Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmasnovelty song "Santa Baby".
In 1968, Kitt's career in the U.S. deteriorated after she made anti-Vietnam War statements at a White House luncheon with Lady Bird Johnson, the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Ten years later, Kitt 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. Kitt's second was for the 2000 original production of the musical The Wild Party. She wrote three autobiographies.
Kitt found a new generation of fans through her various voice acting roles in the last decade of her life. She was the voice of two villainous characters in animated works during the twenty-first century: Yzma in The Emperor's New Groove franchise, and Vexus in My Life As A Teenage Robot, with the former role earning her two Daytime Emmy Awards. Kitt posthumously won a third Emmy in 2010 for her guest performance on Wonder Pets!.
Early life
Eartha Mae Keith was born on January 17, 1927, in North, South Carolina. She did not learn her exact birth date until later in life, when she challenged students at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, to locate her birth certificate; they succeeded in finding it.
Her mother, Annie Mae Keith, was of Cherokee and African-American descent. Kitt knew little about her father. According to accounts of her early life, he was rumored to have been the son of the plantation owner where she was born, and her conception was alleged to have resulted from rape. In a 2013 biography, British journalist John Williams identified her father as Daniel Sturkie, a white local physician. Kitt's daughter, Kitt Shapiro (née McDonald), has questioned the accuracy of this claim.
Her mother went to live with a Black man who refused to accept Kitt because of her relatively light complexion. Kitt was raised by a relative known as Aunt Rosa, in whose household she experienced abuse. In a 1971 interview on BBC Wales's Late Call, she recalled periods of severe food deprivation: "I remember at times when we didn't have anything to eat for what seemed like an insurmountable amount of time. We had to rely on the forest and whatever we could dig out of the ground, such as weeds or a grass I remember that had a kind of onion growing at the bottom of it." Reflecting on the lasting influence of her childhood, she added, "I'm very glad that [her childhood self] will always be a part of me because she helps me do what she knows I have to do out there on that stage."
After Annie Mae's death, Kitt was sent to live with another relative, Mamie Kitt, in Harlem, New York City. Kitt later came to believe that Mamie was her biological mother. She attended Metropolitan Vocational High School in New York City.
In the summer of 1944, Kitt left school at the age of 17 and traveled to upstate New York, where she worked as a farmerette, one of the women recruited to perform agricultural labor during World War II. Her work included harvesting cherries and currants. She enjoyed the experience, which drew on a lifelong enthusiasm for horticulture rooted in her childhood in South Carolina.
Kitt returned to New York City in September 1944 and auditioned for the Katherine Dunham Company, the first African American modern dance company in the United States. She was awarded a scholarship, which included a stipend of $10 a week.
In 1945, after six months of training at the Katherine Dunham School of Dance, Kitt made her professional debut as a dancer with the company in the Broadway variety show Blue Holiday. Around the same time, she auditioned for the Katherine Dunham Company, whose leading members were appearing in another Broadway production at the Ziegfeld Theatre. According to fellow dancer Van Aikens, Kitt was initially turned down and left the stage in tears. However, she and her friend Roxie were placed on a waiting list until the company could expand.
Dunham secured a Broadway engagement for Carib Song, a new production that incorporated dialogue and songs alongside dance. Kitt was added to the company, which opened at the Adelphi Theatre on September 24, 1945. Her vocal ability quickly distinguished her as a performer. Aikens recalled that Dunham particularly admired Kitt's voice and that she regularly sang at the company's annual Boule Blanche (White Ball). Kitt toured the United States with the Katherine Dunham Company for the next several years. In 1948, the troupe traveled to London and subsequently toured Europe. Kitt remained in Paris in 1949, where she established herself as a nightclub performer.
International stardom
In March 1950, the New Pittsburgh Courier reported that Kitt had become a popular attraction at an upscale Paris nightclub, performing Afro-Cuban songs and incorporating rumba movements into her act. The newspaper mentioned her radio and television appearances and concert performances with American jazz musicians, including Coleman Hawkins, Buck Clayton, and Doc Cheatham. She was also compared to African American entertainer Josephine Baker whose career thrived in Paris, "Perhaps taking up for this generation where the great Josephine Baker left off, Eartha is a great favorite with the male entertainment seeker."
