Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt (1927-2008) was an American singer, actress, dancer and cabaret star. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of 'C'est Si Bon' and the enduring Christmas hit 'Santa Baby'. She appeared in more than 30 films and played the role of Catwoman in the 1960s Batman television series. In 1984, she returned to the music charts with a disco song, 'Where Is My Man', the first certified gold record of her career. She was nominated three times for a Tony Award, once for Emmy Award and twice for a Grammy Award.


American postcard by Fotofolio, New York, no. PH50. Photo: Philippe Halsman. Caption: Eartha Kitt, 1954.


American postcard by the American Postcard Co. Inc., no. 326, 1981. Photo: Arthur Rothstein. Caption: Eartha Kitt, 1953.

The first Afro-American modern ballet company

Eartha Mae Kitt was born on a cotton plantation in North in the southern state of South Carolina in 1927. Her father was of European and her mother was of African-American and Cherokee descent. Her father soon disappeared. At the age of eight, she was sent to New York to live with her aunt.

A big opportunity came when, at the age of 16, she was accepted into the Katherine Dunham Company, the first Afro-American modern ballet company. She made her film debut as a dancer in Casbah (John Berry, 1948), starring Yvonne De Carlo.

Orson Welles gave her a leading role as Helen of Troy in his production of Christopher Marlowe's play 'The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus' (1950). Welles called her "the most exciting woman in the world". Kitt had her final breakthrough in the Broadway show 'New Faces of 1952', in which she sang the song 'Monotonous'.

As a singer, Kitt had a number of hits in the 1950s and 1960s, including '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', and 'Under the Bridges of Paris'. Her debut LP 'RCA Victor Presents Eartha Kitt' (1953) was in the top five on the US album charts. The 1953 Christmas song 'Santa Baby', about a woman who promises Santa a date in exchange for expensive gifts, was later covered by Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Ariana Grande.

In 1954/1955 she starred on Broadway in 'Mrs. Patterson' and in 1957 in 'Shinbone Alley. In Hollywood, she made her debut as Sidney Poitier's co-star in the film The Mark of the Hawk (Michael Audley, 1957), followed by St. Louis Blues (Allen Resiner, 1958) with Nat 'King' Cole and Anna Lucasta (Arnold Laven, 1958) with Sammy Davis Jr.  She appeared in more than 30 films.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D672.


German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto. Photo: John Everton.

Boycott and rehabilitation

In the 1960s, Eartha Kitt starred on Broadway in 'The Owl and the Pussycat'. On television, she appeared in the role of Catwoman in the series Batman as Julie Newmar's successor. She also played a drug-addicted singer in Tennis Rackets and Guns (1965) and a guest role in Mission Impossible (1967). In Europe, she appeared in the film Onkel Toms Hütte/Uncle Tom's Cabin (Géza von Radványi, 1965), based on the novel 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'.

In 1968, at a White House luncheon, Kitt made Lady Bird Johnson, wife of US President Lyndon B. Johnson, cry with critical comments on the war in Vietnam. She bluntly told her, "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. They rebel in the street. They don't want to go to school because they're going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam." However, the public reaction to Kitt's statements was even more extreme both for and against her statements. After this, she was unable to get work in the United States and left for Europe, where she learned to speak French fluently.

This boycott ended in 1978 with rehabilitation by Jimmy Carter and she made her American comeback in the Broadway musical 'Timbuktu!' In the 1980s, she also made a comeback as a singer with the disco hits 'Where Is My Man' (1983), 'I Love Men' (1984), 'This Is My Life' (1986) and 'Cha-Cha Heels' (1989), a collaboration with Bronski Beat. In the 1990s, Kitt toured North America as the Wicked Witch in a stage version of 'The Wizard of Oz'.

She appeared in the documentary All By Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story (1983), starred in the film Erik the Viking (Terry Jones, 1989) starring Tim Robbins and had a small part in the comedy Boomerang (Reginald Hudlin, 1992) with Eddie Murphy. In the last years of her life, Kitt performed regularly as a comedian and musical star. She starred in the off-Broadway musical 'Mimi Le Duck' (2006) and in the film And Then Came Love (Richard Schenkman, 2007) starring Vanessa Williams. She also had voice roles in the animated films The Emperor's New Groove (Mark Dindal, 2000) and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, 2008).

In 2008, Eartha Kitt died in New York at the age of 81 from colon cancer. From 1960 to 1964, Eartha Kitt was married to real estate agent Bill McDonald. The marriage produced a daughter named Kitt Shapiro.


Vintage collectors card.


Dutch postcard by Art Unlimited, Amsterdam, no. B 84. Photo: Xavier Lambours. Caption: Eartha Kitt, 1982.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch, German and English) and IMDb.