Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt
Kitt in 1957
Born	Eartha Mae Keith (1927-01-17)January 17, 1927 North, South Carolina, U.S.
Died	December 25, 2008(2008-12-25) (aged 81) Weston, Connecticut, U.S.
Other names	Mother Eartha, Kitty
Occupations	Singer actress comedian dancer songwriter activist
Years active	1942–2008
Spouse	John W. McDonald ​ ​ (m. 1960; div. 1964)​
Children	1
Musical career
Genres	Vocal jazz cabaret dance Country music disco
Labels	RCA Victor Kapp MGM EMI GNP Crescendo Decca Spark Can't Stop Ariola ITM DRG Strike Force
Website	earthakitt.com

Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby".

Kitt began her career in 1942 and appeared in the 1945 original Broadway theatre production of the musical Carib Song. In the early 1950s, Kitt had six US Top 30 entries, including "Uska Dara" (1953) and "I Want to Be Evil" (1953). 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). Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the world". Kitt starred as Catwoman in the third and final season of the television series Batman in 1967.

In 1968, 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 1978 original production of the musical Timbuktu!, for which she received the first of her two Tony Award nominations. Kitt's second was for the 2000 original production of the musical The Wild Party. Kitt wrote three autobiographies.

Kitt found a new generation of fans through her various voice acting roles in the last decade of her life. 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 2010 for her guest performance on Wonder Pets!.

Early life

Eartha Mae Keith was born in the small town of North, South Carolina, on January 17, 1927. 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. In a 2013 biography, British journalist John Williams claimed that Kitt's father was a white man, a local doctor named Daniel Sturkie. Kitt's daughter, Kitt McDonald Shapiro, has questioned the accuracy of the claim.

Eartha's mother soon went to live 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, where Eartha attended the Metropolitan Vocational High School (later renamed the High School of Performing Arts).

Career

Kitt photographed by Carl Van Vechten, October 19, 1952

Kitt began her career as a member of the Katherine Dunham Company in 1943 and remained a member of the troupe until 1948. A talented singer with a distinctive 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 1953. Kitt's unique style was enhanced as she became fluent in French during her years performing in Europe. Kitt spoke four languages and sang in 11, which she demonstrated in many of the live recordings of her cabaret performances.

Career peaks

Kitt as Catwoman in the Batman television series, 1967

In 1950, 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 1952, introducing "Monotonous" and "Bal, Petit Bal", two songs with which she is still identified. In 1954, 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", and "Santa Baby". Though it is often alleged that Welles and Kitt had an affair during her 1957 run in Shinbone Alley, Kitt categorically denied this in a June 2001 interview with George Wayne of Vanity Fair. "I never had sex with Orson Welles," Kitt told Vanity Fair: "It was a working situation and nothing else." Her other films in the 1950s included The Mark of the Hawk (1957), St. Louis Blues (1958) and Anna Lucasta (1958).

Throughout the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s, Kitt recorded; worked in film, television, and nightclubs; and returned to the Broadway stage, in Mrs. Patterson (during the 1954–1955 season), Shinbone Alley (in 1957), and the short-lived Jolly's Progress (in 1959). In 1964, Kitt helped open the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California. In the late 1960s, Batman featured Kitt as Catwoman after Julie Newmar had left the show in 1967. She appeared in a 1967 Mission: Impossible episode "The Traitor", as Tina Mara, a contortionist.

In 1956, Kitt published an autobiography called Thursday's Child, which would later serve as inspiration for the name of the 1999 David Bowie song "Thursday's Child".

The "White House Incident"

On 18 January 1968 during Lyndon B. Johnson's administration, Kitt encountered a substantial professional setback after she made anti-war statements during a White House luncheon. Kitt was asked by First Lady Lady 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 take pot." 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 like, and you have children of your own, Mrs. Johnson – we raise children and send them to war.

Kitt's remarks reportedly caused Mrs. Johnson to burst into tears. It is widely believed that Kitt's career in the United States was ended following her comments about the Vietnam War, after which she was branded "a sadistic nymphomaniac" by the CIA. A CIA dossier about Kitt was discovered by Seymour Hersh in 1975. Hersh published an article about the dossier in The New York Times. The dossier contained comments about Kitt's sex life and family history, along with negative opinions 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 think it's disgusting." Following the incident, Kitt devoted her energies to performances in Europe and Asia.

