Eartha Kitt Biography

Eartha Mae Kitt (January 17, 1927 " December 25, 2008) was an American singer, actress, dancer and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby". Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the world". She took over the role of Catwoman for the third and final season of the 1960s Batman television series, replacing Julie Newmar, who was unavailable due to other commitments. She also voiced Yzma on Disney's The Emperor's New Groove and its television spinoff, The Emperor's New School, earning five Emmy Awards in the process, the last shortly before her death.

Life and career

Early years

Kitt was born Eartha Mae Keith on a cotton plantation in North, a small town in Orangeburg County near Columbia, South Carolina. Kitt's mother was of Cherokee and African-American descent and her father of German descent. Kitt was conceived by rape.

Kitt was raised by Anna Mae Riley, an African-American woman whom she believed to be her mother. Anna Mae went to live with a black man when Eartha was aged eight. He refused to accept Kitt because of her relatively pale complexion. Kitt lived with another family until Riley's death. She was then sent to live in New York City with Mamie Kitt, who she learned was her biological mother. She had no knowledge of her father, except that his surname was Kitt and that he was supposedly a son of the owner of the farm where she had been born. Newspaper obituaries state that her white father was "a poor cotton farmer".

Career

Kitt began her career as a member of the Katherine Dunham Company in 1943 and remained a member of the troupe until 1948. A talented singer with a distinctive voice, she recorded the hits "Let's Do It"; "Champagne Taste"; "C'est si bon" (which Stan Freberg famously burlesqued); "Just an Old Fashioned Girl"; "Monotonous"; "Je cherche un homme"; "Love for Sale"; "I'd Rather Be Burned as a Witch"; "Katibim" (a Turkish melody) ; "Mink, Schmink"; "Under the Bridges of Paris"; and her most recognizable hit, "Santa Baby", which was released in 1953. Kitt's unique style was enhanced as she became fluent in the French language during her years performing in Europe. Her English-speaking performances always seemed to be enriched by a soft French feel. She spoke four languages and sang in seven, which she effortlessly demonstrated in many of the live recordings of her cabaret performances

Career peaks

In 1950, Orson Welles gave Kitt her first starring role, as Helen of Troy in his staging of Dr. Faustus. A few years later, she was cast in the revue New Faces of 1952, introducing "Monotonous" and "Bal, Petit Bal", two songs with which she is still identified. In 1954, 20th Century Fox filmed a version of the revue, titled New Faces, in which she performed "Monotonous", "Uska Dara", and "C'est Si Bon". Though it is often alleged that Welles and Kitt had an affair during her 1957 run in Shinbone Alley, Kitt categorically denied this in a June 2001 interview with George Wayne of Vanity Fair. "I never had sex with Orson Welles", Kitt told Vanity Fair: "It was a working situation and nothing else". Her other films in the 1950s included Mark of the Hawk (1957), St. Louis Blues (1958) and Anna Lucasta (1959).

Throughout the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s, Kitt recorded; worked in film, television, and nightclubs; and returned to the Broadway stage, in Mrs. Patterson (during the 1954"1955 season), Shinbone Alley (in 1957), and the short-lived Jolly's Progress (in 1959). In 1964, Kitt helped open the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California. In the late 1960s, the television series Batman featured her as Catwoman after Julie Newmar left the role.

Anti-war controversy

In 1968, during the administration of US President Lyndon B. Johnson, Kitt encountered a substantial professional setback after she made anti-war statements during a White House luncheon. Kitt was invited to the White House luncheon and was asked by Lady Bird Johnson about the Vietnam War. She replied: "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot."

During a question and answer session, Kitt stated:

Her remarks reportedly caused Mrs. Johnson to burst into tears and led to a derailment in Kitt's career. The public reaction to Kitt's statements was extreme, both pro and con. Publicly ostracized in the US, she devoted her energies to performances in Europe and Asia.

Broadway

She returned to New York in a triumphant turn in the Broadway spectacle Timbuktu! (a version of the perennial Kismet set in Africa) in 1978. In the musical, one song gives a "recipe" for mahoun, a preparation of cannabis, in which her sultry purring rendition of the refrain "constantly stirring with a long wooden spoon" was distinctive.

