Kitt shapiro eartha kitts daughter

American singer and actress (–)

Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, – December 25, ) was an American singer and actress.

By the time Kitt Shapiro was born inher mother, Eartha Kitt, was already one of the most famous, charismatic, and recognizable stars in the world. She was an electric performer, a magnetic personality, and a trailblazing pioneer not only in the entertainment world, but also in the realms of social justice, equality, and human rights. Although the legendary Kitt herself wrote several autobiographies throughout her career, her entire story had yet to be told when she unfortunately passed away on Christmas Day in from colon cancer. The story of Eartha and Kitt.

She was known for her highly distinct singing style and her recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmasnovelty song "Santa Baby".

Kitt began her career in and appeared in the imaginative Broadway theatre production of the musical Carib Song.

In the early s, Kitt had six US Top 30 entries, including "Uska Dara" () and "I Want to Be Evil" (). Her other recordings include the UK Top 10 song "Under the Bridges of Paris" (), "Just an Old Fashioned Girl" () and "Where Is My Man" ().

Orson Welles once called her the "most electrifying woman in the world".^[4] Kitt starred as Catwoman in the third and final season of the television series Batman in

In , Kitt's career in the U.S.

deteriorated after she made anti-Vietnam War statements at a White House luncheon. Ten years later, Kitt made a successful return to Broadway in the original production of the musical Timbuktu!, for which she received the first of her two Tony Award nominations.

Kitt's second was for the unique production of the musical The Wild Party. Kitt wrote three autobiographies.^[5]

Kitt found a new generation of fans through her various voice acting roles in the last decade of her animation.

The other was Eartha Mae. They were two distinctive parts that made one person. Eartha Kitt was the legendary entertainer who seduced audiences worldwide and whose signature purr as Catwoman in the late '60s made the role all her possess. Eartha Mae was born into poverty in the small town of North, South Carolina, the illegitimate daughter of a fresh Black woman and a dude she assumed to be light — and whose identity she never knew.

She voiced the villains Yzma and Vexus in The Emperor's New Groove franchise and My Life As A Teenage Robot, with the former earning her two Daytime Emmy Awards. Kitt posthumously won a third Emmy in for her guest performance on Wonder Pets!.

Early life

Eartha Mae Keith was born in the small town of North, South Carolina,^[6][7] on January 17, ^[6][8] Her mother, Annie Mae Keith (later Annie Mae Riley), was of Cherokee and African descent.

Though she had little knowledge of her father, it was reported that he was the son of the owner of the plantation where she had been born, and that Kitt was conceived by rape.^[8][9][10] In a biography, British journalist John Williams claimed that Kitt's father was a white man, a local healer named Daniel Sturkie.^[11] Kitt's daughter, Kitt McDonald Shapiro, has questioned the accuracy of the claim.^[12]

Eartha's mother soon went to exist with a black man who refused to accept Eartha because of her relatively pale complexion.

Kitt was raised by a relative named Aunt Rosa, in whose household she was abused. After the death of Annie Mae, Eartha was sent to live with another close relative named Mamie Kitt (who Eartha later came to believe was her biological mother) in Harlem, New York City,^[8] where Eartha attended the Metropolitan Vocational Lofty School (later renamed the Lofty School of Performing Arts).^[13]

Career

Kitt began her career as a member of the Katherine Dunham Corporation in and remained a member of the troupe until A talented singer with a recognizable voice, Kitt recorded the hits "Let's Do It", "Champagne Taste", "C'est si bon" (which Stan Freberg famously burlesqued), "Just an Old Fashioned Girl", "Monotonous", "Je cherche un homme", "Love for Sale", "I'd Rather Be Burned as a Witch", "Kâtibim" (a Turkish melody), "Mink, Schmink", "Under the Bridges of Paris", and her most recognizable hit "Santa Baby", which was released in Kitt's unique style was enhanced as she became fluent in French during her years carrying out in Europe.

