She was 97.

With her raspy voice and huge smile, Channing was best known for her Tony Award-winning role as Dolly Levi in the hit Broadway musical "Hello Dolly!"

Fellow stars of the stage and screen, including "Hamilton" creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, paid tribute to Channing on social media Tuesday.

"When the whistles blow And the cymbals crash And the sparklers light the sky I'm gonna raise the roof I'm gonna carry on Give me an old trombone Give me an old baton Before the parade passes by!" Goodbye, Carol. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ https://t.co/Z6KFQzrcWV

I am so sad just lost my incredible original inspiration #carolchanning I saw her in Hello Dolly when I was 8 and she changed my DNA love you lady forever one of the greatest entertainers of all times

One of Broadway's greatest lights, Carol Channing, has passed on. She rejoins the heavens as a new diamond in the night sky, and as she famously sang, they are a girl's best friend. Goodbye and farewell, forever our Dolly. https://t.co/0u2zLcAnff

The current touring company for "Hello Dolly!" released a statement Tuesday on the star's death.

"We are deeply saddened by the passing of the one and only Carol Channing. She was a 'Dolly' for the ages, and a true icon of the American Theater. Betty Buckley and the cast will dedicate tonight's performance in San Diego to her memory."

The actress was born in Seattle to George Channing, a newspaper editor, and his wife, Adelaide.

She grew up in San Francisco, where her parents were devout members of the Christian Science religion and her father a popular lecturer for the church.

It was her religion that first led her to the theater. Channing and her mother would stand outside venues to distribute copies of The Christian Science Monitor.

Years later Channing also found out that her father had been harboring a secret.

He was listed as "colored" on his birth certificate because of his mother, though his father was Nordic German.

Channing told CNN's Larry King in 2002 that she was proud of her mixed heritage.

"I was 16 years old and my mother told me," she said. "And you know, only the reaction on me was, 'Gee, I got the greatest genes in show business.' "

Photos: Carol Channing, whose most famous role was as Dolly Levi in the Broadway musical "Hello Dolly!" charmed audiences for decades with her trademark raspy voice and huge smile. The actress, pictured here in 1979, has died at age 97, her publicist said Tuesday, January 15. Hide Caption 1 of 20 Photos: Channing, center, rehearses for a musical on CBS with choreographer Eugene Loring in 1957. Hide Caption 2 of 20 Photos: In this undated photo, Channing celebrates her marriage to Charles Lowe, who became her manager and publicist. The star was married four times. Hide Caption 3 of 20 Photos: Channing won a Tony Award in 1964 for her most famous role as the meddling matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi in "Hello Dolly!" Hide Caption 4 of 20 Photos: Channing celebrates her Tony win alongside "Hello Dolly!" director Gower Champion, composer and lyricist Jerry Herman, producer David Merrick and costume designer Freddy Wittop in 1964. The original production won 10 Tony Awards. Hide Caption 5 of 20 Photos: The performer appears during the 1965 shooting of her Emmy-winning TV special "An Evening With Carol Channing," which would air the following year. Hide Caption 6 of 20 Photos: The actress with her son, Channing Carson, in their New York apartment in 1965. Hide Caption 7 of 20 Photos: Channing's best-known film role was as Muzzy Van Hossmere in the 1967 musical "Throughly Modern Millie" with Julie Andrews, left, and Mary Tyler Moore. She won an Oscar nomination and Golden Globe for best supporting actress for the movie. Hide Caption 8 of 20 Photos: Channing performs during halftime of the Super Bowl in 1972 in New Orleans. Hide Caption 9 of 20 Photos: Channing, here in 1989, was a darling of small screen as well, appearing in TV shows such as "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-in" and "The Love Boat." Hide Caption 10 of 20 Photos: Channing places her feet in wet cement in front of the Embassy Suites Hotel in New York in November 1990 as part of an unveiling ceremony at the hotel. Hide Caption 11 of 20 Photos: President Bill Clinton greets the Broadway star after her performance at a White House dinner in February 1993. The event was the first official dinner hosted by Clinton at the White House. Hide Caption 12 of 20 Photos: Channing thanks the audience in a curtain call after a performance during a revival of "Hello, Dolly!" in New York in January 1996. She reprised the role in multiple productions over the decades. Here, she was celebrating her 4,500 performance of the legendary show. Hide Caption 13 of 20 Photos: Channing performs at an event in Los Angeles in October 2003. Hide Caption 14 of 20 Photos: Channing with her fourth husband, Harry Kullijian, at the Village Theater in New York in 2003. They had been childhood sweethearts and reunited 70 years after attending middle school together. Kullijian died in 2011. Hide Caption 15 of 20 Photos: LL Cool J and Channing share a moment before presenting the Tony for best original score to "Avenue Q" in June 2004. Hide Caption 16 of 20 Photos: Channing in her home in Modesto, California, in July 2009. Hide Caption 17 of 20 Photos: Channing dons a "Hello, Dolly!" costume during her 90th birthday celebration in Hollywood in February 2011. Hide Caption 18 of 20 Photos: Channing is joined by her husband, Harry Kullijian, left, and actor Davis Gaines as they attend a musical tribute for her 90th birthday in 2011. Hide Caption 19 of 20 Photos: Channing arrives at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards gala in California in 2015. Hide Caption 20 of 20

After a brief stint in college, Channing moved to New York, where she made her stage debut in "Never Take No for an Answer" and was an understudy in "Let's Face It."

But her role as the diamond-loving showgirl Lorelei Lee in the Broadway musical "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" in 1949 made her a star. Channing lost out on the role in the 1953 film adaptation to Marilyn Monroe.

Broadway continued to be her showcase, and she had another big hit in 1964 as Dolly Gallagher Levi in "Hello Dolly!"

It became the role that would help to define her career, and she reprised it in multiple productions over the decades.

"It was all special," Channing told Broadway World in 2014 of her favorite memories of the original production in honor of the 50th anniversary of the musical. "I suppose that sounds cliché, but it's true. Every bit of the production, from opening night to the last night of the tour."

She won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award for the role of Muzzy Van Hossmere in the 1967 movie musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie." The film would forever have Channing identified with the now iconic line "Raspberries!"

Channing also became a darling on the small screen, appearing on TV quiz shows and other programs including "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," "The Love Boat," "Touched by an Angel" and "Family Guy."

The actress was married four times: to writer Theodore Naidish, Canadian football player Alex Carson, her manager and publicist Charles Lowe, and childhood sweetheart Harry Kullijian.

Channing and Kullijian, a former city councilman in Modesto, California, reunited 70 years after they attended middle school together and married in 2003. He died of an aneurism in 2011.

The following year her life and career was celebrated in the documentary "Carol Channing: Larger Than Life."

Channing continued to work well into her 90s. She was hailed throughout her long-running career, including being inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981 and receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Tonys and the Drama Critics Circle in 1995 and 1996, respectively.

She is survived by her son, cartoonist Channing Carson.