Eartha Kitt




American singer, actress, dancer, activist and comedian






















































Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt 2007.jpg
Kitt performing in concert, 2007

Born
Eartha Mae Keith


(1927-01-17)January 17, 1927

North or St. Matthews, South Carolina, U.S.

Died December 25, 2008(2008-12-25) (aged 81)

Weston, Connecticut, U.S.

Nationality American
Other names Miss Kitt, Mother Eartha,[1] Kitty
Occupation

  • Singer

  • actress

  • dancer

  • activist

  • author

  • songwriter

Years active 1942–2008
Spouse(s)
John W. McDonald
(m. 1960; div. 1965)
Children 1
Musical career
Genres

  • Vocal jazz

  • cabaret

  • dance

  • torch

Labels

  • RCA Victor

  • Kapp

  • MGM

  • EMI

  • GNP Crescendo

  • Decca

  • Spark

  • Can't Stop

  • Ariola

  • ITM

  • DRG

  • Strike Force

Associated acts

  • Julie Newmar

  • Lena Horne

  • Della Reese

  • Miles Davis

  • Sammy Davis Jr.

  • Josephine Baker

Website earthakitt.com

Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith, January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer, actress, dancer, activist, author and songwriter, known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby", which were both US Top 10 hits. Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the world".[2]


Kitt began her career in 1942 and appeared in the 1945 original Broadway theatre production of the musical Carib Song. In the early 1950s, she had six US Top 30 hits, including "Uska Dara" and "I Want to be Evil". Her other notable recordings include the UK Top 10 hit "Under the Bridges of Paris" (1954), "Just an Old Fashioned Girl" (1956) and "Where Is My Man" (1983). She starred in 1967 as Catwoman, in the third and final season of the television series Batman.


In 1968, her career in America suffered after she made anti-war statements at a White House luncheon. Ten years later, she made a successful return to Broadway in the 1978 original production of the musical Timbuktu!, for which she received the first of her two Tony Award nominations. Her second was for the 2000 original production of the musical The Wild Party. Kitt wrote three autobiographies – Thursday's Child (1956), Alone with Me (1976) and I'm Still Here: Confessions of a Sex Kitten (1989). She also played Lady Eloise in the 1992 film Boomerang, starring Eddie Murphy.


Kitt found a new generation of fans through her roles in the Disney films The Emperor's New Groove (2000), in which she voiced the villainous Yzma, and Holes (2003). She reprised the role as Yzma in the direct-to-video sequel Kronk's New Groove (2005), as well as the animated series The Emperor's New School (2006–2008). Her work on the latter earned her two Daytime Emmy Awards. She posthumously won a third Emmy in 2010 for her guest performance on Wonder Pets!.




Contents






  • 1 Early life


  • 2 Career


    • 2.1 Career peaks


    • 2.2 The "White House Incident"


    • 2.3 Blacklisting and CIA defamation


    • 2.4 Broadway


    • 2.5 Voice-over


    • 2.6 Later years


      • 2.6.1 1980s


      • 2.6.2 1990s


      • 2.6.3 2000s






  • 3 Personal life


  • 4 Activism


  • 5 Death


  • 6 Awards and nominations


  • 7 Discography


  • 8 Filmography


    • 8.1 Film


    • 8.2 Television


    • 8.3 Documentary


    • 8.4 Stage work




  • 9 References


  • 10 Further reading


  • 11 External links


    • 11.1 Video / audio footage







Early life


Eartha Mae Keith was born on a cotton plantation near the small town of North, South Carolina,[3] or St. Matthews[4] on January 17, 1927. Her mother Annie Mae Keith was of Cherokee and African descent. Though she had little knowledge of her father, it was reported that he was a son of the owner of the farm where she had been born, and that Kitt was conceived by rape.[5][6][7] In a 2013 biography, British journalist John Williams claimed that Kitt's father was a white man, a local doctor named Daniel Sturkie. Kitt's daughter, Kitt Shapiro, has questioned the accuracy of the claim.[8] Eartha's mother, Annie Mae Keith, (later Annie Mae Riley) soon went to live with a black man who refused to accept Eartha because of her relatively pale complexion; she was raised by a relative named Aunt Rosa, in whose household she was abused. After the death of Annie Mae, Eartha was sent to live with another relative named Mamie Kitt (who may in fact have been her biological mother) in Harlem, New York City,[6] where she attended the Metropolitan Vocational High School (later renamed the High School of Performing Arts).[9]



Career




Kitt photographed by Carl Van Vechten, October 19, 1952


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", "Kâtibim" (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 French during her years performing in Europe. She spoke four languages (she is thought to have learned German and Dutch from her step father, English from her mother, and French from the European cabaret circuit)[need quotation to verify] and sang in eleven, which she effortlessly demonstrated in many of the live recordings of her cabaret performances.



