Home » Jazz Musicians » Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt

EARTHA KITT was an international star who gave new meaning to the word versatile. She distinguished herself in film, theater, cabaret, music and on television. Miss Kitt is one of only a handful of performers to be nominated for a Tony (three times), the Grammy (twice), and Emmy Award (twice). She regularly enthralls New York nightclub audiences during her extended stays at The Cafe Carlyle and these intimate performances have been captured in her newest recording, Eartha Kitt, Live at The Carlyle. Miss Kitt’s distinctive voice has enthralled an entirely new generation of fans. Young fans loved her as YZMA, the villain, in Disney’s animated feature The Emperor's Groove, (2001 Annie Award for Best Vocal Performance / Animated Feature). Miss Kitt was also featured in the sequel, The Emperor's New Groove II and reprised the role in the popular Saturday morning animated series The Emperor’s New School (2007 Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program and 2007 Annie Award for Best Vocal Performance in an Animated Television Production).

Eartha Mae Kitt was ostracized at an early age because of her mixed-race heritage. At eight years old, she was given away by her mother and sent from the South Carolina cotton fields to live with an aunt in Harlem. In New York her distinct individuality and flair for show business manifested itself, and on a friend’s dare, the shy teen auditioned for the famed Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe. She won a spot as a featured dancer and vocalist and before the age of twenty, toured worldwide with the company. During a performance in Paris, Miss Kitt was spotted by a nightclub owner and booked as a featured singer at his club. Her unique persona earned her fans and fame quickly, including Orson Welles, who called her “the most exciting woman in the world”. Welles was so taken with her talent that he cast her as Helen of Troy in his fabled production of Dr. Faust. Back in New York, Miss Kitt was booked at The Village Vanguard, and soon spotted by a Broadway producer who put her in New Faces of 1952 where every night she transfixed audiences with her sultry rendition of Monotonous. Her show stopping performance in New faces, which ran for a year, led to a national tour and a Twentieth Century Fox film version. Broadway stardom led to a recording contract and a succession of best- selling records including Love for Sale, I Want to Be Evil, Santa Baby and Folk Tales of the Tribes of Africa, which earned her a Grammy nomination.

Read more

Tags

501
Multiple Reviews

Eartha Kitt: Purr-Fect & In Person at the Plaza

Read "Eartha Kitt: Purr-Fect &  In Person at the Plaza" reviewed by Samuel Chell


The singer and actress Eartha Kitt (1927-2008) was the ultimate femme fatale, “the most exciting woman in the world" according to film director Orson Welles. Purr-Fect: The Eartha Kitt Collection is an enjoyable if flawed greatest hits collection. In Person at the Plaza a representative and recommended live recording.

Eartha Kitt Purr-Fect: The Eartha Kitt Collection Spectrum Audio UK 2001

She may not have had Edith Piaf's musical instrument ...

Read more articles
2

Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Rene Marie gets "Evil" like Eartha Kitt

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Rene Marie gets "Evil" like Eartha Kitt

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Today, let's spend some video time with singer Rene Marie, who's coming to St. Louis to perform Wednesday, March 4 through Saturday, March 7 at Jazz at the Bistro. A Virginia native who will turn 60 in November, Rene Marie was something of a late bloomer, not beginning her professional singing career until she was past 40 and her two sons nearly grown. She was one of the first artists to sign with the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ label in 1999, ...

12

TV / Film

Actress, Singer Cynthia Basinet Releases Her New Music Video Of "Santa Baby" Tributing Eartha Kitt

Actress, Singer Cynthia Basinet Releases Her New Music Video Of "Santa Baby" Tributing Eartha Kitt

Source: Cynthia "c." Basinet

New York- Cynthia Basinet releases her new music video of “Santa Baby" with a tribute to Eartha Kitt, the song's original siren on the 60th anniversary. “I thought it was a perfect time to give tribute to the singer that had inspired me not only vocally but with her joie de vivre." said Miss Basinet. Long considered “one of the most sultry and seductive voices around", Cynthia felt it important to pay tribute to Eartha because Cynthia's version is often ...

150

Obituary

Eartha Kitt an Appreciation

Eartha Kitt an Appreciation

Source: Michael Ricci

Yes, she played up her sexy image, but she was also a pioneer among African American entertainers.

Even as a pre-adolescent growing up in subarctic Rochester, N.Y., watching Eartha Kitt's Catwoman taunt Adam West's Batman always made me feel a little, um, hot. Julie Newmar, Emma Peel and the rest of the leather-jumpsuited superwomen/femmes fatales of the '60s were fine too. But for my inchoate tastes in all things feminine, Kitt was the insouciant queen. Of course, most of the ...

537

Obituary

Eartha Kit Seductive Singer Crooned "Santa Baby" Dies on Christmas

Eartha Kit Seductive Singer Crooned "Santa Baby" Dies on Christmas

Source: Michael Ricci

Eartha Kitt, who purred and pounced her way across Broadway stages, recordings and movie and television screens in a show-business career that lasted more than six decades, died on Thursday. She was 81 and lived in Connecticut. Ms. Kitt, who began performing as a dancer in New York in the late 40s, went on to achieve success and acclaim on Broadway, recordings, film and television, long before other entertainment multitaskers like Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler. With her ...

435

Recording

Eartha Kitt CD and First Ever Concert DVD Coming Out Soon.

Eartha Kitt CD and First Ever Concert DVD Coming Out Soon.

Source: All About Jazz

"The most exciting woman in the world" - Orson Welles on Eartha Kitt, 1950. It is with great pleasure that Network announce the releases of EARTHA KITT LIVE AT THE CHELTENHAM JAZZ FESTIVAL (E) on DVD on 27th October 2008, RRP 19.99 and CD, RRP 12.99. This is, unbelievably, Eartha Kitts first ever live concert DVD. These releases are recordings of her sell-out opening concert at the world renowned Cheltenham Jazz Festival in 2008. With a career that ...

118

Festival

Eartha Kitt in Cheltenham - Extra Date Added!

Eartha Kitt in Cheltenham - Extra Date Added!

Source: AirMTM

In a change to the advertised programme the HSBC Cheltenham Jazz Festival is pleased to announce that Eartha Kitt will now perform in an additional concert on Monday 28 April. Both this and the scheduled concert on Tuesday 29 April will now take place in the intimate setting of the Pittville Pump Room. Eartha Kitt comes to Cheltenham in her only UK Festival appearances of 2008. Her performance at the Pittville Pump Room will see this ...

117

Festival

Monterey Jazz Festival Presents Eartha Kitt, John Pizzaretli and Kurt Elling in Spring 2006 Concert Series

Monterey Jazz Festival Presents Eartha Kitt, John Pizzaretli and Kurt Elling in Spring 2006 Concert Series

Source: All About Jazz

Monterey Jazz Festival expands Spring jazz concerts to Carmel's Sunset Center and “Monterey Live" in downtown Monterey

An eclectic mix of performers offers a full spectrum of world-class charm, class and chops for audiences of all ages.

MJF Presents: Eartha Kitt Thursday, March 16, 7:30pm Sunset Center Mission Street at 8th Avenue Carmel By The Sea, CA 93921 $97/$67/$47

John Pizzarelli Friday, April 7, 8:00pm

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Essential Eartha...

Déjá Vu After Dark
2007

buy

Purr'fect

Déjá Vu After Dark
2005

buy

Heavenly Eartha

Déjá Vu After Dark
2002

buy

Excellent And Decadent

Déjá Vu After Dark
2001

buy

Purrfect: The Eartha...

Déjá Vu After Dark
2000

buy

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.