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Eartha Kitt

“Traffic has been known to stop for me/Prices even rise and drop for me/Harry S. Truman plays bop for me/Monotonous, monotone-ous” Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt was born Eartha Mae Keith in North, S.C., on Jan. 17, 1927. She was the child of an unwed black Cherokee woman and a white man. Her mother worked as a share cropper at a cotton plantation in South Carolina. The family moved from place to place, trying to support themselves. Eartha Kitt's father was white, most likely of English and German descent. He abandoned the family when the children were very small. When her mother met another white man and decided to get married, he told her he would take her half-sister Pearl but not Eartha. Finally, her mother left the two children with a neighborng black family. The young Eartha Mae had to cook, clean, weed the garden, keep track of the cow, pick cotton, and do many other chores to cover her room and board. She recounts that she was not treated well in her new home. She saw her mother only a few times during the three years she lived there, once when she was taken to see her new half-sister, Almita. About six months later, her mother died. The family was rather abusive perhaps because they didn't like the fact that Eartha was so light skinned.

In 1935 she was sent her to live with her aunt in Harlem when Eartha was only 8 years old. Her aunt realized her talent and Eartha was able to attend the famous New York's High School of Performing Arts. Though she was given piano and dance lessons, a pattern of abuse developed there as well. Eartha Kitt would be beaten, she would run away and then she would return. By her early teenage years she was working in a factory and sleeping in subways and on the roofs of unlocked buildings. This harrowing experience drove her later to become an advocate, through Unicef, on behalf of homeless children.

At the urging of a friend, the choreographer of the dance troupe, she auditioned for the famed Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe. She passed the audition and permanently escaped the cycle of poverty and abuse that defined her life up till then. After winning a scholarship to the Katherine Dunham Dance School, she began to tour with the group and achieved her first professional success. As a member of the troupe, the sixteen year old Eartha Kitt toured in Mexico, Europe and South America as well as the U.S.and was awarded a position as a featured dancer and vocalist.

While performing with the Dunham Troupe in Paris, Eartha Kitt was spotted by a nightclub owner who signed her on as a cabaret singer. Unwilling to contribute to the discrimination rampant in American society, Eartha Kitt decided that she would not perform before segregated audiences and included that requirement in her contracts. She therefore headlined at the best nightclubs in both Paris and the U.S.

Eartha Kitt's sultry, dusky voice and slinky, feral presence mesmerized audiences during her Broadway debut in 1945 in Carib Song and revues like Bal Negre. In Paris she gained fame and one of her many admirers, Orson Welles, called her "the most exciting woman in the world." He signed her to play Helen of Troy in his acclaimed production of "Dr. Faust." Thus Eartha Kitt made her acting debut in the 1951 play.

Ms. Kitt played a twenty-week run at the Blue Angel - a still unbroken record for cabaret artists &emdash; before moving on the Village Vanguard. She learned over a dozen languages and sang in English, French, Spanish, and Turkish.

“Monotonous” Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times in May 1952, “Eartha Kitt not only looks incendiary, but she can make a song burst into flame.” Her legendary performance in "Monotonous," in which she continued to appear for a entire year on Broadway, would lead to a national tour and a role in the Twentieth Century Fox film by the same name.

The same year, Leonard Stillman casted her for "New Faces of 1952." which added another jewel to her success story. She became a hit on Broadway. She stopped the show on a nightly basis with her sensuous rendition of Cole Porter's "Let's Do It""and "C'est Si Bon." It was the first of many top-ten hits for Eartha Kitt.

Her cabarets singing of “C’est Si Bon” and “Love for Sale.” became her signature songs. She entertained, amused, and charmed all audiences in both Paris and New York, men and women, black and white audiences were smitten with her. Eartha Kitt’s public persona, the seen-it-all, disillusioned woman of great self-confidence and full awareness of her own sulty charms. With her curvaceous frame and unabashed vocal come-ons, she became one the most widely known African-American sex symbols. She was one of those distinct black performers who received regular air play on all popular radio and TV stations reaching a huge audience.

."Her Broadway stardom led to a recording contract and a succession of best-selling records including "Love For Sale."

In 1954 and 1955 Eartha Kitt made her return to Broadway in the dramatic play "Mrs. Patterson," for which she received a Tony nomination. She also appeared in "Shinbone Alley" and "The Owl and the Pussycat."

Shortly after that run, Eartha Kitt had a first best-selling albums which included her biggest hit, “Santa Baby.” She was admired for her come-hither diction and her slightforeign inflections. She proved that a vocal sizzle could be just as powerful as a bonfire.