Career peaks




Kitt asleep on a bus, 1962


In 1950, Orson Welles gave Kitt her first starring role as Helen of Troy in his staging of Dr. Faustus. Two 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 distributed an independently-filmed version of the revue entitled New Faces, in which she performed "Monotonous", "Uska Dara", "C'est si bon",[10] and "Santa Baby". 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."[11] Her other films in the 1950s included The Mark of the Hawk (1957), St. Louis Blues (1958) and Anna Lucasta (1958). Kitt had a minor hit in Sweden 1956 with her record in Swedish, "Rosenkysssar" ("Rose Kisses", RCA FAS 511).[citation needed]


Throughout the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s, she 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).[12] In 1964, Kitt helped open the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California. In the late 1960s, Batman featured Kitt as Catwoman after Julie Newmar had left the show in 1967. In 1967, she appeared in a Mission: Impossible episode, "The Traitor," as a contortionist.




Kitt as Catwoman in the Batman television series, 1967



The "White House Incident"


In January 1968,[13] during Lyndon B. Johnson's administration, Kitt encountered a substantial professional setback after she made anti-war statements during a White House luncheon.[14][15] Kitt was asked by First Lady 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."[16]
During a question and answer session, Kitt stated:


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The children of America are not rebelling for no reason. They are not hippies for no reason at all. We don't have what we have on Sunset Blvd. for no reason. They are rebelling against something. There are so many things burning the people of this country, particularly mothers. They feel they are going to raise sons – and I know what it's like, and you have children of your own, Mrs. Johnson – we raise children and send them to war.


Her remarks caused Mrs. Johnson to burst into tears and led to a derailment in Kitt's career.[5]



Blacklisting and CIA defamation


Following the incident, Kitt found herself unemployable, so she devoted her energies to performances in Europe and Asia. It is said that Kitt's career in the United States was ended following her comments about the Vietnam War, after which she was branded "a sadistic nymphomaniac" by the CIA.[8] Her government-led blacklisting was enshrined in a false and defamatory CIA dossier about Kitt discovered by Seymour Hersh in 1975. Hersh published an article about the dossier in The New York Times.[17] The dossier contained comments about Kitt's sex life and family history, along with negative opinions of her that were held by former colleagues. Kitt's response to the dossier was to say "I don't understand what this is about. I think it's disgusting."[17]



Broadway


In the 1970s, Kitt appeared on television several times on BBC's long running variety show, The Good Old Days, and in 1987 took over from fellow American Dolores Gray in the London West End production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies and returned at the end of that run to star in a one-woman-show at the same Shaftesbury Theatre, both to tremendous acclaim. In both those shows performing the show-stopping theatrical anthem "I'm Still Here". Kitt returned to New York City 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. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance. 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. In 2000, Kitt again returned to Broadway in the short-lived run of Michael John LaChiusa's The Wild Party. Beginning in late 2000, Kitt starred as the Fairy Godmother in the U.S. national tour of Cinderella. In 2003, she replaced Chita Rivera in Nine. Kitt 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. From October to early December 2006, Kitt co-starred in the off-Broadway musical Mimi le Duck.



Voice-over


In 1978, Kitt did the voice-over in a television commercial for the album Aja by the rock group Steely Dan. One of her more unusual roles was as Kaa in a 1994 BBC Radio adaptation of The Jungle Book. Kitt also lent her distinctive voice to Yzma in The Emperor's New Groove (for which she won her first Annie Award) and reprised her role in Kronk's New Groove and The Emperor's New School, for which she won two Emmy Awards and, in 2007–08, two more Annie Awards for Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production. Kitt had voiced Vexus in My Life as a Teenage Robot.



Later years



1980s


In 1984, she returned to the music charts with a disco song titled "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;[18] the song became a standard in discos and dance clubs of the time and made the Top 10 on the US Billboard dance chart, where it reached No. 7.[19] 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 United States, including a whole new generation of gay male fans, and she responded by frequently giving benefit performances in support of HIV/AIDS organizations. 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, reaching No. 32 in the charts in that country. In 1988, Kitt replaced Dolores Gray in the West End production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies as Carlotta, receiving standing ovations every night for her rendition of "I'm Still Here" at the end of act 1. She went on to perform her own one-woman show at The Shaftesbury Theatre to sold out houses for three weeks in early 1989 after Follies closed.



