TV and Movies

[Oznell]

I haven't read Kitt Shapiro's memoir,  "Eartha and Kitt",  but it sounds tantalizing.

Glamorous torch singer,  TV Batman's purring "Catwoman",  belter of "Santa Baby",  outspoken, spunky survivor--  Eartha Kitt has always been fascinating. Have always loved her one-of-a-kind voice. 

She survived deep poverty, rejection and racial obstacles to scale the heights of show biz.  Her daughter Kitt is able to give a deeper picture of her devoted mother.

The book's photos look fab!  Love this one of vibrant Eartha and her baby--  Eartha loved being a mother, and adored kids...

There were many sides to Eartha Kitt, including her activism, her love of gardening, needlepoint, and fascination with ant colonies. 

In a detail-filled interview with Tamron Hall (if you google, it's readily available on youtube),  Kitt also told of a chilling rejection her mother received at a park in apartheid-era South Africa--  and how Eartha Kitt turned the incident into a quiet triumph for the promotion of integration and acceptance.

I was impressed with Kitt--  she has much of her mother's vivacity, charm and humor.  I'd expect this book to be a very good read.

[PickyPicky3]

I remember being spellbound by Eartha Kitt when I was about five years old. Her looks, voice and singing style were so different from others I had experienced in my short lifetime. I couldn't turn away.

[Mz iMac]

@Oznell  I do remember reading a book about EK written by her daughter soon after she died.  Not sure if it's the same one this post is about.  Some of the things mentioned in the book regarding her childhood I already knew from my parents.

Once  in a great moon TMC shows this movie called St Louis Blues.  It stars Eartha Kitt & Nat King Cole.

"St. Louis Blues is a 1958 American film broadly based on the life of W. C. Handy. It stars jazz and blues greats Nat "King" Cole, Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, and Barney Bigard, as well as gospel singer Mahalia Jackson and actress Ruby Dee."

The full movie is also on YouTube.........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvSUIQyNCBU

The comedian side of Eartha Kitt can be seen in the movie Boomerang.  Her famous quote from that movie is when she (Lady Eloise) whispers into Marcus (Eddie Murphy) ear......

"Marcus, Darling... I don't have any panties on"

[Johnnyeager]

My first and primary exposure to Eartha Kitt was "Catwoman."

Years later, a producer commented in an interview:

We felt it was a very provocative idea,” recalled producer Charles FitzSimons about executive producer Bill Dozier’s selection of Eartha Kitt as Catwoman; “She was a cat woman before we ever cast her as Catwoman. She had a cat-like style. Her eyes were cat-like and her singing was like a meow. This came as a wonderful off-beat idea to do it with a black woman.”

[Oznell]

Thanks for posting the movie link, @Mz iMac !     That's interesting about the two memoirs.  As far as I know, this one was published in 2021.

[Mz iMac]

@Oznell   I called my mother.  She said EK daughter wrote a memoir about her mother in Ebony Magazine around the time of her death.

Sorry for the confusion.

[spiderw]

I remember Eartha Kitt well.  Her sultry voice was unique, filled with feeling.  She was a beautiful woman also.  I am a blues and jazz gal so Eartha stood out to me.  I would love to read the book her daughter wrote since I didn't know much about Eartha's life and I do enjoy biographies.  Thanks for pointing it out !

[Zernia Rose]

@Mz iMac @Eartha Kitt was fabulous in Boomerang and the Batman tv series as Catwoman.  I saw her last televised performance that was filmed in 2008.  It was so poignant. Miss Kitt died shortly on Christmas Day

She paid a steep price for her comments to Lady Bird Johnson at a White House luncheon.  Her career was nearly destroyed in the US as a result. Thankfully, she could work overseas

She was simply inforgettable.