I only saw Carol Channing on stage once, Hello Dolly on Broadway in 1995. I really enjoyed seeing her in her signature role, BUT. A man at the front of the stalls kept jumping up and screaming every time she came on. In the interval the gent in the seat next to me (who had seen this production several times) told me it was her husband and he often behaved like that. It didn't help the show.
In 1995, Channing was still married to her third husband, Charles Lowe, who was also her manager and publicist. Which might explain--but not excuse--the deplorable behavior you describe. She didn't decide to leave him--for reasons for far beyond these actions--until her career was basically over.