1990s


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.[20] In 1991, Kitt returned to the screen in Ernest Scared Stupid as Old Lady Hackmore. In 1992, she had a supporting role as Lady Eloise in Boomerang. In 1995, Kitt appeared 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 in an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!.



2000s


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. She also appeared in the 2007 independent film And Then Came Love opposite Vanessa Williams. 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.[21] In April 2008, just months before her death, Kitt appeared at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. The performance was recorded. She was also a guest star in "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" of The Simpsons, where she was depicted as one of Krusty's past marriages.



Personal life




Kitt at the Carlton Tower hotel in London, 1973


After romances with the cosmetics magnate Charles Revson and banking heir John Barry Ryan III, she married John William McDonald, an associate of a real estate investment company, on June 6, 1960.[22] They had one child, a daughter named Kitt McDonald, born on November 26, 1961. They divorced in 1965. 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, but returned in 2002 to the southern Fairfield County Connecticut town of Weston, in order to be near her daughter Kitt and family. Her daughter, Kitt, married Charles Lawrence Shapiro in 1987[23] and had a daughter, 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 youths in the Watts area of Los Angeles.[24] She was also involved with a group of youths in the area of Anacostia in Washington, D.C., who called themselves "Rebels with a Cause". Kitt supported the groups' 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".[25] "Rebels with a Cause" subsequently received the needed funding.[26] Kitt was also a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; 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.[27] 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."[17]


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?"[28] Kitt famously appeared at many LGBT fundraisers, including a mega event in Baltimore, Maryland, with George Burns and Jimmy James.[20] 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:



We're all rejected people, we know what it is to be refused, we know what it is to be oppressed, depressed, and then, accused, and I am very much cognizant of that feeling. Nothing in the world is more painful than rejection. I am a rejected, oppressed person, and so I understand them, as best as I can, even though I am a heterosexual.[29]



Death



Kitt died from colon cancer on Christmas Day 2008, at her home in Weston, Connecticut.[30][31] Her daughter, Kitt Shapiro, discussed her last days with her mother:[32]


I was with her when she died. She left this world literally screaming at the top of her lungs. I was with her constantly, she lived not even 3 miles from my house, we were together practically every day. She was home for the last few weeks when the doctor told us there was nothing they could do any more. Up until the last two days, she was still moving around. The doctor told us she will leave very quickly and her body will just start to shut down. But when she left, she left the world with a bang, she left it how she lived it. She screamed her way out of here, literally. I truly believe her survival instincts were so part of her DNA that she was not going to go quietly or willingly. It was just the two of us hanging out [during the last days] she was very funny. We didn't have to [talk] because I always knew how she felt about me. I was the love of her life, so the last part of her life we didn't have to have these heart to heart talks.


She started to see people that weren't there. She thought I could see them too, but, of course, I couldn't. I would make fun of her like, "I'm going to go in the other room and you stay here and talk to your friends."



Awards and nominations


Kitt won awards for her film, television, and stage work. In 1960, the Hollywood Walk of Fame honored her with a star, which can be found on 6656 Hollywood Boulevard.[33]



Discography




Filmography



Film


































































































































































































Year
Film
Role
Notes
1948

Casbah
Uncredited
Film debut
1949–1951
unknown
unknown
It is noted in the original sleeve notes of Kitt's first musical release in the United Kingdom, That Bad Eartha 10" LP, that during her time in Paris, before her brief return to the United Kingdom in 1951, "she made two films in the French capital".[34] This fact is also supported by many of her biographies.[35] Currently only one of these films is known.
1951

Parigi è sempre Parigi
Cabaret Singer,
Herself
1954

New Faces
Herself
First credited film role, launched mainstream career
1957

The Mark of the Hawk
Renee

1958

St. Louis Blues
Gogo Germaine

1958

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

Ill Gotten Gains
The Wood (Voice)

1998

I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
Cult Leader


The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story
Bagheera (voice)

2000

The Emperor's New Groove
Yzma (voice)



  • Won: 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


2002

Anything But Love
Herself

2003

Holes
Madame Zeroni

2005

Preaching to the Choir
Ms. Nettie


Kronk's New Groove
Yzma (voice)

2007

And Then Came Love
Mona
Last motion picture appearance


Television














































































































































































































Year
Title
Episode
Role
Notes
1965

I Spy
"The Loser"
Angel


  • Nominated: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

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"

Santería Priestess Chata

1989

After Dark
"Rock Bottom?"