Kitt's distinctive voice and multilingual performances helped establish her international career. While performing in Europe, she became fluent in French; she spoke four languages and sang in seven.
Her recordings included "Let's Do It," "Champagne Taste," "C'est si bon," "Just an Old Fashioned Girl," "Je cherche un homme," "Love for Sale," "I'd Rather Be Burned as a Witch," "Kâtibim," "Mink, Schmink," and "Under the Bridges of Paris." Her best-known recording, "Santa Baby," was released in 1953. In 1956, she published her autobiography, Thursday's Child, which later inspired the title of David Bowie's 1999 song of the same name.
Kitt in Amsterdam, 1962
During the 1950s, Kitt also appeared in films, including The Mark of the Hawk (1957), St. Louis Blues (1958), and Anna Lucasta (1958). Her stage credits during this period included Mrs. Patterson (1954–1955), Shinbone Alley (1957), and Jolly's Progress (1959).
Kitt continued to perform internationally in the 1960s. At the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium on October 29, 1962, she sang solo and appeared in a sketch with Harry Secombe; The Illustrated London News described them as "perhaps the two outstanding performers of the evening." In 1963, she performed at the Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines, where she learned the song "Waray-Waray" phonetically and later included it in her repertoire and a live album. The following year, she helped open the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California.
Throughout her career, Kitt was frequently described in feline terms, with critics likening her voice to a purr and characterizing her stage presence as that of a "sex kitten." In 1967, she took over the role of Catwoman in the television series Batman from Julie Newmar. That year, she also appeared as Tina Mara, a contortionist, in an episode of Mission: Impossible titled "The Traitor."
Career decline and resurgence
In 1968, Kitt attended a White House luncheon where she discussed the Vietnam War with First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. Kitt criticized the war and subsequently faced professional repercussions, with bookings reportedly declining and her career in the United States curtailed. She spent much of the following decade performing in Europe.
In 1970, Kitt filmed a television special for Group W Films, with filming taking place in nine European cities during May and June. Throughout the 1970s, she continued to perform on television and the concert stage, including appearances on the BBC variety show The Good Old Days.
In 1976, Kitt published her second book Alone with Me: A New Autobiography.
Kitt returned to the music charts in 1984 with "Where Is My Man", a disco single that became her first gold record. It reached No. 36 on the UK singles chart and No. 7 on the US Billboard dance chart. The single was followed by the album I Love Men. The success introduced her to a new generation of nightclub audiences, particularly gay men, and she frequently performed at benefits for HIV/AIDS organizations.
In 1987, Kitt replaced Dolores Gray as Carlotta in the London West End production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. Her performance of "I'm Still Here" received standing ovations, and she subsequently performed a solo show at the Shaftesbury Theatre in early 1989. That year, her single "Cha-Cha Heels," recorded with Bronski Beat, reached No. 32 on the UK singles chart. She also published her memoir I'm Still Here: Confessions of a Sex Kitten.
Kitt performing in concert, 2007
Kitt continued to work in film and television, appearing as Old Lady Hackmore in Ernest Scared Stupid (1991), Lady Eloise in Boomerang (1992), Agatha K. Plummer in Harriet the Spy (1996), and Madame Zeroni in Holes (2003). 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. In November 1996, Kitt appeared in an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!. She also did a series of commercials for Old Navy.
In 1998, Kitt toured North America with the production of The Wizard of Oz as the Wicked Witch of the West. She appeared in the Broadway production of The Wild Party in 2000, which earned her a Tony Award nomination. Her later stage credits included Cinderella as the Fairy Godmother in 2000 and 2004, Nine in 2003, and the off-Broadway musical Mimi le Duck in 2006.
During her late career resurgence, Kitt published her memoir Rejuvenate!: It's Never Too Late. She continued to perform in cabaret venues in New York, including the Café Carlyle, and appeared at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival in April 2008. She also recorded a new version of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" for MAC Cosmetics' 2007 Smoke Signals collection and appeared in the film And Then Came Love that year. Her final voice performances included an appearance as herself in The Simpsons episode "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", which aired in 2010.