In February 2022, Catwoman vs. the White House, The New Yorker short 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.

Kitt would later return to the White House on 29 January 1978 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.

Broadway

In the 1970s, Kitt appeared on television several times on BBC's long-running variety show The Good Old Days, and in 1987 took over from fellow American Dolores Gray in the London West End production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies and returned at the end of that run to star in a one-woman-show at the same 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 City in a triumphant turn in the Broadway spectacle Timbuktu! (a version of the perennial Kismet, set in Africa) in 1978. 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. Kitt was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance. In the late 1990s, Kitt appeared as the Wicked Witch of the West in the North American national touring company of The Wizard of Oz. In 2000, she again returned to Broadway in the short-lived run of Michael John LaChiusa's The Wild Party. Beginning in late 2000, Kitt starred as the Fairy Godmother in the U.S. national tour of Cinderella. In 2003, 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 2004. From October to early December 2006, Kitt co-starred in the off-Broadway musical Mimi le Duck.

Voice-over

In 1978, Kitt did the voice-over in a television commercial for the album Aja by the rock group Steely Dan. In 1988, 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. One of Kitt's more unusual roles was as Kaa in a 1994 BBC Radio adaptation of The Jungle Book. In 1998, 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 2007–08, two more Annie Awards for Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production. From 2002 to 2006, she also voiced the villain Vexus in the Nickelodeon series My Life as a Teenage Robot.

Later years

1980s

In 1984, 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; the song became a standard in discos and dance clubs of the time and made the Top 10 on the US Billboard dance chart, where it reached No. 7. The single was followed by the album I Love Men on the Record Shack label. Kitt found new 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 1989 follow-up hit "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 country. In 1988, Kitt replaced Dolores Gray in the West End 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 perform her own one-woman show at the Shaftesbury Theatre to sold-out houses for three weeks in early 1989 after Follies.

1990s

Kitt appeared with Jimmy James and George Burns at a fundraiser in 1990 produced by Scott Sherman, an agent from the Atlantic Entertainment 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. In 1991, Kitt returned to the screen in Ernest Scared Stupid as Old Lady Hackmore. In 1992, she had a supporting role as Lady Eloise in Boomerang. In 1995, Kitt appeared as herself in an episode of The Nanny, where she performed a song in French and flirted with Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy). In November 1996, Kitt appeared in an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!. She also did a series of commercials for Old Navy.

2000s

In 2000, 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 2005 in Disney's Kronk's New Groove. Kitt returned once again to the silver screen in 2003 with the charming role of Madame Zeroni in the film Holes based on the book by the same name, by author Louis Sachar. In August 2007, 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 2007 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. 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 2008, just months before her death, Kitt appeared at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival; the performance was recorded. 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 at the Carlton Tower hotel in London, 1973

Kitt performing in concert, 2007

Kitt married John William McDonald, an associate of a real estate investment company, on June 9, 1960. Their daughter, Kitt McDonald, was born on November 26, 1961 and was baptized Catholic at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. Eartha Kitt and McDonald separated on July 1, 1963, and divorced on March 26, 1964.

A longtime Connecticut resident, Kitt lived in a converted barn on a sprawling farm in the Merryall section of New 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 2002 to the southern Fairfield County, Connecticut town of Weston, in order to be near her daughter Kitt and family. Her daughter, Kitt, married Charles Lawrence Shapiro in 1987.

Activism

Kitt was active in numerous social causes in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1966, she established the Kittsville Youth Foundation, a chartered and non-profit organization for underprivileged youths in the Watts area of Los Angeles. Kitt was also involved with a group 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 keep them out of trouble by testifying with them before the House General Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Education and Labor. In her testimony, in May 1967, Kitt stated that the Rebels' "achievements and accomplishments should certainly make the adult 'do-gooders' realize that these young men and women have 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". "Rebels with a Cause" subsequently received the needed funding. 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 1968 can be seen as part of a larger commitment to peace activism. Like many politically active public figures of her time, Kitt was under surveillance by the CIA, beginning in 1956. After The New York Times discovered the CIA file on Kitt in 1975, she granted the paper permission to print portions of the report, stating: "I have nothing to be afraid of and I have nothing to hide."

