Eartha Kitt
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- The History Makers - Biography of Eartha Kitt
- AllMusic - Eartha Kitt
- NPR - Eartha Kitt Still Sizzling
- South Carolina African American History Calendar - Eartha Kitt
- BBC - 'We had to eat whatever we could dig out of the ground': How Eartha Kitt rose from 'extreme poverty' to superstardom
- Europeana - Eartha Kitt: singer, actor and activist
- Turner Classic Movies - Eartha Kitt
- All About Jazz - Eartha Kitt
- In full:
- Eartha Mae Kitt
- Born:
- January 17, 1927, North,South Carolina,U.S.
- Died:
- December 25, 2008, Weston,Connecticut (aged 81)
- Notable Works:
- “Thursday’s Child”
Who was Eartha Kitt?
Eartha Kitt was an American singer and dancer noted for her sultry vocal style. She also achieved success as a stage and film actress.
What were some of Eartha Kitt’s most popular songs?
Eartha Kitt’s early 1950s recordings such as “C’est Si Bon,” “Santa Baby,” and “I Want to Be Evil,” helped make her a star. Later songs that charted in the 1980s are “Where Is My Man,” “I Love Men,” “This Is My Life,” and “Cha Cha Heels.”
Where was Eartha Kitt born?
Eartha Kitt was born in the town of North, South Carolina, on January 17, 1927.
Where did Eartha Kitt grow up?
Eartha Kitt grew up in North, South Carolina, where she was born in 1927, until age eight, when she moved toHarlem in New York City to live with relatives.
What was Eartha Kitt known for?
After success performing in nightclubs, Eartha Kitt made her acting debut inOrson Welles’sTime Runs in 1950. Her appearance in the Broadway revueLeonard Sillman’s New Faces of 1952 and her early 1950s recordings secured her stardom. Notable television roles includedCatwoman in the 1960s seriesBatman and the voice of Yzma in the children’s television programThe Emperor’s New School.
Why was Eartha Kitt blacklisted?
Eartha Kitt was blacklisted after she publicly criticized theVietnam War at a 1968White House luncheon in the presence of the first lady,Lady Bird Johnson. Her career in the U.S. went into a severe decline. In the 1970s it began to recover after news surfaced that she had been subjected toU.S. Secret Service surveillance.
Eartha Kitt (born January 17, 1927, North,South Carolina, U.S.—died December 25, 2008, Weston, Connecticut) was an American singer and dancer noted for her sultry vocal style and slinky beauty who also achieved success as a dramatic stage andfilm actress.
Kitt was the daughter of aCherokee and Black mother and a white father she never knew. From the age of eight she grew up with relatives in an ethnicallydiverse section ofHarlem,New York City. At 16 she joinedKatherine Dunham’s dance troupe and toured theUnited States,Mexico,South America, andEurope. When the Dunham company returned to the United States, the multilingual Kitt stayed inParis, where she won immediate popularity as a nightclub singer. She made heracting debut asHelen of Troy inTime Runs, anOrson Wellesadaptation ofFaust, in 1950. With her appearance in theBroadway revueLeonard Sillman’s New Faces of 1952 and with early 1950s recordings such as “C’est Si Bon,” “Santa Baby,” and “I Want to Be Evil,” Kitt became a star.
(Read Britannica’s essay “9 (Lives of) Famous Cat Lovers.”)
Kitt’s success continued in nightclubs; theater productions, such asMrs. Patterson (1954–55) andShinbone Alley (1957); films, includingSt. Louis Blues (1958) andAnna Lucasta (1959); and television appearances, notably the role ofCatwoman in the late 1960s seriesBatman. After she publicly criticized theVietnam War at a 1968White House luncheon in the presence of thefirst lady,Lady Bird (Claudia) Johnson, Kitt’s career went into a severe decline; in the 1970s, however, it began to recover after news surfaced that she had been subjected toU.S. Secret Servicesurveillance.
Kitt made a comeback in the United States with the stage musicalTimbuktu! (1978), a remake ofKismet featuring an all-Black cast. Other Broadway productions includeThe Wild Party (2000) andNine (2003). Kitt continued to perform in nightclubs and films and on recordings until her death, and she received two DaytimeEmmy Awards (2007 and 2008) for providing the voice of the scheming Yzma in the children’s television programThe Emperor’s New School. She also did voice work for numerous other film and TV productions. Her autobiographies areThursday’s Child (1956),Alone with Me (1976), andI’m Still Here: Confessions of a Sex Kitten (1989).