Sad news from the entertainment world today. Eartha Kitt died today. I thought I’d mark this with a post here. What a wonderfully odd character she was! I’m often a big supporter of those who march to the beat of a different drum, and she certainly fits the bill.
There’s an excellent Washington Post article by Wil Haygood describing a lunch with her, and reflecting on aspects of her career here, and an obituary by Martin Weil in the same publication here.
Here’s one of my favourite songs she was known for, “Just an Old Fashioned Girl”, just excellently rendered:
[Update: Of course, here’s a performance of one of the songs she was most famous for singing (appropriately fitting the day she died) – “Santa Baby”:
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[Update: Here’s an AP article by Poly Anderson that surveys her career rather well.]
Enjoy!
-cvj
I spent a few minutes one sunny morning in CT talking with her about her time on Batman TV show, she purred for me like she did on the show. I came away thinking she was a very sweet woman.i didn’t know of her her passing, and on the Christmas Eve I will toast her as i stare at the fire in the hearth and wonder if her sole knows I’m thinking of her and that sunny morning! Merry Christmas Eartha
She was a very beautiful women and classy from the beginning of her career. She endured the most vile racism of her day, however she was even admired for her beauty by those who hated her race.
Rest in Peace my sister, May the Lord be with you always.
Derek B.
She was one of the most under-rated entertainers in history. I remember well the story she told about Sidney Poitier. She had asked him for a date and he responded by saying that he did not date black women. The nerve of him to say such a thing. I lost all my respect for him after that. I love you Eartha! Love You,Love You Love you! Rest well. You will never be forgaotten.
Great black American actress and even greater catwoman.
we love you always
Brock
Sad news indeed. One of my earliest memories is of Eartha Kitt’s ‘Old Fashioned Millionaire’, a 45 rpm single, being placed on my parents’ phonogram (a machine reserved otherwise for Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert – 33 rpm proper records) and her amazing voice, fiendish and friendly, charming and chilling, ‘slurp slurp slurp’ing into the house. She was amazing, as a performer and, as I later found out, as a person.
She was of that generation of great African American singers in the 50s who carried our nation forward through some very trying times. I remember quite clearly watching her sing on the old green and white early TVs, as well as B&W; my parents were huge fans of musicals and great singers (my father’s record collection featured Paul Robeson, Marian Anderson, Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, Billy Holiday, and so many others). If Eartha hadn’t chosen to speak her mind to the President, she would probably have been remembered more favorably as one of the first black faces on TV, as a villainess on one of the most popular TV shows of the 60s. More people remember Star Trek for its cast integration, but Batman was just as prescient and reached millions more people.
Back in the old days of my childhood and youth, people like Eartha (and other slightly odd people like Truman Capote) were interviewed frequently on various talk shows. The interviews informed my impressions of her and others as much as their performances. Interviews are less likely to pop up on YouTube, although there are a few more recent ones for Eartha. I love her speaking voice as much as her singing voice, but perhaps that’s because she had a lot to say.