1950s Broadway Divas....who's left now?

Helen Gallagher

Carol Lawrence

Tammy Grimes

Does Carol Burnett count?

Is Allyn Ann McLerie still with us?

Patricia Morison and Anne Jeffreys

God, it's only been a mere 55 years since it was that time!

Constance Towers

Ahem.

Florence Henderson

Rita Lee

Julie Newmar

Tina Louise

Julie Andrews

Sally Ann Howes

Anita Gillette

Did Ruta Lee ever do Broadway?

Karen Morrow

Nancy Dussault

Inga Swenson

Janis Paige

Julie Wilson

Polly Bergen

None of those were divas at the level of Channing, Chita, and Cook.

Barbara Harris

Angela Lansbury

Definitely R12. Saw them both on stage.

Carol Channing is the only one of the three mentioned by OP who has not received the Kennedy Center Honors. Not that the Kennedy Center Honors are necessarily the gold standard. Mary Martin was honored, Ethel Merman and Elaine Stritch were not. Although Merman would almost certainly been chosen if she had lived a few years longer.

Burnett and Andrews were at the level of Cook, Channing and Chita. More fuss will be made as these women are well liked by theater people unlike Stritch.

Rose Marie

Kaye Ballard

I'd been so impressed with all the attention Stritch's death has garnered in the news but then I realized that it's the way I see my news these days, completely filtered through my facebook friends and my theater gossip websites.

Was her death even mentioned in any of the network news programs?

What about me, chopped liver?

Call me, madam!

Is Patricia Morrison still with us?

Winging my way out to LA then back to Texas to be with the critters!!! Contact me on Twitter!!!

[quote]Was her death even mentioned in any of the network news programs?

Yes, and it was totally over the top. Even worse, every damn show on NPR had a Stritch tribute and her raucous voice was heard on all the news breaks. I couldn't imagine how this nasty woman was getting so much coverage.

Patricia Morison is still with us and turns 100 next spring. She did the Broadway Backwards thing this year, singing "Brush Up Your Shakespeare." She's frail but extremely alert.

Angela Lansbury was in the sixties.

Lauren Bacall's starring roles on Broadway started in 1959, although she didn't do a musical till 1970. But she can out diva any of them, and she's older than all the 1950s divas, too.

"What about me, chopped liver?

By Mary Martin"

I mentioned that Martin received the Kennedy Center Honors. What I did not say was that Mary Martin was the first Broadway musical star to received the Kennedy Center Honors (in 1989).

Lauren Bacall is not older than Carol Channing and only 6 months older that the late Elaine Stritch.

Nathan Lane

Cook and Rivera are basically theatrical / cabaret stars and will get similar attention to what we saw with Stritch.

Burnett, Lansbury, Andrews and Bacall are in another category.

Does Babs Streisand count as a Broadway diva?

Shirley Jones

R30, Babs is definitely a Broadway diva, but not a '50s Broadway diva.

R31, Shirley Jones never made much of an impact on Broadway to be considered a B'way diva.

Nanette Fabray

Janis Paige

Allyn Ann McLerie (still very much alive!)

Stritch's obituary was on the FRONT PAGE of the NY Times. It's rare that happens for any celebrity performer obit.

But how many of these ladies are truly active and performing today like Stritch was (at least until a year ago)?

Well, Cook certainly is still performing, for one. And Channing still gives appearances where she'll sing a few songs. And Chita, who's the youngest of the three, is about to haul out that old flop "The Visit" and see if she can't push it to Broadway and a third Tony win.

Streisand isn't a Broadway diva. She's in a diva category of her own.

She only did two musicals, loathes performing live in a show, and became a superstar do to films and recordings and TV appearances.

Who's left now? Helen Gallagher...