EARTHA MAE KITT
January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008
THE UNCOMPROMISING LEGEND
An American singer, activist, actress, cabaret star, dancer
Eartha Mae Kitt is renowned for her distinctive singing style, dancing, Activist role and her 1953 recordings of “C’est Si Bon” and the enduring Christmas novelty smash “Santa Baby”, which were both US Top 10 hits. She starred in 1967 as Cat woman, in Batman series and the hit movie which reignited her career Boomerang. It has been known that Orson Welles once called her the “most exciting woman in the world”.
Eartha Mae Kitt Quotes:
“Problems is something you make, Life is something you live
”Education is the best thing, go with your passion and blessings will come”
An American singer, actress, cabaret star, dancer, activist and voice artist, 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. She starred in 1967 as Cat woman, in Batman series. It has been known that Orson Welles once called her the “most exciting woman in the world”.
Eartha Mae Keith born in North, a small town in Orangeburg County, South Carolina to Annie Mae Keith. Her mother was of a mixed race which was a combination of Black and Cherokee Indian. Her father was one of plantation owner son where she lived.
Eartha Kitt began her career in 1943 and appeared in the 1945 original Broadway 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). In 1968, her career in America suffered after she made anti-war statements at a White House luncheon held by then president Lyndon Johnson wife Lady Bird. After that she was blacklisted and went to Paris to received an contract for one woman show and became an overnight success and international star. Ten years later, she made a successful return to the United States and starred in 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.
After the movie Boomerrang she her career relieved a new boost where she was have ongoing new fan base and projects such as The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), in which she voiced the villainous Yzma. She reprised the role in the direct-to-video sequel Kronk’s New Groove(2005), as well as the animated series The Emperor’s New School (2006–08). 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.
Eartha Mae 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.
Ertha Mae Kitt learned that she had colon cancer in 2006, on Christmas day in 2008 Earth Mae Kitt passed away at her home in Weston, Connecticut from colon cancer.
Her daughter, Kitt Shapiro, spoke about her last days alive on earth and this is what Kitt had to say,.
“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.
Her daughter who was everything to her has set up a business called Simply Eartha in her mother’s memory, as well as being the executor of her estate.
quote Ertha Kitt spoke to her daughter during her last days here:
She said: “She carried the scar of her rejection with her all her life. She was rejected for the color of her skin ironically by both black and white.
“To some extent, I think my arrival completed her because it gave her a family that she never had.”
This iconic woman Ertha Mae Kitt came from the most impoverished communities suffered rejection from her mother and her own black race. She endured mental abuse, physical abuse and parental denial all left her with scars but instead of her failing and becoming as one statistic or dead in her environment living situations, God opened the door of destiny success and with her determination with integrity for the passion of her gifted art, she pursued it and was a triple threat to her competitors which led her to became one of the most renowned international performers today.