Kitt spoke four languages and sang in 11, which she demonstrated in many of the live recordings of her cabaret performances.^[14]

Career peaks

In , Orson Welles gave Kitt her first starring role as Helen of Troy in his staging of Dr.

Faustus. Two years later, Kitt was cast in the revue New Faces of , introducing "Monotonous" and "Bal, Petit Bal", two songs with which she is still identified. In , 20th Century-Fox distributed an independently filmed version of the revue entitled New Faces, in which Kitt performed "Monotonous", "Uska Dara", "C'est si bon",^[15] and "Santa Baby".

Though it is often alleged that Welles and Kitt had an affair during her run in Shinbone Alley, Kitt categorically denied this in a June interview with George Wayne of Vanity Fair. "I never had sex with Orson Welles," Kitt told Vanity Fair: "It was a active situation and nothing else."^[16] Her other films in the s included The Mark of the Hawk (), St.

Louis Blues () and Anna Lucasta ().

Throughout the rest of the s and early s, Kitt recorded; worked in film, television, and nightclubs; and returned to the Broadway stage, in Mrs. Patterson (during the – season), Shinbone Alley (in ), and the short-lived Jolly's Progress (in ).^[17] In , Kitt helped open the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California.

In the late s, Batman featured Kitt as Catwoman after Julie Newmar had left the demonstrate in She appeared in a Mission: Impossible episode "The Traitor", as Tina Mara, a contortionist.

In , Kitt published an autobiography called Thursday's Child, which would later serve as inspiration for the name of the David Bowie song "Thursday's Child".^[18][19]

The "White House Incident"

On 18 January ^[20][21] during Lyndon B.

Johnson's administration, Kitt encountered a substantial professional setback after she made anti-war statements during a Alabaster Houseluncheon.^[22][23] Kitt was asked by First LadyLady Bird Johnson about the Vietnam War.

She replied: "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. No wonder the kids rebel and grab pot."^[14] 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 fancy , and you have children of your own, Mrs. Johnson&#;– we raise children and send them to war.^[24][25]

Kitt's remarks reportedly caused Mrs.

Johnson to burst into tears.^[9] It is widely believed that Kitt's career in the United States was ended obeying her comments about the Vietnam War,^[27][28] after which she was branded "a sadistic nymphomaniac" by the CIA.^[12] A CIA dossier about Kitt was discovered by Seymour Hersh in Hersh published an article about the dossier in The New York Times.^[29] The dossier contained comments about Kitt's sex life and family history, along with negative beliefs of her that were held by former colleagues.

Kitt's response to the dossier was to say: "I don't understand what this is about. I reflect it's disgusting."^[29] Following the incident, Kitt devoted her energies to performances in Europe and Asia.^[30]

In February , Catwoman vs.

the White House,^[31][32]The New Yorker quick documentary, directed by Scott Calonico used photos, clippings and footage to show how Kitt disrupted the White House luncheon, taking Lyndon B.

Johnson to task.^[33]

Kitt would later return to the White House on 29 January after accepting an invitation from U.S. President Jimmy Carter to attend a reception honoring the 10th anniversary of the reopening of Ford's Theatre.^[34]

Broadway

In the s, Kitt appeared on television several times on BBC's long-running variety show The Good Old Days, and in took over from fellow American Dolores Gray in the London West End movie of Stephen Sondheim's Follies and returned at the end of that run to star in a one-woman-show at the matching Shaftesbury Theatre, both to tremendous acclaim.

In both those shows, Kitt performed the show-stopping theatrical anthem "I'm Still Here". Kitt returned to New York Town in a triumphant turn in the Broadway spectacle Timbuktu! (a version of the perennial Kismet, set in Africa) in 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 distinctive.^{[citation needed]} Kitt was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance.

In the late s, Kitt appeared as the Wicked Witch of the West in the North American national touring company of The Wizard of Oz.^[35] In , she again returned to Broadway in the short-lived run of Michael John LaChiusa's The Untamed Party.

