NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith on January 17, 1927),^[1] is an American actress, singer, and cabaret star. She is best known for her role as Catwoman in the 1960s TV series Batman, and for her 1953 Christmas song "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her "the most exciting woman in the world." Eartha Kitt photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1952. ... Carl Van Vechten (June 17, 1880 â€“ December 21, 1964) was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein. ... is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... North is a town in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. ... is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... A singer is a musician who uses their voice to produce music. ... Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue â€” a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting around the tables (often dining or drinking) watching the performance. ... Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics Batman franchise and created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Santa Baby is a Christmas song written by Joan Javitz, Philip Springer, and Tony Springer. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

In 1960, Kitt was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has also received three Tony nominations, two Grammy nominations, and an Emmy nomination. Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A band plays on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. ... What is popularly called the Tony Award® but is formally the Antoinette Perry Award is an annual American award celebrating achievements in theater, including musical theater. ... Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music... An Emmy Award. ...

Biography

Kitt's mother was Black Indian with Cherokee ancestry, and her father was European-American. She was born (out of wedlock, as would have to be the case given the laws regarding miscegenation at the time) in tiny North, South Carolina, but jokes about the fact that many audiences assume her to be from somewhere more exotic. Her hits include "Let's Do It," "C'est Si Bon," "Just an Old Fashioned Girl," "Monotonous," "Love for Sale," "I'd Rather Be Burned as a Witch," "Uska Dara," "Mink, Schmink," "Under the Bridges of Paris," and her most recognizable hit, "Santa Baby." Kitt's unique style was enhanced as she became fluent in French during her years performing in Europe. She dabbled in other languages as well, which she demonstrates with finesse in many of the live recordings of her cabaret performances. Black Indians is a term generally used to describe people who have significant traces of both African and Native American ancestry and/or African Americans who have lived for a long time with Native Americans. ... For other uses, see Cherokee (disambiguation). ... A European American, or a Euro-American, is a person who resides in the United States and is either the descendant of European immigrants or from Europe themselves. ... Illegitimacy was a term in common usage for the condition of being born of parents who are not validly married to one another; the legal term is bastardy. ... Frederick Douglass with his second wife Helen Pitts Douglass (sitting) who was white, a famous 19th century American example of miscegenation. The woman standing is her sister Eva Pitts. ... North is a town in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. ... Santa Baby is a Christmas song written by Joan Javitz, Philip Springer, and Tony Springer. ...

Kitt got her start as a member of the Katherine Dunham Company and made her film debut with them in Casbah (1948). In 1950, Orson Welles gave her 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", "C'est Si Bon" and "Santa Baby", three songs with which she continues to be identified. During her run, 20th Century-Fox filmed a version of the play. Orson Welles and Kitt allegedly had a torrid affair during her run in Shinbone Alley, which earned her the nickname by Welles as "the most exciting woman in the world". In 1958, Kitt made her feature film debut opposite Sidney Poitier in The Mark of the Hawk. Throughout the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s, Kitt would work on and off in film, television and on nightclub stages. In the late 1960s, television series Batman, she played Catwoman in succession to Julie Newmar. This is the role for which she would best be remembered, owing to her purring feline drawl. In 1968, however, Kitt encountered a substantial professional setback after she made anti-war statements during a White House luncheon. It was falsely reported that she made First Lady Lady Bird Johnson cry uncontrollably when in fact, the First Lady replied very diplomatically. The public reaction to Kitt's statements were much more extreme, both for and against her statements. Professionally exiled from the U.S., she devoted her energies to overseas performances. During that time cultural references to her grew, including outside the United States, such as the well-known Monty Python sketch ("the cycling tour") where an amnesiac believes he is first Clodagh Rogers, then Trotsky and finally Eartha Kitt (while performing to an enthusiastic crowd in Moscow). 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 distinctively Eartha Kitt, one of the more memorable moments of the production. Equally memorable was her first entrance, which came after a long, dramatic, musical procession. Kitt entered seated atop the outstretched hand of former Mr. World, bodybuilder Tony Carroll. Her first line, perfectly purred in character, "I'm here" would literally stop the show each night, while the cast and orchestra waited for the audience applause and cheers to subside so that they could continue. Her nightly curtain call was also memorable, as it was a long, protracted, gymnastic, yet balletic, genuflection to the audience, that saw Kitt go completely to the floor, and from that position extend literally until her face touched her outstretched leg, and became parallel to the ground. From that position she would stand upright, using just one foot, and all without using her hands to balance herself. It was a stunning feat of dexterity, even for a lithe, younger person, but given her age at the time, was nothing short of extraordinary. The Katherine Dunham Company, a troupe of dancers, singers, actors and musicians, was the first African American modern dance company. ... The Casbah (French) or as transliterated from Arabic Qasbah (from qasbah, Ù‚ØµØ¨Ø©, citadel) is specifically the citadel of Algiers and the traditional quarter clustered round it. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Helen was the wife of Menelaus and reputed to be the most beautiful woman in the world, and her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... New Faces of 1952 is a musical revue with music and lyrics by various hands, including Ronny Graham and June Carroll, who also appeared in the Broadway production; and sketches by Ronny Graham and Melvin Brooks. ... Santa Baby is a Christmas song written by Joan Javitz, Philip Springer, and Tony Springer. ... 20th Century Fox logo Fox Plaza, the company headquarters. ... Shinbone Alley is a musical with a book by Joe Darion and Mel Brooks, lyrics by Darion, and music by George Kleinsinger. ... Sir Sidney Poitier KBE, (IPA pronunciation: ) (born February 20, 1927), is an Academy Award-winning Bahamian American actor, film director, and activist. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics Batman franchise and created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. ... Julie Newmar (born Julie Chalene Newmeyer on August 16, 1933) is an American actress, dancer and singer. ... For other uses, see White House (disambiguation). ... Claudia Alta Lady Bird Taylor Johnson (December 22, 1912 â€“ July 11, 2007)[1] was a First Lady of the United States, having been the wife of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. ... Monty Python, or The Pythons, is the collective name of the creators of Monty Pythons Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. ... NY redirects here. ... Timbuktu is a Broadway production that opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on March 1, 1978 and ran for 243 performances. ... Kismet is a musical written in 1953 by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin. ... The Mister World contest is an international beauty pageant for men and has been held since 1996. ...

