Kitt's unique style was enhanced as she became fluent in French during her years performing in Europe. A talented singer with a distinctive voice, she 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 1953. Kitt began her career as a member of the Katherine Dunham Company in 1943 and remained a member of the troupe until 1948. Kitt photographed by Carl Van Vechten, October 19, 1952
After the death of Annie Mae, Eartha was sent to live with another relative named Mamie Kitt (who may, in fact, have been her biological mother) in Harlem, New York City, where she attended the Metropolitan Vocational High School (later renamed the High School of Performing Arts). Eartha's mother, Annie Mae Keith (later Annie Mae Riley), soon went to live with a black man who refused to accept Eartha because of her relatively pale complexion she was raised by a relative named Aunt Rosa, in whose household she was abused. Kitt's daughter, Kitt McDonald Shapiro, has questioned the accuracy of the claim. In a 2013 biography, British journalist John Williams claimed that Kitt's father was a white man, a local doctor named Daniel Sturkie. Though she had little knowledge of her father, it was reported that he was a son of the owner of the farm where she had been born, and that Kitt was conceived by rape. Her mother Annie Mae Keith was of Cherokee and African descent. She posthumously won a third Emmy in 2010 for her guest performance on Wonder Pets!.Įartha Mae Keith was born on a cotton plantation near the small town of North, South Carolina, or St. Her work on the latter earned her two Daytime Emmy Awards.
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She reprised the role as Yzma in the direct-to-video sequel Kronk's New Groove (2005), as well as the animated series The Emperor's New School (2006–2008). Kitt found a new generation of fans through her roles in the Disney films The Emperor's New Groove (2000), in which she voiced the villainous Yzma, and Holes (2003).
Her second was for the 2000 original production of the musical The Wild Party. Ten years later, Kitt made a successful return to Broadway in the 1978 original production of the musical Timbuktu!, for which she received the first of her two Tony Award nominations. deteriorated after she made anti-Vietnam War statements at a White House luncheon.
She starred as Catwoman in the third and final season of the television series Batman in 1967. Her other recordings include the UK Top 10 song " Under the Bridges of Paris" (1954), " Just an Old Fashioned Girl" (1956) and " Where Is My Man" (1983).
In the early 1950s, she had six US Top 30 entries, including " Uska Dara" and " I Want to Be Evil". Kitt began her career in 1942 and appeared in the 1945 original Broadway theatre production of the musical Carib Song. Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the world". Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer, actress, comedian, dancer and activist known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of " C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song " Santa Baby".