Later years

In 1978, Kitt did the voice-over in a TV commercial for the album Aja by the rock group Steely Dan. She wrote three autobiographies "? Thursday's Child (1956), Alone with Me (1976) and I'm Still Here: Confessions of a Sex Kitten (1989).

In 1984, she returned to the music charts with a disco song, "Where Is My Man", the first certified gold record of her career. "Where Is My Man" reached the Top 40 on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at No. 36; The song also made the Top 10 on the US Billboard dance chart, where it reached No. 7. The single was followed by the album I Love Men on the Record Shack label. Kitt found new audiences in nightclubs across the UK and the US, including a whole new generation of gay male fans, and she responded by frequently giving benefit performances in support of HIV/AIDS organizations. Kitt appeared with Jimmy James and George Burns at a fundraiser in 1990 produced by Scott Sherman, Agent from The Atlantic Entertainment Group. It was arranged that James would impersonate Kitt and then Kitt would walk out to take the microphone. This was met with a standing ovation. Her 1989 follow-up hit "Cha-Cha Heels" (featuring Bronski Beat), which was originally intended to be recorded by Divine, received a positive response from UK dance clubs and reached No. 32 in the charts in that country.

In 1991, Eartha returned to the screen in the Jim Varney children's Halloween movie Ernest Scared Stupid as Old Lady Hackmore. In 1992, Kitt had a supporting role as Lady Eloise in the film Boomerang starring Eddie Murphy. In the late 1990s, she appeared as the Wicked Witch of the West in the North American national touring company of The Wizard of Oz. 1995 saw Eartha Kitt appear as herself in an episode of The Nanny, where she performed a song in French and flirted with Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy). In November 1996, she appeared on an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!. In 2000, Kitt again returned to Broadway in the short-lived run of Michael John LaChiusa's The Wild Party opposite Mandy Patinkin and Toni Collette. Beginning in late 2000, she starred as the Fairy Godmother in the US national tour of Cinderella alongside Deborah Gibson and then Jamie-Lynn Sigler. In 2003, she replaced Chita Rivera in Nine. She reprised her role as the Fairy Godmother at a special engagement of Cinderella, which took place at Lincoln Center during the holiday season of 2004.

One of her more unusual roles was as Kaa the python in a 1994 BBC Radio adaptation of The Jungle Book. Kitt also lent her distinctive voice to the role of Yzma in Disney's The Emperor's New Groove, for which she won her first Annie Award, and returned to the role in the straight-to-video sequel Kronk's New Groove and the spin-off TV series The Emperor's New School, for which she won two Emmy Awards and two more Annie Awards (both in 2007"08) for Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production. She had a voiceover as the voice of Queen Vexus on the animated TV series My Life as a Teenage Robot.

In her later years Kitt made annual appearances in the New York Manhattan cabaret scene at venues such as the Ballroom and the Café Carlyle.

She was also a guest star in The Simpsons episode "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", where she was depicted as one of Krusty's past marriages.

From October to early December 2006, Kitt co-starred in the Off-Broadway musical Mimi le Duck. She also appeared in the 2007 independent film And Then Came Love opposite Vanessa Williams.

Kitt was the spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics' Smoke Signals collection in August 2007. She re-recorded "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" for the occasion, was showcased on the MAC website, and the song was played at all MAC locations carrying the collection for the month.

Personal life

After romances with the cosmetics magnate Charles Revson and banking heir John Barry Ryan III, she married John William McDonald, (CORRECTION, Bill McDonald's name was William O. McDonald. The "O" is for Orin), an associate of a real estate investment company, on June 6, 1960. They had one child, a daughter named Kitt McDonald, born on November 26, 1961. After divorcing in 1965, Kitt went on to have other lovers.

A long-time Connecticut resident, Eartha Kitt lived in a converted barn on a sprawling farm in the Merryall section of New Milford for many years and was active in local charities and causes throughout Litchfield County. She later moved to Pound Ridge, New York, and then to the southern Fairfield County town of Weston in 2002, to be near her daughter Kitt and family. Her daughter, Kitt McDonald, married Charles Lawrence Shapiro in 1987 and had two children, Jason and Rachel Shapiro.