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 want that partner to enjoy the benefits of what we have reaped together. It's a civil-rights thing, isn't it?" Kitt famously appeared at many LGBT fundraisers, including a mega event in Baltimore, Maryland, with George Burns and Jimmy James. Scott Sherman, an agent at Atlantic Entertainment Group, stated: "Eartha Kitt is fantastic... appears at so many LGBT events in support of civil rights." In a 1992 interview with Dr. Anthony Clare, Kitt spoke about her gay following, saying:

We're all rejected people, we know what it is to be refused, we know 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.

Death

Kitt died of colon cancer on Christmas Day 2008 at her home in Weston, Connecticut; she was 81 years old. Her daughter, Kitt McDonald, described her last days with her mother:

I was with her when she died. She left this world literally screaming at the top 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 few 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 start 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 see people that weren't there. She thought I could see them too, but, of course, I couldn't. I would make fun of her like, "I'm going to go in the other room and you stay here and talk to your friends."

Discography

Main article: Eartha Kitt discography

Studio albums

• RCA Victor Presents Eartha Kitt (1953)
• That Bad Eartha (1954)
• Down to Eartha (1955)
• That Bad Eartha (1956)
• Thursday's Child (1957)
• St. Louis Blues (1958)
• The Fabulous Eartha (1959)
• Revisited (1960)
• Bad But Beautiful (1962)
• The Romantic Eartha (1962)
• Love for Sale (1965)
• Canta en Castellano (1965)
• Sentimental Eartha (1970)
• I Love Men (1984)
• I'm Still Here (1989)
• Thinking Jazz (1991)
• Back in Business (1994)

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1948	Casbah	Uncredited
1951	Parigi è sempre Parigi	Herself
1954	New Faces
1957	The Mark of the Hawk	Renee
1958	St. Louis Blues	Gogo Germaine
1958	Anna Lucasta	Anna Lucasta
1961	Saint of Devil's Island	Annette
1965	Uncle Tom's Cabin	Singer	Uncredited role
	Synanon	Betty
1971	Up the Chastity Belt	Scheherazade
1975	Friday Foster	Madame Rena
1979	Butterflies in Heat	Lola
1985	The Serpent Warriors	Snake Priestess
1987	Master of Dragonard Hill	Naomi
	Dragonard	Naomi
	The Pink Chiquitas	Betty / The Meteor (voice)
1989	Erik the Viking	Freya
1990	Living Doll	Mrs. Swartz
1991	Ernest Scared Stupid	Old Lady Hackmore
1992	Boomerang	Lady Eloise
1993	Fatal Instinct	First Trial Judge
1996	Harriet the Spy	Agatha K. Plummer
1997	Ill Gotten Gains	The Wood (Voice)
1998	I Woke Up Early the Day I Died	Cult Leader
	The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story	Bagheera (voice)
2000	The Emperor's New Groove	Yzma (voice)
2002	Anything But Love	Herself
2003	Holes	Madame Zeroni
2005	Preaching to the Choir	Ms. Nettie
	Kronk's New Groove	Yzma (voice)	Direct-to-video
2007	And Then Came Love	Mona

