ever married a white man but produced a black baby."
Photo credit: Getty Images