Activism

Kitt was active in numerous social causes in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1966, she established the Kittsville Youth Foundation, a chartered and non-profit organization for underprivileged youth in the Watts area of Los Angeles. Kitt was also involved with a group of youth in the area of Anacostia in Washington, D.C., who called themselves Rebels with a Cause. Kitt supported the group's efforts to clean up streets and establish recreation areas in an effort to keep them out of trouble by testifying with them before the House General Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Education and Labor. In her testimony in May 1967, Kitt stated that the Rebels' "achievements and accomplishments should certainly make the adult 'do-gooders' realize that these young men and women have performed in 1 short year - with limited finances - that which was not achieved by the same people who might object to turning over some of the duties of planning, rehabilitation, and prevention of juvenile delinquents and juvenile delinquency to those who understand it and are living it". She added that "the Rebels could act as a model for all urban areas throughout the United States with similar problems". Rebels with a Cause subsequently received the needed funding.

Kitt was also a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, thus her criticism of the Vietnam War and its connection to poverty and racial unrest in 1968 can be seen as part of a larger commitment to peace activism.

Like many politically active public figures of her time, Kitt was under surveillance by the CIA beginning in 1956. After The New York Times discovered the CIA file on Kitt in 1975, she granted the paper permission to print portions of the report, stating: "I have nothing to be afraid of and I have nothing to hide."

Kitt later became a vocal advocate for LGBT rights and publicly supported same-sex marriage, which she considered a civil right. She had been quoted as saying: "I support it [gay marriage] because we're asking for the same thing. If I have a partner and something happens to me, I want that partner to enjoy the benefits of what we have reaped together. It's a civil-rights thing, isn't it?" Kitt famously appeared at many LGBT fundraisers, including a mega event in Baltimore, Maryland, with George Burns and Jimmy James. Scott Sherman, an agent at Atlantic Entertainment Group, stated: "Eartha Kitt is fantastic... appears at so many LGBT events in support of civil rights."

In a 1992 interview with Dr. Anthony Clare, Kitt spoke about her gay following, saying: </ref>}}

Death

Kitt died from colon cancer on Christmas Day 2008, at her home in Weston, Connecticut.

Awards

Kitt won awards for her film, television and stage work, and in 1960, the Hollywood Walk of Fame honored her with a star, which can be found on 6656 Hollywood Boulevard.

Discography

Acting career

Theatrical releases

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1948	Casbah	Uncredited	Film debut
1957	The Mark of the Hawk	Renee
1958	St. Louis Blues	Gogo Germaine
1959	Anna Lucasta	Anna Lucasta
1961	Saint of Devil's Island	Annette
1965	Uncle Tom's Cabin	Singer (uncredited)
	Synanon	Betty
1971	Up the Chastity Belt	Scheherazade
1975	Friday Foster	Madame Rena
1979	Butterflies in Heat	Lola
1985	The Serpent Warriors	Snake Priestess
1987	Master of Dragonard Hill	Naomi
	Dragonard	Naomi
	The Pink Chiquitas	Betty/The Meteor (voice)
1989	Erik the Viking	Freya
1990	Living Doll	Mrs. Swartz
1991	Ernest Scared Stupid	Old Lady Hackmore
1992	Boomerang	Lady Eloise
1993	Fatal Instinct	First Trial Judge
1996	Harriet the Spy	Agatha K. Plummer
1997	III Gotten Gains	The Wood (Voice)
1998	I Woke Up Early The Day I Died	Cult Leader
2000	The Emperor's New Groove	Yzma (voice)	Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement For Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress
2003	Holes	Madame Zeroni
2005	Preaching to the Choir	Ms. Nettie
2007	And Then Came Love	Mona	Last motion picture appearance

Direct-to-video releases

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1998	Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story (video)	Bagheera the Panther (voice)
2005	Kronk's New Groove (video)	Yzma (voice)

Documentary

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1982	All by Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story (Documentary)	Herself
1995	Unzipped (Documentary)	Herself
2002	The Making and Meaning of We Are Family (Documentary)	Herself
	The Sweatbox (Documentary)	Herself

Television (TV movie, TV series, TV special)