In 1984, she returned to hit music with a disco song, Where Is My Man (UK # 34); the first certified Gold record of her career. Kitt found new audiences in nightclubs across the country, 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) received a positive response from UK dance clubs and reached #32 in the UK charts. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Bronski Beat was a popular British synth pop trio of the 1980s. ...

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 but notable run of the original cast of Michael John LaChiusa's The Wild Party, opposite Mandy Patinkin and Toni Collette. In 2003, she replaced Chita Rivera in Nine. The Wizard of Oz is the name of a play based on the screenplay of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. ... The Lion King at the New Amsterdam Theatre, 2003 Broadway theatre[1] is the most prestigious form of professional theatre in the U.S., as well as the most well known to the general public and most lucrative for the performers, technicians and others involved in putting on the shows. ... Michael John LaChiusa (born 1962) is a musical theatre composer and lyricist best known for his unusual sounding compositions for shows in the post-modern school. ... // Original Text The Wild Party, a classic epic poem, is Joseph Moncure Marchs first published work. ... Mandel Bruce Patinkin (born November 30, 1952) is an American actor of stage and screen, as well as a renowned tenor. ... Toni Collette (born November 1, 1972) is an Academy Award-nominated Australian actress and musician. ... A Dancers Life poster Chita Rivera (born January 23, 1933) is a Tony Award-winning American actress, dancer, and singer known for her musical theater roles. ... Nine is a musical with music and lyrics by American composer Maury Yeston. ...

One of her more unusual roles was as Kaa the python in a 1994 BBC Radio adaptation of The Jungle Book. Kitt lent her distinctive voice to the role of Yzma in Disney's The Emperor's New Groove 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 a 2006 Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production. She is currently doing other voiceover work such as the voice of Queen Vexus on the animated TV series My Life as a Teenage Robot. Mowgli with Kaa in a Russian cartoon (1969). ... Genera Aspidites Antaresia Apodora Bothrochilus Leiopython Liasis Morelia Python Python is the common name for a group of non-venomous constricting snakes, specifically the family Pythonidae. ... BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. ... Embossed cover from the original MacMillan edition of The Jungle Book, 1894, based on art by John Lockwood Kipling (Rudyards father) For other uses, see The Jungle Book (disambiguation). ... Yzma (eez-mah) is the main villain in Disneys The Emperors New Groove and its spin-off television series The Emperors New School. ... The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. ... The Emperors New Groove is a 2000 animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures through Buena Vista Distribution on December 15, 2000. ... A film that is released direct-to-video (also straight-to-video) is one which has been released to the public on home video formats first rather than first being released in movie theaters. ... Kronks New Groove (also known as The Emperors New Groove 2: Kronks New Groove in some countries) is a 2005 animated feature film, a direct-to-video sequel to the 2000 animated film The Emperors New Groove. ... The Emperors New School is an Daytime Emmy award-winning American animated television series on the Disney Channel. ... The Annie Awards are given to an animation award show created by the International Animated Film Society ASIFA-Hollywood, and are animations highest honor[1]. Originally designed to celebrate lifetime or career contributions to animation in the fields of producing, directing, animation, design, writing, voice acting, sound and sound... My Life as a Teenage Robot is an Emmy-nominated American animated television series, produced by Frederator Studios for the Nickelodeon cable channel. ... My Life as a Teenage Robot is an Emmy-nominated American animated television series, produced by Frederator Studios for the Nickelodeon cable channel. ...