Extended appearance on discussion programme, together with Simon Napier-Bell and Pat Kane among others
1993

Jack's Place
"The Seventh Meal"
Isabel Lang


Matrix
"Moths to a Flame"
Sister Rowena

1994

Space Ghost Coast to Coast

Batmantis
Herself

1995

The Magic School Bus
"Going Batty"
Mrs. Franklin (voice)


New York Undercover
"Student Affairs"
Mrs. Stubbs


Living Single
"He Works Hard for the Money"
Jacqueline Richards


  • Nominated: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

1996

The Nanny
"A Pup in Paris"
Herself

1998

The Wild Thornberrys
"Flood Warning"
Lioness #1 (voice)

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 (voice)


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
7 episodes
Queen Vexus (voice)

2006–2008

The Emperor's New School

Yzma (voice)



  • Won: Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Television Production (2007–2008)


  • Won: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer In An Animated Program (2007–2008)


2007

American Dad!
"Dope and Faith"
Fortune Teller (voice)

2009

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

2010

The Simpsons
"Once Upon a Time in Springfield"
Herself (voice)
Aired posthumously


Documentary



























Year
Film
Role
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


Stage work































































































































































































































































Year
Title
Location
Role
Notes
1945

Blue Holiday

Broadway
Performer
as a member of the Katherine Dunham Troupe; a short-lived production at the Belasco Theatre[36]

Carib Song
Broadway
Company
as a member of the Katherine Dunham Troupe; performed at the Adelphi Theatre as an Original Broadway production[36]
1946

Bal Nègre
Broadway, and Europe
Performer
as a member of the Katherine Dunham Troupe; widely acclaimed Concert at the Belasco Theatre[36]
unknown

Mexico
Performer
performed successfully as a member of the Katherine Dunham Troupe which was under contract with Teatro Americano for more than two months at the request of Doris Duke[36]
1948

Caribbean Rhapsody

West End, and Paris

Chorus girl
as a member of the Katherine Dunham Troupe; performed at the Prince of Wales Theatre (West End) and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (Paris)[34][36]
1949-50
unknown
Paris
Herself,
Performer
first solo show / leading performance; performed at Carroll's Niterie; is where Orson Welles discovered her[34][37][38]
1950

Time Runs
Paris[6]

Helen of Troy
In segment based on Faust; performed "Hungry Little Trouble" written by Duke Ellington; cast by Orson Welles[34]

An Evening With Orson Welles

Frankfurt[39]
1951

Dr. Faustus
Paris
with Orson Welles
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[40]
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
The Wicked Witch

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
Liliane La Fleur
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



References





  1. ^ "Mother Eartha" Archived 2014-01-01 at the Wayback Machine. Philadelphia City Paper. January 17–24, 2002. Retrieved October 9, 2013.


  2. ^ Messer, Kate X. (July 21, 2006). "Just An Old Fashioned Cat". The Austin Chronicle..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  3. ^ "Obituary: Eartha Kitt" by Adrian Jack, The Guardian, 17 December 2008. Retrieved 2018-06-17.


  4. ^ Eartha Kitt interview Eartha Kitt: My Family (interview) on YouTube


  5. ^ ab "Eartha Kitt, Chanteuse, Cherokee, and a seducer of audiences, Walked On at 81". Indian Country News. February 26, 2009.


  6. ^ abc "Eartha Kitt: Singer who rose from poverty to captivate audiences around the world with her purring voice". The Telegraph. December 26, 2008. Retrieved December 14, 2014.


  7. ^ Weil, Martin (December 26, 2008). "Bewitching Entertainer Eartha Kitt, 81". The Washington Post. p. B05.


  8. ^ ab Adam Luck, "Eartha Kitt's life was scarred by failure to learn the identity of her white father, says daughter", The Observer, October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.


  9. ^ Associated Press. "Singer, Broadway Star Eartha Kitt Dies", Billboard, December 25, 2008.


  10. ^ Hall, Phil (January 4, 2001). "New Faces". Film Threat.


  11. ^ Wayne, George (June 2001). "Back to Eartha". Vanity Fair. p. 160.


  12. ^ "Eartha Kitt". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved May 14, 2013.


  13. ^ The black actress who made Lady Bird Johnson cry; The truth hurts, March 13, 2017, timeline.com


  14. ^ Amorosi, A. D. (February 27, 1997). "Eartha Kitt". Philadelphia City Paper. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009.