Year	Title	Episode	Role	Notes
1965	I Spy	"The Loser"	Angel	Nominated: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
1967	Mission: Impossible	"The Traitor"	Tina Maria
1967-1968	Batman	"The Joke's on Catwoman" "The Funny Feline Felonies" "Catwoman's Dressed to Kill"	Catwoman
1972	Lieutenant Schuster's Wife (TV movie)		Lady
1974	The Protectors	"A Pocketful of Posies"	Carrie Blaine
1978	Police Woman	"Tigress"	Amelia
	To Kill a Cop (TV movie)		Paula
1983	A Night on the Town (TV movie)
1985	Miami Vice	"Whatever Works"	Priestess Chata
1993	Jack's Place	"The Seventh Meal"	Isabel Lang
	Matrix	"Moths to a Flame"	Sister Rowena
1995	The Magic School Bus	"Going Batty"	Mrs. Franklin
	New York Undercover	"Student Affairs"	Mrs. Stubbs
	Living Single	"He Works Hard for the Money"	Jacqueline Richards	Nominated: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
1998	The Wild Thornberrys	"Flood Warning"	Lioness #1
1999	The Famous Jett Jackson	"Field of Dweebs"	Albertine Whethers
2000	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	"The Snow Queen"	The Snow Queen
	Welcome to New York	"The Car" "Jim Gets a Car"	June
2001	The Feast of All Saints (TV movie)		Lola Dede
	Santa, Baby! (TV movie)		Emerald (voice)
2005	Escape from Cluster Prime (TV movie)		Vexus (voice)
	My Life as a Teenage Robot	"Escape from Cluster Prime" "Hostile Makeover/Grid Iron Glory"	Queen Vexus (voice)
2007	American Dad	"Dope and Faith"	Fortune Teller
	The Emperor's New School		Yzma (voice)	Won: Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Television Production Won: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer In An Animated Program
2009	The Wonder Pets	"Save the Cool Cat and the Hip Hippo/Tuck and Buck"	Cool Cat (voice)	Won: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer In An Animated Program

Stage work

Year	Title	Location	Role	Notes
1945	Blue Holiday	Broadway	Performer
	Carib Song	Broadway	Company	Original Broadway production
1946	Bal Negre	Broadway, and Europe	Performer	Concert
1950	Time Runs	Paris	Performer
1951	Dr. Faustus	Paris	Performer
1952	New Faces of 1952	Broadway	Polynesian girl Featured dancer Featured singer
1954	Mrs. Patterson	Broadway	Theodora (Teddy) Hicks	Original Broadway production
1957	Shinbone Alley	Broadway	Mehitabel	Original Broadway production
1959	Jolly's Progress	Broadway	Jolly Rivers
1965	The Owl and the Pussycat	U.S. National Tour	Performer
1967	Peg	Regional (US)
1970	The High Bid	London	Performer
1972	Bunny	London	Performer
1974	Bread and Beans and Things	Aquarius Theater	Performer
1976	A Musical Jubilee	U.S. National Tour	Performer
1978	Timbuktu!	Broadway	Shaleem-La-Lume	Nominated: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical
1980	Cowboy and the Legend	Regional (US)	Performer
1982	New Faces of 1952 (Revival)	Off-Off-Broadway	Polynesian girl Featured dancer Featured singer
1985	Blues in the Night	U.S. National Tour	Performer
1987	Follies (London Revival)	London	Carlotta Campion	Replacement for Dolores Gray
1989	Aladdin	Palace Theatre, Manchester	Performer
1989	Eartha Kitt in Concert	London	Performer
1994	Yes	Edinburgh	Performer
1995	Sam's Song	Unitarian Church of All Souls	Performer	Benefit concert
1996	Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill	Chicago	Performer
1998	The Wizard of Oz (Return Engagement) [off-Broadway]	U.S. National Tour	Performer
2000	The Wild Party	Broadway	Delores	Original Broadway production Nominated: Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical Nominated: Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
	Cinderella	Madison Square Garden, and U.S. National Tour	Fairy Godmother
2003	Nine	Broadway	Dolores	Replacement for Chita Rivera
2004	Cinderella (New York City Opera Revival)	David H. Koch Theater	Fairy Godmother
2006	Mimi le Duck	Off-Off-Broadway	Madame Vallet
2007	All About Us	Westport Country Playhouse	Performer