Eartha Kitt

Kitt at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in London in 1973

Eartha Kitt (January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and songwriter who had many hit songs. She was also an actress. Kitt died of colorectal cancer in Weston, Connecticut. She was the first musician to record the song "Santa Baby".

Early life and career

Kitt was born on a cotton plantation in North, South Carolina. She lived there for the first 7 years of her life, but when she turned 8 years old her family moved to the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. While she lived in New York she attended the High School of Performing Arts. In 1943, while she was in New York, she started her career as part of the Katherine Dunham Company, a dance group founded by famous singer/dancer named Katherine Dunham. Along with Dunham, Eartha performed in Egypt, France, Greece, Turkey, New York, Las Vegas and Hollywood. She acted in the movie Casbah in 1948. It was her first role in a movie. In 1960 a star was put for her in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2000 she did the voice of Yzma in The Emperor's New Groove. In 2003 to 2007 she did the voice of Queen Vexus in Nickelodeon TV animated series My Life as a Teenage Robot.

Eartha Kitt was on Broadway a couple of times in plays like New Faces and Timbuktu. She was also in many different movies, some of which are Synanon, The Mark of the Hawk, All by Myself and Accused. She made many different appearances on shows such as Colgate Comedy Hour, Batman, The Ed Sullivan Show, I Spy and Police Woman.

In her later years Eartha Kitt wrote four different memoirs. The first was called Thursday's Child, The second was called Tart is Not a Sweet, the third was called Alone With Me, The last one was called I’m Still Here; Confessions of a Sex Kitten. Eartha Kitt died on Christmas Day, 2008 in Weston, Connecticut.

Eartha Kitt Media

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  Kitt photographed by Carl Van Vechten, October 19, 1952

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  Kitt as Catwoman in the Batman television series, 1967

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  Kitt at the Carlton Tower hotel in London, 1973

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  Kitt performing in concert, 2007

References

• "Kitt, Eartha." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2014. Web. 12 May 2014.
• "Eartha Kitt." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Biography in Context. Web. 12 May 2014.