In recent years, Kitt's annual appearances in New York have made her a fixture of the Manhattan cabaret scene. She takes the stage at venues such as The Ballroom and, more recently, the Café Carlyle to explore and define her highly stylized image, alternating between signature songs (such as Old Fashioned Millionaire), which emphasize a witty, mercenary world-weariness, and less familiar repertoire, much of which she performs with an unexpected ferocity and bite that present her as a survivor with a seemingly bottomless reservoir of resilience — her version of Here's to Life, frequently used as a closing number, is a sterling example of the latter. This side of her later performances is reflected in at least one of her recordings, Thinking Jazz, which preserves a series of performances with a small jazz combo that took place in the early 1990s in Germany and which includes both standards (Smoke Gets in Your Eyes) and numbers (such as Something May Go Wrong) that seem more specifically tailored to her talents; one version of the CD includes as bonus performances a fierce, angry Yesterdays and a live take of C'est Si Bon that good-humoredly satirizes her sex-kitten persona. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue â€” a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting around the tables (often dining or drinking) watching the performance. ...

From October to early December, 2006, Kitt co-starred in the Off-Broadway musical Mimi Le Duck. She has a role in the movie Somebody Like You, due out in 2007, and is voicing the character of Fossa in the animated movie Madagascar 2, due out in 2008. Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

She was married to Bill McDonald from 1960 to 1965 and had one child, a daughter, Kitt Shapiro. Eartha has two grandchildren, Jason and Rachel. She lived for many years in Pound Ridge, NY, but recently moved to Connecticut to be near her daughter's family.She is currently performing in the Westport Country Playhouse's production of All About Us, a musical adaption of Thornton Wilder's The Skin Of Our Teeth. Pound Ridge is a town located in Westchester County, New York. ...

Works

Discography

1. I Want To Be Evil 2. C'est Si Bon 3. Angelitos Negros 4. Avril Au Portugal 5. Uska Dara 6. African Lullaby 7. Mountain High - Valley Low 8. Lillac Wine. Issued on RCA Victor EPB 3062

1. Fascinating Man 2. Mademoiselle Kitt 3. Oggere 4. No Importa Si Mente 5. Lisbon Antigua 6. Just An Old Fashioned Girl 7. Le Danseur De Charleston 8. Lazy Afternoon 9. Jonny 10. If I Can't Take It With Me 11. Thursday's Child 12. Lullaby Of Birdland. Issued on RCA Victor LPM-1300

Filmography

Upcoming: A number of short and feature films have been entitled . ... The novel Uncle Toms Cabin has been made into several film versions. ... Erik the Viking is a 1989 film written and directed by Terry Jones, who also makes an appearance in it. ... Ernest Scared Stupid was released in 1991 and is the fourth full-length feature film starring Jim Varney as Ernest P. Worrell. ... Boomerang is a 1992 comedy starring Eddie Murphy and Eartha Kitt. ... Fatal Instinct is a 1993 comedy spoof movie directed by Carl Reiner which spoofs movies such as Basic Instinct & Fatal Attraction. ... Harriet the Spy is a novel for children by Louise Fitzhugh, published in 1964. ... The Emperors New Groove is a 2000 animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures through Buena Vista Distribution on December 15, 2000. ... Holes is a 2003 film based on the novel of the same title. ...

Television work

This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Mission: Impossible is the name of an American television series which aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to September 1973. ... Living Single was an American television sitcom which aired for five seasons on the FOX television network from August 1993 until January 1998. ... The Nanny is a popular American situation comedy co-produced by Sternin & Fraser Ink, Inc. ... The Wild Thornberrys was an American animated television series. ... My Life as a Teenage Robot is an Emmy-nominated American animated television series, produced by Frederator Studios for the Nickelodeon cable channel. ... The Emperors New School is an Daytime Emmy award-winning American animated television series on the Disney Channel. ...

Footnotes

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Categories: 1927 births | African-American actors | American actor-singers | American anti-Vietnam War activists | American female singers | American film actors | American musical theatre actors | American Protestants | American television actors | American voice actors | Cabaret singers | Cherokee people | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Living people | Native American actors | Native American musicians | People from South Carolina | South Carolina actors | Vocal jazz musicians Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDb) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... NNDB, ostensibly standing for Notable Names Database, produced by Soylent Communications, is an online database of biographical details of notable people. ... TV.com is a website belonging to the CNET Games and Entertainment family of websites. ...

Contents

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