5. Carol Channing
Broadway legend Carol Channing surprised many in 2002 when she disclosed in her autobiography that her mother told her when she was 16 that her father was at least half black. She revealed in 2010 to talkshow host Wendy Williams that if she kept her heritage discreet as she grow up in an era in which even a drop of African American heritage could ruin your career. The remarkably pale actress gave no hint that she had any blackness blood in her and went on to have a very prolific Broadway career.