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1952–1963	The Ed Sullivan Show	Herself	15 episodes
1963–1978	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	Herself	8 episodes
1964–1979	The Mike Douglas Show	Herself	16 episodes
1965	I Spy	Angel	Episode: "The Loser" Nominated–Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Drama
1965	The Eartha Kitt Show	Herself
1967	Mission: Impossible	Tina Maria	Episode: "The Traitor"
1967–1968	Batman	Selina Kyle / Catwoman	5 episodes
1969	The Dick Cavett Show	Herself	1 episode
1972	Lieutenant Schuster's Wife	Lady	Television film
1973–1978	The Merv Griffin Show	Herself	3 episodes
1974	The Protectors	Carrie Blaine	Episode: "A Pocketful of Posies"
1978	Police Woman	Amelia	Episode: "Tigress"
	To Kill a Cop	Paula	Television film
1983	A Night on the Town	Unknown role	Television film
1985	Miami Vice	Santería Priestess Chata	Episode: "Whatever Works"
1989	After Dark	Herself	Episode: "Rock Bottom?" Extended appearance on British discussion programme, together with Simon Napier-Bell and Pat Kane among others
1993	Jack's Place	Isabel Lang	Episode: "The Seventh Meal"
	Matrix	Sister Rowena	Episode: "Moths to a Flame"
1994	Space Ghost Coast to Coast	Herself	Episode: "Batmantis"
1995	The Magic School Bus	Mrs. Franklin (voice)	Episode: "Going Batty"
	New York Undercover	Mrs. Stubbs	Episode: "Student Affairs"
	Living Single	Jacqueline Richards	Episode: "He Works Hard for the Money" Nominated–NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
1996	The Nanny	Herself	Episode: "A Pup in Paris"
1997	The Chris Rock Show	Herself	1 episode
1997–2000	The Rosie O'Donnell Show	Herself	2 episodes
1998	The Wild Thornberrys	Lioness #1 (voice)	Episode: "Flood Warning"
1999	The Famous Jett Jackson	Albertine Whethers	Episode: "Field of Dweebs"
2000	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	The Snow Queen (voice)	Episode: "The Snow Queen"
	Welcome to New York	June	2 episodes
2001	The Feast of All Saints	Lola Dede	Television film
	Santa, Baby!	Emerald (voice)	Television film
2002–2006	My Life as a Teenage Robot	Queen Vexus (voice)	7 episodes
2003	Hollywood Squares	Herself	5 episodes
2005	Larry King Live	Herself	2 episodes
2006–2008	The Emperor's New School	Yzma (voice)	Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production (2007–2008) Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program (2007–2008)
2007	American Dad!	Fortune Teller (voice)	Episode: "Dope and Faith"
2008	An Evening with Eartha Kitt	Herself	Hosted by Gwen Ifill for PBS
2009	Wonder Pets!	Cool Cat (voice)	Episode: "Save the Cool Cat and the Hip Hippo" Aired posthumously Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program
2010	The Simpsons	Herself (voice)	"Once Upon a Time in Springfield" Aired posthumously

Documentary

Year	Film	Role
1982	All by Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story	Herself
1995	Unzipped
2002	The Making and Meaning of We Are Family
	The Sweatbox (unreleased)

Stage work

Year	Title	Location	Role	Notes
1945	Blue Holiday	Broadway	Performer	as a member of the Katherine Dunham Troupe; a short-lived production at the Belasco Theatre
	Carib Song	Broadway	Company	as a member of the Katherine Dunham Troupe; performed at the Adelphi Theatre as an Original Broadway production
1946	Bal Nègre	Broadway, and Europe	Performer	as a member of the Katherine Dunham Troupe; widely acclaimed Concert at the Belasco Theatre
	unknown	Mexico	Performer	performed successfully as a member of the Katherine Dunham Troupe which was under contract with Teatro Americano for more than two months at the request of Doris Duke
1948	Caribbean Rhapsody	West End, and Paris	Chorus girl	as a member of the Katherine Dunham Troupe; performed at the Prince of Wales Theatre (West End) and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (Paris)
1949–1950	unknown	Paris	Herself, Performer	first solo show / leading performance; performed at Carroll's Niterie; is where Orson Welles discovered her
1950	Time Runs	Paris	Helen of Troy	In segment based on Faust; performed "Hungry Little Trouble" written by Duke Ellington; cast by Orson Welles
	An Evening With Orson Welles	Frankfurt
1951	Dr. Faustus	Paris		with Orson Welles
1952	New Faces of 1952	Broadway	Polynesian girl, Featured dancer, Featured singer
1954	Mrs. Patterson	Broadway	Theodora (Teddy) Hicks	Original Broadway production
1957	Shinbone Alley	Broadway	Mehitabel	Original Broadway production
1959	Jolly's Progress	Broadway	Jolly Rivers
1965	The Owl and the Pussycat	U.S. National tour	Performer
1967	Peg	Regional (US)
1970	The High Bid	London	Performer
1972	Bunny	London	Performer
1974	Bread and Beans and Things	Aquarius Theater	Performer
1976	A Musical Jubilee	U.S. National tour	Performer
1978	Timbuktu!	Broadway	Shaleem-La-Lume	Nominated–Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical
1980	Cowboy and the Legend	Regional (US)	Performer
1982	New Faces of 1952 (Revival)	Off-off-Broadway	Polynesian girl Featured dancer Featured singer
1985	Blues in the Night	U.S. National tour	Performer
1987	Follies (London Revival)	London	Carlotta Campion	Replacement for Dolores Gray
1989	Aladdin	Palace Theatre, Manchester	Slave of the Ring
1989	Eartha Kitt in Concert	London	Performer
1994	Yes	Edinburgh	Performer
1995	Sam's Song	Unitarian Church of All Souls	Performer	Benefit concert
1996	Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill	Chicago	Billie Holiday
1998	The Wizard of Oz (return engagement)	Madison Square Garden, and U.S. National tour	Miss Gulch/The Wicked Witch
2000	The Wild Party	Broadway	Delores	Original Broadway production Nominated–Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Nominated–Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical
	Cinderella	Madison Square Garden, and U.S. National tour	Fairy Godmother
2003	Nine	Broadway	Liliane La Fleur	Replacement for Chita Rivera
2004	Cinderella (New York City Opera revival)	David H. Koch Theater	Fairy Godmother
2006	Mimi le Duck	Off-off-Broadway	Madame Vallet
2007	All About Us	Westport Country Playhouse	Performer