In 1956 she published her first autobiography, "Thursday’s Child," and returned again to the cabaret scene with runs at The Persian Room, The Empire Room, and London’s Talk of the Town, among others.

Other stage appearances followed, as did film work that included "The Mark of the Hawk" with Sidney Poitier in 1957, and "Anna Lucasta" with Sammy Davis, Jr. 1958, the role of Mehitabel the alley cat in the 1958 musical "Shinbone Alley." Eartha Kitt also played the lead lady opposite Nat King Cole in "St. Louis Blues" in 1958.

In 1960, as a 33 year old, she was honored with a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame. During that year she married to her one husband, Bill McDonald, a real-estate developer. In 1961 Eartha Kitt gave birth to their lovely daughter, Kitt Shapiro, who would later manage the actress/singer's career during her later years. The marriage lasted from 1960 to 1965. She made many TV appearances among which was a guest spot on “I Spy” in 1965, which brought her her first Emmy nomination.

"Folk Tales of the Tribes of Africa," for which she received a Grammy nomination in 1966.

In 1967 she gained a flock of preteen fans for her portrayal of the Catwoman for the "Batman" television series.

Ms. Kitt’s career came to a sudden about face in 1968 when at a White House luncheon hosted by Lady Bird Johnson. Eartha Kitt spoke out against the Vietnam War. She has said: “You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot.” This remark reportedly caused Mrs. Johnson to burst into tears and led to a complete derailment of her US career.

She was investigated by the FBI and the CIA. As a result of her outspoken anti-war position, she was blackballed and was unable to find work in the U.S., with the exception of a few talk shows. Contracts were lost or cancelled. The CIA developed a file containing personal and professional information. Eartha moved to Europe where her status remained undiminished, She lived and worked in Europe, mostly London, for the next ten years, sometimes struggling financially. She was ignored by many of her friends.

In 1974 she returned to the United States in an acclaimed Carnegie Hall concert. 1975 Eartha Kitt returned to the U.S. to co-star in the Pam Grier film "Friday Foster." Ms. Kitt’s second autobiography, Alone With Me, was published in 1976. She never her personal charm. In 1977 the Associated Press said: "Now in her fifth decade of making men nervous, Eartha Kitt still electrifies audiences with her one of a kind persona, peppering her flirty set with gold-digging songs about champagne, stretch limos, and pearls."

In 1978, she returned to be the toast of Broadway performing in Timbuktu, an all-black reworking of the old stage play "Kismet." It was her first major performance after being austrasized and banned the U.S. in ten years. When the show opened in Washington, D.C., Kitt was invited to the White House, where President Carter met her, saying, "Welcome home, Eartha." In 1978 she was nominated for a Tony award for this starring performance. The show was a great success and ran for two and a half years.

Eartha Kitt biography "All By Myself" was turned into a critically acclaimed feature-length documentary in 1982 and produced by filmmaker Christian Blackwood.

She produced the biggest hit in 30 years with “Where Is My Man” in 1984. Still unrepentent and unafraid of controversy, Eartha Kitt performed in South Africa. Heavily criticized, she responded by pointing out that she had managed to get two schools built there for black children. She had raised the money by selling autographs at department stores. Traveling around the country and performing in an integrated show, Eartha Kitt felt she did her part to weaken the apartheid system and raise awareness among South Africans of all colors.

Her third book, "I’m Still Here: Confessions of a Sex Kitten," was released in 1989.

Her occassionally made movie appearances included her all too brief portrayal of a centuries-old witch in Ernest Scared Stupid, 1991. In the 90s AP said: "In an era when cabaret is mostly musty theater, Kitt’s shows are fresh and vibrant &emdash; and increasingly being embraced by Gen-Xers." In 1992 she appeared in an Eddie Murphy movie, Boomerang. She also appeared in ‘Harriet The Spy’.

In 1994 her performance at the Café Carlyle in New York had star-studded audiences. In 1996 her album "Back in Business" was nominated for a Grammy Award. She continued to make frequent guest appearances on television programs such as "The Nanny" and "New York Undercover," while her world famous voice was heard on commercials and in New York City taxis advising riders to buckle up.

In 1996 Kitt’s career experienced a resurgence in the U.S. After appearing in a documentary about the fashion world entitled “Unzipped,” she performed at the Café Carlyle, a jazz club at the luxurious Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan. She continued to perform there for more than ten years in sold-out shows.