Beginning in late , Kitt starred as the Fairy Godmother in the U.S. national tour of Cinderella.^[36] In , she replaced Chita Rivera in Nine. Kitt reprised her role as the Fairy Godmother at a special engagement of Cinderella, which took place at Lincoln Center during the holiday season of ^[37] From October to early December , Kitt co-starred in the off-Broadway musical Mimi le Duck.

Voice-over

In , Kitt did the voice-over in a television commercial for the album Aja by the rock team Steely Dan. In , she voiced Vietnam After The Fire. a British documentary which looked at the legacy left to the Vietnamese people after the devastation of the war and showed the effects of bombings and defoliants on farmland and forests 13 years after the war ended.^[38] One of Kitt's more unusual roles was as Kaa in a BBC Radio adaptation of The Jungle Book.

In , she voiced Bagheera in the live-action direct-to-video Disney film The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story. Kitt also lent her distinctive voice to Yzma in The Emperor's New Groove (for which she won her first Annie Award) and reprised her role in Kronk's New Groove and The Emperor's New School, for which Kitt won two Emmy Awards and, in –08, two more Annie Awards for Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production.

From to , she also voiced the villain Vexus in the Nickelodeon series My Life as a Teenage Robot.

Later years

s

In , Kitt returned to the music charts with a disco song titled "Where Is My Man", the first certified gold record of her career.

"Where Is My Man" reached the Top 40 on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at No.&#;36;^[39] the song became a common in discos and dance clubs of the time and made the Top 10 on the US Billboarddance chart, where it reached No.&#;7.^[40] The single was followed by the album I Love Men on the Log Shack label.

Kitt found fresh audiences in nightclubs across the UK and the United States, including a whole new generation of gay male fans, and she responded by frequently giving benefit performances in support of HIV/AIDS organizations. Kitt's follow-up smash "Cha-Cha Heels" (featuring Bronski Beat), which was originally intended to be recorded by Divine, received a positive response from UK dance clubs, reaching No.&#;32 in the charts in that land.

In , Kitt replaced Dolores Gray in the West Finish production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies as Carlotta, receiving standing ovations every night for her rendition of "I'm Still Here" at the beginning of act 2. Kitt went on to accomplish her own one-woman show at the Shaftesbury Theatre to sold-out houses for three weeks in early after Follies.

s

Kitt appeared with Jimmy James and George Burns at a fundraiser in produced by Scott Sherman, an agent from the Atlantic Show Group. It was arranged that James would impersonate Kitt and then Kitt would walk out to take the microphone.

This was met with a standing ovation.^[41] In , Kitt returned to the screen in Ernest Scared Stupid as Old Lady Hackmore. In , she had a supporting role as Lady Eloise in Boomerang.

In , Kitt appeared as herself in an episode of The Nanny, where she performed a anthem in French and flirted with Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy). In November , Kitt appeared in an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!.

She also did a series of commercials for Old Navy.

s

In , Kitt won an Annie Award for her starring voice role as Yzma in the Disney feature film The Emperor's New Groove, later reprising the role in in Disney's Kronk's New Groove.

Kitt returned once again to the silver screen in with the charming role of Madame Zeroni in the film Holes based on the book by the similar name, by author Louis Sachar. In August , Kitt was the spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics' Smoke Signals collection.

She re-recorded "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" for the occasion, was showcased on the MAC website, and the song was played at all MAC locations carrying the collection for the month. Kitt also appeared in the independent film And Then Came Love opposite Vanessa Williams.

In her later years, Kitt made annual appearances in the New York Manhattan cabaret scene at venues such as the Ballroom and the Café Carlyle.^[14] As noted, Kitt did voice work for the animated projects The Emperor's New Groove and its spinoffs, as well as for My Life as a Teenage Robot.