Controversy
On January 18, 1968, during the administration of U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson, Kitt attended a White House luncheon where she criticized the Vietnam War during a question-and-answer session with First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. Asked about the war and the growing youth protest movement, Kitt challenged the administration's policies, saying: "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:
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.
Kitt's remarks reportedly caused Lady Bird Johnson to burst into tears. The incident damaged Kitt's professional standing in the United States, and she subsequently concentrated on performing in Europe and Asia.
In 1975, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh discovered a Central Intelligence Agency dossier on Kitt and reported on it in The New York Times. The dossier included details of her family history and sex life, as well as disparaging assessments attributed to former colleagues. It characterized Kitt as a "sadistic nymphomaniac." Kitt condemned the dossier, saying, "I don't understand what this is about. I think it's disgusting."
In February 2022, the short documentary Catwoman vs. the White House, directed by Scott Calonico, examined the luncheon incident through photographs, press clippings, and archival footage.
Kitt returned to the White House on January 29, 1978, when she accepted an invitation from President Jimmy Carter to attend a reception marking the tenth anniversary of the reopening of Ford's Theatre.
Personal life
Kitt and her daughter, Kitt McDonald, arriving in Finland, 1970
Kitt married John William McDonald, an associate of a real estate investment company, on June 9, 1960. Their daughter, Kitt McDonald, was born on November 26, 1961, and was baptized Catholic at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. Eartha Kitt and McDonald separated on July 1, 1963, and divorced on March 26, 1964.
It was reported that Kitt spent time with French actor Jean Marais early in her career. Although rumors later circulated that she and Welles had an affair during Shinbone Alley, Kitt denied them in a 2001 interview with George Wayne for Vanity Fair saying, "It was a working situation and nothing else."
A longtime Connecticut resident, 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.
Activism
Kitt was involved in social and political causes from the 1950s onward, including youth programs, peace activism, and LGBT rights. In 1966, she established the Kittsville Youth Foundation, a chartered nonprofit organization serving underprivileged young people in the Watts area of Los Angeles.
Kitt also supported Rebels with a Cause, a group of young people in Anacostia, Washington, D.C., who worked to clean up their neighborhood and establish recreational facilities. In May 1967, she accompanied members of the group when they testified before the House General Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Education and Labor. Kitt praised their accomplishments, arguing that in one year, despite limited funding, they had achieved what established community leaders had not. She maintained that the group could serve as a model for other urban communities facing similar problems. The group subsequently received the funding it had sought.
Kitt was a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Her opposition to the Vietnam War, expressed during a 1968 White House luncheon, reflected her concerns about the relationship between the war, poverty, and racial unrest. The Central Intelligence Agency had maintained a file on Kitt since 1956. After The New York Times reported on the file in 1975, Kitt gave the newspaper permission to publish portions of it, stating, "I have nothing to be afraid of and I have nothing to hide."
Kitt later became an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights and same-sex marriage, which she regarded as a civil right. Explaining her support for marriage equality, she said, "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?"
She also appeared at numerous LGBT fundraisers, including a large event in Baltimore with George Burns and Jimmy James. As part of the performance, James impersonated Kitt before she appeared onstage to take the microphone, prompting a standing ovation. Scott Sherman, an agent at Atlantic Entertainment Group, praised her participation, saying that Kitt “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.
Kitt died of colon cancer on Christmas Day 2008 at her home in Weston, Connecticut, aged 81. She was survived by her daughter, Kitt Shapiro, and two grandchildren.
In a 2013 interview, Shapiro recalled being with her mother during her final days at home. "She left this world literally screaming at the top of her lungs," she said, adding, "She screamed her way out of here, literally." Shapiro described their final days as intimate and affectionate, saying, "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."
In 2016, January 17 was announced as Eartha Kitt Day in Kitt's home state of South Carolina. In 2022 the day was enshrined into state law in SC Code § 53-3-75 (2022). South Carolinian Sheldon Rice is credited for beginning the push for legislation declaring her birthday as a state holiday since the time of her death in 2008. State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter first introduced the legislation to create the State holiday in 2011.
↑as a member of the Katherine Dunham Troupe; performed at the Adelphi Theatre as an Original Broadway production
↑as a member of the Katherine Dunham Troupe; widely acclaimed Concert at the Belasco Theatre
↑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
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