Eartha Kitt dead at 81

[SoCalNative]

Source: AP

NEW YORK (AP) — A family friend says singer and actress Eartha Kitt has died of colon cancer at age 81.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ijDA5bgxiHlTvS_r-SSjskS1Tq1wD959VR9G3

[Taverner]

1. No way! Catwoman!!!!

Well one of them

Damn - and colon cancer too

Not a way to go...

RIP Eartha!

[awoke_in_2003]

35. the sexiest...

of the Catwomem

[Deja Q]

2. Farewell, sweet princess.

:(

:(

:(

[Liberal Veteran]

3. RIP, Catwoman....

:cry:

[Sanity Claws]

4. How sad

I always associate her with this season because of her Santa Baby song.

[virgdem]

5. Oh no...so sad...

what a great talent. RIP Catwoman

[Bluebear]

6. Santa baby . . .

:cry:

[dipsydoodle]

36. It's here

I posted it in the Music Appreciation group 12/11 : http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xOMmSbxB_Sg :cry:

[alphafemale]

7. This is awful. Didn't James Brown die on Chistmas Day last year?

:cry:

[Deja Q]

9. I don't remember, but Mike Evans died the same day...

[Are_grits_groceries]

8. Bye!

Boy did she rip Lady Bird and LBJ over Vietnam-
right in their faces!

RIP!!

[Deja Q]

13. An interesting life:

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sfmetro/07.27.98/earthakitt-9828.html

[BrklynLiberal]

24. Thanks. Great article.

[Baby Snooks]

39. Probably what most will remember her for...

She was blacklisted over her comments which Lady Bird Johnson, at times not really a lady, took offense at. Lady Bird Johnson forgot that the White House was and is "the people's house" and she more than he went for the jugular vein and was behind the blacklisting which actually was more reminiscent of McCarthy than anything else and certainly not something the Johnsons, Lady Bird in particular, should have been proud of. And yet in some odd way they were. But then she was getting rich off Halliburton and the war. And covering up the blood on her hands by planting wildflowers on the highways in Texas.

Eartha Kitt ignored the fact she was blacklisted, continued working in Europe, and never looked back. And never regretted using the opportunity to let the Johnsons know that it wasn't just people out on the sidewalk who opposed the war. I think Lady Bird Johnson at one point tried to minimize the incident over the matter of propriety. That there is a time and a place for everything including protests. Not realizing that the luncheon and the White House was the perfect time and place. They were ignoring the protestors on the sidewalk. But couldn't ignore Eartha Kitt in the East Room.

We need more Eartha Kitts and fewer Lady Bird Johnsons in the world.

[UpInArms]

10. rest well, eartha

[xchrom]

11. farewell eartha -- heaven's gain is indeed our loss. nt

[Raksha]

12. This is so sad...I was a fan of hers long before she was Catwoman.

I can remember my mother playing a record of Eartha Kitt singing "torch songs" in several languages, with translations of the lyrics on the back of the album cover. That must have been in the 1950s when I was about 6-8 years old, but then I was a precocious reader.

[Gregorian]

14. She was precious!

Now I have something to look forward to when I go to wherever she went.

:(

[bluesmail]

15. oh shit. another legend.

[kestrel91316]

16. Oh, no.....didn't she do a great version of "Santa Baby"?

".......and hurry down the chimney tonight....."

[BrklynLiberal]

25. That was her....yep.

[elleng]

31. Here she is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng9_YIkH_dY

[rasputin1952]

17. Damn...

RIP Eartha

“EARTHA KITT is an international star who gives new meaning to the word versatile. She has distinguished herself in film, theater, cabaret, music and on television.







A long and varied career, she was brought impoverished and rose to stardom.

Born in the South and raised in Harlem, sultry black actress/singer Eartha Kitt attended New York's High School of Performing Arts. After touring with Katherine Dunham's dance troupe, Kitt headlined at choice nightclubs in both Paris and the U.S. She made her acting debut as Helen of Troy in Orson Welles' 1951 staging of Faust. The following year, she came to Broadway in the musical revue New Faces of 1952 in which she stopped the show on a nightly basis with her sensuous rendition of "C'est Si Bon." It was the first of many top-ten hits for Kitt, who was one of a handful of black performers of the 1950s to receive regular air play on "white" radio stations. Subsequent Broadway appearances included the role of Mehitabel the alley cat in the 1958 musical Shinbone Alley.

