Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt embodied the archetype of the sex-kitten chanteuse, achieving prominence through a nightclub routine built around her sinuous stage demeanor and the husky, purring quality of her vocals. While reveling in such seductive displays, she simultaneously cultivated the aura of a worldly cosmopolitan, an impression reinforced by her performances across multiple tongues. She infused her torch songs with unmistakable vitality and gravitated toward material that cast her in the role of the era’s Material Girl. So sharply etched was this persona that it kept her immediately recognizable long after the peak of her early-1950s success and opened doors to acting roles across film, television, and the stage. Although many associate her most closely with one of the portrayals of Catwoman in the 1960s Batman series, Kitt remained at core a cabaret artist whose work shone brightest before live audiences. She ascended swiftly from an upbringing marked by hardship and deprivation, relocating from South Carolina to Harlem at the age of eight to reside with an aunt. During her late teens she traveled the world with a dance troupe and simultaneously cultivated a vocal repertoire. After signing with RCA she amassed a string of hits from 1953 to 1955, among them “C’est Si Bon,” “I Want to Be Evil,” and “Santa Baby,” before extending her reach into acting. Her outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War in 1968 resulted in a decade-long exclusion from U.S. stages and screens, prompting her relocation to Europe for work. She reentered American cultural life in the 1980s and 1990s, appearing both as an actress and as a nightclub vocalist. In 2000 she earned her third Tony nomination for her performance in the musical drama The Wild Party. Kitt sustained her recording and performing schedule through the 2000s until a colon-cancer diagnosis in 2006 led to her death from the illness in late 2008.