Date of Birth

17 January 1927, North, South Carolina, USA

Date of Death

25 December 2008, Weston, Connecticut, USA

Birth Name

Eartha Mae Keith

An out-of-wedlock child, Eartha Kitt was born in the cotton fields of South Carolina, a pregnancy resulting from the rape by a white plantation owner and a sharecropper mother of African-American and Cherokee Native American descent. Given away by her mother, she arrived in Harlem at age nine, and at 15 she quit high school to work in a Brooklyn factory. As a teenager, Kitt lived in friends' homes and in the subways. By the 1950s, however, she had sung and danced her way out of poverty and into the spotlight: performing with the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe on a European tour, soloing at a Paris night club and becoming the toast of the Continent. Orson Welles called her "the most exciting girl in the world". She speaks out on hard issues and plays no favorites; at one point, she drew flak from blacks by working throughout South Africa and reveling in her treatment there as an honorary white.

Daughter, Kitt McDonald. Grandchildren, Justin, 8, and Rachel, 4.

Kitt's age was always a mystery, until 1998, when a group of students from her hometown in South Carolina unearthed her birth certificate. The document revealed that her true birthday is January 17, 1927.

Measurements: 35-23-35 (as Catwoman), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Ranked #89 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll

Was virtually exiled from the United States after making anti-war statements during a White House luncheon with Lady Bird Johnson in 1968. However, she was welcomed back to the White House by Jimmy Carter who took office in January of 1977.

Was nominated twice for Broadway's Tony Award: in 1978, as Best Actress (Musical) for "Timbuktu!"; and in 2000, as Best Actress (Featured Role - Musical) for "The Wild Party."

Was inspired to go into show business after witnessing the wild applause that the audience gave José Ferrer after one of his stage performances as Cyrano de Bergerac in 1946.

Her name can be seen on a marquee in the infamously bad Edward D. Wood Jr. cult film Plan 9 from Outer Space (1958).

Her husband, William O. McDonald, was a real estate developer. They were married from 1960 - 1965. They had a daughter, Kitt McDonald Shapiro.

She was awarded the Hollywood Star on the Walk of Fame at 6656 Hollywood Boulevard for her contributions to the Recording Industry in 1960.

Replaced Chita Rivera for a time in the Broadway revival of the musical "Nine".

In 1968, she suffered a substantial professional setback after she made anti-war statements during a White House luncheon. It was reported that she made Lady Bird Johnson, the First Lady at the time, cry when she bluntly told her, "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. They rebel in the street. They don't want to go to school because they're going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam." The public reaction to Kitt's statements was even more extreme, however, both for and against her statements. Professionally exiled from the U.S., she devoted her energies to overseas performances for nearly a decade.

Became fluent in French during her long years performing in Europe.

An aunt brought her to New York where she attended the High School of Performing Arts, before dropping out to take on various menial jobs, including one in a factory.

Among her liaisons with wealthy men included Charles Revson, the Revlon cosmetics founder, and actor Orson Welles, who spotted her in a Paris nightclub and cast her in his Paris stage production of "Faust".

Was nominated in 1996 for a Grammy in traditional pop vocal performance for her album "Back in Business".

She was awarded the 1996 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Principal Role in a Musical for "Lady Day at the Emerson's Bar & Grill" at the Broadway Productions and New Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

Well-known for her recordings of "Santa Baby" in the 50s and 60s. She died on Christmas Day.

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