  15. ^ James, Frank (December 26, 2008). "Eartha Kitt versus the LBJs". The Swamp. Archived from the original on January 14, 2009.


  16. ^ Hoerburger, Rob (December 25, 2008). "Eartha Kitt, a Seducer of Audiences, Dies at 81". The New York Times.


  17. ^ abc "CIA gave Secret Service a Report containing Gossip about Eartha Kitt after a White House Incident" by Seymour Hersh, The New York Times, January 3, 1975


  18. ^ "Where Is My Man". Chart Stats. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02.


  19. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco 1974–2003. Record Research Inc.


  20. ^ ab Scott Duncan, "George Burns, Eartha Kitt are delightful at 'Lifesongs 1990'", The Baltimore Sun, September 17, 1990.


  21. ^ Hoerburger, Rob (2008-12-25). "Eartha Kitt Obituary". The New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2014.


  22. ^ "Eartha Kitt to Be Married". The New York Times. May 12, 1960. p. 40.
    (subscription required)



  23. ^ "Kitt McDonald is Wed to Charles L. Shapiro". The New York Times. June 14, 1987.


  24. ^ Johnson, Robert E. (June 14, 1973). "Eartha Kitt Observes Seventh Year With Black Ghetto School". Jet 44: 56.


  25. ^ Hearings, 90th Cong., 1st Sess. 558 (1967). pp. 559–60.


  26. ^ Kitt, Eartha (1976). Alone With Me. H. Regnery Co. p. 239.
    ISBN 9780809283514.



  27. ^ Blackwell, Joyce (2004). No Peace Without Freedom: Race and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Southern Illinois University Press.
    ISBN 9780809325641.



  28. ^ "Eartha Kitt, actress and gay rights ally, dies at age 81". PageOneQ. December 28, 2008. Archived from the original on April 30, 2009.


  29. ^ Eartha Kitt sings Swedish and talks about her gay-fans on YouTube


  30. ^ "Singer-actress Eartha Kitt dies at 81". MSNBC. December 26, 2008.


  31. ^ Wilson, Christopher (December 26, 2008). "Seductive singer Eartha Kitt dies at 81". Reuters.


  32. ^ Kitt Shapiro daughter Eartha Kitt offers Business Advice. Mommynoise.com. October 5, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2013.


  33. ^ "Eartha Kitt tickets competition". The Telegraph. January 24, 2008.


  34. ^ abcd That Bad Eartha 10" Long Play (United Kingdom Version) (sleeve note). Eartha Kitt. His Master's Voice. 1955.


  35. ^ Pear, Nancy (1993). "Contemporary Musicians". 2004 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning & HighBeam Research. Retrieved December 14, 2014.


  36. ^ abcde "Selections from the Katherine Dunham Collection". Library of Congress. Retrieved December 14, 2014.


  37. ^ Down to Eartha (United Kingdom Version) (sleeve note). Eartha Kitt. His Master's Voice. 1955.


  38. ^ Baker, Rob (October 16, 2014). "Eartha Kitt and Orson Welles in Paris in 1950". Alum Media Ltd. Retrieved December 14, 2014.


  39. ^ Fanning, Win (August 13, 1950). "Eartha Kitt wins raves in Welles' show at Frankfurt". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved December 14, 2014.


  40. ^ Los Angeles Herald-Examiner and Los Angeles Times. June 8, 1974.[full citation needed]




Further reading



  • Walsh, David (December 27, 2008). "Harold Pinter and Eartha Kitt, artists and opponents of imperialist war". World Socialist Web Site.

  • Gent, Helen (May 4, 2009). "Eartha Kitt: The Feline Femme Fatale". Marie Claire (Australia).

  • Williams, John L. (2013), America's Mistress: the Life and Times of Eartha Kitt, Quercus.



External links







  • Official website


  • Eartha Kitt on IMDb


  • Eartha Kitt at the Internet Broadway Database Edit this at Wikidata


  • Eartha Kitt at the Internet Off-Broadway Database


  • Eartha Kitt at TV Guide


  • Eartha Kitt at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television



Video / audio footage




  • "An Evening with Eartha Kitt". Say Brother. WGBH-TV. September 14, 1979.


  • "Singer And Actress Eartha Kitt Dies". All Things Considered. NPR. December 25, 2008.


  • "Eartha Kitt on Piano Jazz". Piano Jazz. NPR. May 1, 2009 (recorded February 12, 1993).


  • "Eartha Kitt". National Visionary Leadership Project.






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Lee Meriwether

Catwoman
1967–1968
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