Carol Channing, known best for her role in Broadway musicals like Hello, Dolly! and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, died this morning at her California home at the age of 97, according to her publicist.

Channing was born in Seattle, WA in 1923 and quickly took to live theater, saying in her book Just Lucky, I Guess “Live theater is something that can’t possibly die because we’re working on their metabolism. Some nights they’re hyper, some nights they’re slow, some nights they’re sleepy, we have to nurse them; we have to find the way in to communicate with them and slowly the anodes and cathodes in and it’s an electric thing for the performer; it’s like plugging me in the wall.”

Her role in Hello, Dolly! won her the 1964 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She would be nominated for Best Actress in a Musical three other times in her career.