Shaping culture and breaking barriers
The 1960s saw Eartha Kitt work increasingly in television. In 1965, she appeared in an episode of 'I Spy' called 'The Loser' as a drug-addicted cabaret singer, a performance for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
Eartha Mae Kitt was born on January 17, 1927, in the small town of North in South Carolina. Her mother was of Cherokee and African descent while her father, whom she never knew, was white.
Kitt's success continued with nationwide appearances in nightclubs and theaters. And it wasn't long before Hollywood was knocking on her door.
After moving to Harlem in New York to live with an aunt, Kitt eventually enrolled in the New York School of Performing Arts. Her natural talent as a dancer won Kitt a scholarship to study with Katherine Dunham, and she later joined Dunham's dance troupe. The burgeoning entertainer toured the United States, Mexico, South America, and Europe, before settling in Paris, France.
In June 1960, Eartha Kitt married real estate entrepreneur John William McDonald. Their union blended two contrasting worlds: McDonald's business-oriented lifestyle and Kitt's glamorous career in the entertainment industry.
The couple had one child, a daughter called Kitt. The pressures of Kitt's hectic career schedule and the demands of McDonald's business soon created strains in their relationship. Societal pressures and racial prejudices of the time added further complications to their marriage. The pair separated in 1963 and divorced in 1964.
Playing a cat-themed jewel thief and cat burglar involved in a complicated love-hate relationship with Batman, she made the role hers with her svelte appearance and breathy purr of a voice.
However, her most famous television role was that of Catwoman in the television series 'Batman' (1966–1968).
Back stateside two years later, Kitt appeared in the Broadway revue 'New Faces of 1952.'
Further early 1950s recordings, including 'Uska Dara,' 'C'est si bon,' 'I Want to Be Evil,' and the perennially favorite holiday classic 'Santa Baby,' made Kitt a star.
In 1950, Welles cast her as Helen of Troy in his production of 'Dr. Faustus.' He later described Kitt as "the most exciting woman alive."
In the production she sang 'Monotonous,' a song with which she is still identified. Her flawless performance helped launch her music career in the United States.
Kitt had actually made her screen debut back in 1948 as an uncredited dancer in 'Casbah.' Her first starring role was in 1957's 'The Mark of the Hawk' opposite Sidney Poitier. The picture was one of the first mainstream Hollywood movies where black actors featured in lead roles.
The following year she appeared in 'St. Louis Blues' alongside jazz and blues greats Nat "King" Cole, Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway, and Ella Fitzgerald.
Also in 1958, Kitt starred opposite Sammy Davis, Jr. in 'Anna Lucasta.' It was Davis' first dramatic feature film role and cemented a lifelong friendship between the two entertainers.
Angry and bewildered, Kitt described what had happened to her as "disgusting." She spent the next decade or so mostly working in Europe and Asia.
In 1956, she published a memoir, 'Thursday's Child,' chronicling the misery of growing up penniless in the Deep South. Kitt was well versed in philosophy, politics, and other aspects of culture.
Throughout he career, Eartha Kitt was active in numerous social causes. She was vocal in her support for the underprivileged and disenfranchised, especially those in inner city environments.
Then in January 1978, Kitt was invited back to the White House by President Jimmy Carter to attend the 10th anniversary of the restoration of Ford's Theatre, the venue where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
While many outside Washington supported her views, Kitt's career nosedived in the wake of the controversy. Overnight, work in the United States dried up.
In 1966, she established the Kittsville Youth Foundation, a non-profit organization for underprivileged youths in the Watts area of Los Angeles. The entertainer also supported Rebels with a Cause, a youth group based in Washington, D.C. that created recreational areas in an effort to keep kids out of trouble. And she was also a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
Kitt's raw and abrasive remarks reportedly caused Mrs. Johnson to burst into tears. Upon hearing what had happened, the Central Intelligence Agency branded Kitt "a sadistic nymphomaniac" and complied a dossier on her. The CIA later released intimate details of the singer's personal life and family history to The New York Times.
Kitt was raised in abject poverty, mostly by various relatives after her mother walked out on her. Her mixed heritage meant she was not accepted by the black community, and her early childhood was marred by abuse.
In Paris, Kitt became a popular nightclub singer and dancer and learned to speak French. And it was while working in Paris that she was discovered by actor-director Orson Welles.
Between film roles, Eartha Kitt continued to tour Europe, and especially Great Britain. The pioneering photojournalistic magazine Picture Post had ran a feature on the singer in 1956, the publicity from which had endured her to English audiences.
Throughout the 1950s, Kitt recorded, worked in cinema, television, and nightclubs. She also returned to the Broadway stage.
Eartha Kitt was an international singing star who distinguished herself in music, film, television, theater, and cabaret. She was also a committed social activist.
Known for her feline charisma and highly distinctive vocal style, she had risen from extreme poverty to become one of the great entertainers of the 1950s and '60s. But while her sultry voice made her famous, the entertainment industry would punish her for actually speaking her mind. Furthermore, the Central Intelligence Agency embarked on a smear campaign that effectively exiled the singer from US soil for a decade. So, what did Eartha Kitt say that provoked such a cruel backlash from the establishment?
Click through the following gallery and find out more about this unique American singer and actress.
It was for her youth work that Eartha Kitt was invited by Lady Bird Johnson, wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson, to a White House luncheon in 1968 to discuss the causes of juvenile delinquency.
During the luncheon, the First Lady asked Kitt about the Vietnam War. She replied: "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. They rebel in the street. They will take pot and they will get high. They don't want to go to school because they're going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam."
Later that year, Kitt made her triumphant Broadway return in the musical 'Timbuktu!,' garnering a Tony Award nomination for her efforts.
She returned to music in 1984 and was finally rewarded for her work in the entertainment industry with Daytime Emmy Awards (2007 and 2008) for providing the voice of the scheming Yzma in the popular children's television program 'The Emperor's New School' (Kitt posthumously won a third Emmy in 2010 for her guest performance on 'Wonder Pets!').
Eartha Kitt spent her later years performing her cabaret act at New York's Cafe Carlyle (pictured). She continued to wow audiences as she had so many decades before, when she was the toast of Paris. On December 25, 2008, Eartha Kitt died. She was 81 years old.
Sources: (Biography) (Britannica) (The New Yorker) (Regeneration: Black Cinema) (Eartha Kitt) (Europeana)
See also: The 30 best female vocalists of all time
Who was Eartha Kitt, and why was she smeared by the CIA?
The American singer and actress spoke her mind, and paid a price for doing so
CELEBRITY Retrospective
Eartha Kitt was an international singing star who distinguished herself in music, film, television, theater, and cabaret. She was also a committed social activist.
Known for her feline charisma and highly distinctive vocal style, she had risen from extreme poverty to become one of the great entertainers of the 1950s and '60s. But while her sultry voice made her famous, the entertainment industry would punish her for actually speaking her mind. Furthermore, the Central Intelligence Agency embarked on a smear campaign that effectively exiled the singer from US soil for a decade. So, what did Eartha Kitt say that provoked such a cruel backlash from the establishment?
Click through the following gallery and find out more about this unique American singer and actress.