She said that she had always admired the late jazz singer Billie Holliday, a performer who also had to fight against racial discrimination. Kitt remembered hearing her sing when she first came to Harlem. In 1996, Kitt performed in the role of Billie Holliday in a musical entitled Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill in Chicago. The musical was so successful that its run was extended to meet the demand.

Eartha Kitt returned to South Carolina in 1997 for a benefit performance at Benedict College that was to help create a scholarship fund. The Eartha Kitt Performing Arts Scholarship provides opportunities for students majoring in dance. It was her first visit to the state since the early 1980s.

In 2000 and 2001, Eartha. Kitt starred in US tours of ‘The Wizard of Oz’, and ‘Cinderella’, and appeared as the ‘Fairy Godmother’ in The New York City Opera production.onstage version of Cinderella, in which she played the fairy godmother. Her electrifying voice was also heard n the Disney film The Emperor’s New Groove, which premiered in December 2000.

Live theatre was always her passion and, in 2001, Broadway critics singled her out for praise for her role in ‘The Wild Party’. In 2001 she appeared in the Showtime film "Feast of All Saints."

Her book "Rejuvenate: It’s Never Too Late", was released in 2001. All the while she remained a fixture on the cabaret circuit, having maintained her voice and shapely figure through a vigorous fitness regimen that included daily running and weight lifting. In 2003 she appeared in "Nine". The book was devoted to showing how men and women can look as good as she does (at 73!), with seemingly limitless energy and life. Eartha Kitt also offered deep breathing instructions and stretching exercises and encourages audiences to make a commitment to taking care of themselves.

In a March 2005 online interview that occurred shortly after two African-American performers won Oscars, she noted with pleasure the opportunities available today for African-American performers. Eartha Kitt herself certainly played a role in making these opportunities available to others. But in looking back at a long career, Kitt said that she thought of herself as more than just an African-American, as “a woman that belongs to everybody…”

Branching out into children’s programming, she won two Daytime Emmy Awards, this year and in 2007, as outstanding performer in an animated program for her role as the scheming empress-wannabe Yzma in “The Emperor’s New School.”

Steven Holden of the New York Times reviewed one of her last live plays, in September 2007: In “Too Young to Be Meant for Me,” one of her wittiest songs on Tuesday, she impatiently brushes off a 20-year-old admirer and tells him not to wait: “Can’t you see I’ve got a date with someone rich and 82?” It is fascinating to watch the flickers at the corners of Ms. Kitt’s lips and eyes during these audience questionnaires. The peevish scowl of an arrogant siren who has been through this ritual a thousand times can suddenly turn into the cunning grin of a carnivore about to pounce on a juicy morsel of filet mignon. The gold digger is just one aspect of this performer with many layers. “Everything Changes,” the centerpiece of her new show is a sweet, fatalistic lament with music by Brian Feinstein and lyrics by Diana Hansen-Young that she introduced last year in the Off Broadway musical “Mimi Le Duck.” He went on:"Ms. Kitt’s band (Daryl Waters on piano, Jon Burr on bass, Joseph Friedman on guitar, Brian Grice on drums and Carlos Gomez on percussion) had noticeably more bite than in the past, and Ms. Kitt’s voice was in full growl. "

"I show my legs. I love to tease men with my legs," she said in a 2007 Jet magazine interview. "I love men and I like to get their attention. Every time I see a man, I want to tease him."

Eartha Kitt always found time to be giving. For years she was the national spokesperson for Project On Growing, a program which teaches homeless families to grow their own food and feed themselves. Aside of her husband and most importantly her daughter and two grand children, Eartha enjoyed a series of rich or famous men, including most notably Orson Welles, the cosmetics magnate Charles Revson and the banking heir John Barry Ryan 3rd.

With an enduring career that has spanned theater, cabaret, television, and the recording industry, Eartha Kitt has become a true American Icon. Eartha Kitt who started her time on earth on a South Carolina plantation would learn to speak in four languages and would sinng in ten different languages. Ms. Kitt has sung in one hundred countries. Remembering her own unhappy childhood, Kitt was also a spokesperson on behalf of abused children for UNICEF.

She died on Christmas Day, December 25, 2008, after a long battle with colon cancer reported her longtime publicist and dear friend, Andrew E. Freedman. Eartha Kitt said about herself: "I did it with wit, grit and a sense of humor and I never took up a stick to beat anyone to get to where I wanted to go." "What Miss Kitt could do with a raised eyebrow and seven seconds of silence spoke volumes," Freedman said.