In April , just months before her death, Kitt appeared at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival; the performance was recorded.^{[citation needed]} Kitt voiced herself in The Simpsons episode "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", where she is depicted as a former lover of Krusty the Clown.

Personal life

Kitt married John William McDonald, an associate of a real estate investment company, on June 9, ^[42] Their daughter, Kitt McDonald, was born on November 26, and was baptized Catholic at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church.^[43] Eartha Kitt and McDonald separated on July 1, , and divorced on March 26, ^[44]

A longtime Connecticut resident, Kitt lived in a converted barn on a sprawling farm in the Merryall section of Recent 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 to the southern Fairfield County, Connecticut town of Weston, in order to be nearby her daughter Kitt and family. Her daughter, Kitt, married Charles Lawrence Shapiro in ^[45]

Activism

Kitt was active in numerous social causes in the s and s.

In , she established the Kittsville Youth Foundation, a chartered and non-profit organization for underprivileged youths in the Watts area of Los Angeles.^[46] Kitt was also involved with a community of youths in the area of Anacostia in Washington, D.C., who called themselves "Rebels with a Cause".

She supported the group's efforts to clean up streets and establish recreation areas in an effort to retain them out of trouble by testifying with them before the House General Subcommittee on Learning of the Committee on Teaching and Labor.

In her testimony, in May , Kitt stated that the Rebels' "achievements and accomplishments should certainly make the adult 'do-gooders' realize that these young men and women contain performed in 1 short year – with limited finances – that which was not achieved by the same people who might object to turning over some of the duties of planning, rehabilitation, and prevention of juvenile delinquents and juvenile delinquency to those who understand it and are living it".

Kitt added that "the Rebels could act as a model for all urban areas throughout the United States with similar problems".^[47] "Rebels with a Cause" subsequently received the needed funding.^[48] Kitt was also a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; her criticism of the Vietnam War and its connection to poverty and racial unrest in can be seen as part of a larger commitment to peace activism.^[49] Like many politically active universal figures of her time, Kitt was under surveillance by the CIA, beginning in After The New York Times discovered the CIA file on Kitt in , she granted the sheet permission to print portions of the report, stating: "I own nothing to be afraid of and I have nothing to hide."^[29]

Kitt later became a vocal advocate for LGBT rights and publicly supported same-sex marriage, which she considered a civil right.

She had been quoted as saying: "I support it [gay marriage] because we're asking for the same thing. If I have a partner and something happens to me, I desire that partner to enjoy the benefits of what we contain reaped together. It's a civil-rights thing, isn't it?"^[50] Kitt famously appeared at many LGBT fundraisers, including a mega event in Baltimore, Maryland, with George Burns and Jimmy James.^[41] Scott Sherman, an agent at Atlantic Amusement Group, stated: "Eartha Kitt is fantastic appears at so many LGBT events in support of civil rights." In a interview with Dr.

Anthony Clare, Kitt spoke about her gay obeying, saying:

We're all rejected people, we know what it is to be refused, we recognize 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.^[51]

Death

Kitt died of colon cancer on Christmas Day at her place in Weston, Connecticut; she was 81 years old.^[7][52][53] Her daughter, Kitt McDonald, described her last days with her mother:

I was with her when she died.

She left this nature literally screaming at the uppermost 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 not many 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 launch 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. She started to observe people that weren't there. She thought I could see them too, but, of course, I couldn't. I would make playfulness of her like, "I'm going to go in the other room and you stay here and talk to your friends."^[54]

Discography

Main article: Eartha Kitt discography

Studio albums

Filmography

Film

Television

Documentary

Year	Film	Role
	All by Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story	Herself
	Unzipped
	The Making and Meaning of We Are Family
	The Sweatbox(unreleased)

Stage work

Video games

Bibliography

• Thursday's Child ()
• Alone with Me: A New Autobiography ()
• I'm Still Here: Confessions of a Sex Kitten ()
• Rejuvenate!: It's Never Too Late ()

Awards and nominations

References