Carol's husband,Harry Kullijian, died in December 2011, the day before his 92nd birthday. Together they formed a foundation to promote the arts in California schools.
Carol Channing: Larger Than Life, a film about the actress's life and career premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 23, 2011, a few weeks after Carol's 90th birthday, January 31.
Channing revealed in a 2011 interview that she contemplated suicide after losing the role of Dolly Levi for the film adaptation of Hello, Dolly to Barbra Streisand. An appearance on stage later that day was the only thing that kept Carol from jumping from her 18th-floor hotel window.
Carol Channing: (on her marriage to Harry Kullijian) Well, it's the first time I've been totally loved. I mean, except by my parents. All the way. It was there the moment we reconnected.
Carol: Oh, gosh, my stage fright is just terrible. Some people don't realize what a delicate craft it is. It's an art to reach the audience. They've saved their hard-earned money, gotten baby sitters, driven in from everywhere - long distances, short distances, gotten on the subway. All you know is you've got to reach them. You've got to keep your mind on lifting their lives, not my life. I'm not there for my own pleasure.