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	The Emperor's New Groove	Yzma	voice role

Bibliography

• Thursday's Child (1956)
• Alone with Me: A New Autobiography (1976)
• I'm Still Here: Confessions of a Sex Kitten (1989)
• Rejuvenate!: It's Never Too Late (2001)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2001	Annie Awards	Best Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production	The Emperor's New Groove	Won
2006		Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production	The Emperor's New School (Episode: "Kuzclone")	Won
2007			The Emperor's New School (Episode: "The Emperor's New Musical")	Won
2001	Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actress	The Emperor's New Groove	Nominated
2007	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	The Emperor's New School	Won
2008				Won
2010			Wonder Pets! (Episode: "Save the Cool Cat and the Hip Hippo")	Won
2000	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical	The Wild Party	Nominated
2005	DVD Exclusive Awards	Best Animated Character Performance (Voice and Animation in a DVD Premiere Movie)	Kronk's New Groove	Nominated
1969	Grammy Awards	Best Recording for Children	Folk Tales of the Tribes of Africa	Nominated
1995		Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance	Back in Business	Nominated
1995	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Living Single (Episode: "He Works Hard for the Money")	Nominated
1966	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Drama	I Spy (Episode: "The Loser")	Nominated
1978	Tony Awards	Best Leading Actress in a Musical	Timbuktu!	Nominated
2000		Best Featured Actress in a Musical	The Wild Party	Nominated

• In 1960, the Hollywood Walk of Fame honored her with a star, which can be found on 6656 Hollywood Boulevard.
• In 2016, January 17 was announced as Eartha Kitt Day in Kitt's home state of South Carolina. In 2022 the day was enshrined into state law in SC Code § 53-3-75 (2022). South Carolinian Sheldon Rice is credited for beginning the push for legislation declaring her birthday as a state holiday since the time of her death in 2008. State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter first introduced the legislation to create the State holiday in 2011.

Further reading

• Gent, Helen (May 4, 2009). "Eartha Kitt: The Feline Femme Fatale". Marie Claire (Australia).
• Kitt, Eartha (1976). Alone with Me : A New Autobiography. Chicago: H. Regnery. ISBN 0-8092-8351-4. OCLC 1945260.
• Walsh, David (December 27, 2008). "Harold Pinter and Eartha Kitt, artists and opponents of imperialist war". World Socialist Web Site.

External links

• Official website
• Eartha Kitt at IMDb 
• Eartha Kitt at the TCM Movie Database
• Eartha Kitt at the Internet Broadway Database
• Eartha Kitt at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Eartha Kitt at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
• Eartha Kitt at TV Guide
• Image of Eartha Kitt with her fiance Bill McDonald recovering stolen items at a pawnshop in Los Angeles, California, 1960. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.