[awoke_in_2003]

37. thanks for the Catwoman pic...

she was the sexiest of the bunch

[Skittles]

18. awesome gal

a true original

[burythehatchet]

19. Long before she was Catwoman, Eartha Kitt captured the lust of an 8 year old

Indian boy with this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWpwzlGKqqY&feature=related
Usku Dara (it is a Turkish song)

[jb5150]

20. R.I.P.

Another legend gone, this has been a rough year.....

[quidam56]

21. Bon Voyage !

[closeupready]

22. no way! RIP, Eartha.

So weird - I was thinking about her just this morning, not making that up. I saw her perform on Broadway in Mimi Le Duck. Glad I did, too.

[BrklynLiberal]

23. Sad. She was a great performer.

Well, that's two. Harold Pinter died also.

[Behind the Aegis]

26. What sad news!

:cry:

[fortyfeetunder]

27. RIP to one fine woman

She was beautiful. And an incredibly talented woman.

RIP Eartha.

[undergroundrailroad]

28. Wow! This is a huge loss. Eartha was a truly remarkable person. Unique and

oh so talented!

"Santa Baby" will be playing in my ears tonight.

Rest in peace Eartha. O8) :cry:

[shadowknows69]

29. I'm sure she was Batman's favorite Catwoman and if not he was an idiot.

Good journey Eartha. RIP to an extremely talented lady.

[Liberal_in_LA]

30. RIP

[TheDebbieDee]

32. RIP Ms. Kitt !

[elleng]

33. C'est Si Bon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5WVkl_f7_E

[annarbor]

34. R.I.P Miss Kitt

What a class act!

Ann Arbor

[ronnykmarshall]

38. RIP Eartha.

:cry:

[jobycom]

40. A Civil Rights warrior and a marriage equality advocate. More than just a pretty face.

She refused to play segregated venues in the 60s, and lectured Ladybird Johnson on the Viet Nam War.

From an interview a couple years ago:

Kitt is outspoken on her stance regarding gay marriage. “I support it because we’re asking for the same thing,” she states confidently. “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?

She goes on to say that the gay marriage issue is similar to what African-Americans experienced during the time of the Civil-Rights Movement. “We were not allowed to go through certain doors because of our race, our color,” she says intensely. “It was so stupid that we were not able to sit at the counter of a restaurant because it was only for Anglo-Saxons. It’s stupid when this country says it was born on “freedom for all,” but it’s “freedom for some”!

http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=7907

[defendandprotect]

41. Another lady with a great deal of courage -- and slammed down --

by LBJ for raising the VN war issue at a WH event with Lady Bird ....

as I recall the event.

Wonderful singer, as well!!

[watrwefitinfor]

42. One of South Carolina's finest..

A very classy lady and a mesmerizing performer.
R.I.P., Eartha Kitt.

Wat

[Third Doctor]

43. RIP

Goodbye,Eartha! You were a classy lady.

[Swagman]

44. saw her act when she was 69-the most sensual performer I've ever

seen. Afterwards went to a dinner she was at and she exuded a great sadness but extraordinary strength. Not just a wonderfully vivacious performer who never stopped working but an intelligent and outspoken woman for civil rights. That awful creep J.Edgar Hover tried to destroy her career.

vale Eartha Kitt.:cry:

[tainted_chimp]

57. I saw her during that period too...

...at the Cinegrill in Hollywood.

She was - without a doubt - the MOST amazing cabaret performer I've ever seen.
She had the entire room suction-cupped around her wicked little pinkie!

What an utter force of nature !
A complete original.

Bon Voyage, petite genius.

Eartha Kitt - I Wanna Be Evil:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6BNzvhRlCk

[emilyg]

45. Santa sad.

Grand Lady!

[GinaMaria]

46. RIP.... eom

[Mad_Dem_X]

47. Rest in Peace, Eartha

:cry:

[yardwork]

48. A fabulous talent, a fabulous performer. RIP, Eartha.

[Window]

49. Rest in peace dear Eartha.

[racaulk]

50. An incredibly talented and gifted individual.

RIP, Eartha. :cry:

[merh]

51. She was an incredible woman, I so loved her voice and I can

remember her performances on Mike Douglas' show.

And she was one hell of a Catwoman.

And did you know that for all the LBJ did for the civil rights movement, he had Eartha Kitt blacklisted and had her investigated by the FBI and the CIA.

It was not to last, however. In 1968, Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson invited Kitt to a celebrity women's luncheon at the White House to offer her views on inner-city youth. Taking the event seriously, not as a publicity stunt, Kitt pointedly criticized the Vietnam War and its impact on poor minorities. An infuriated Johnson put out the word that Kitt's rudeness had reduced the First Lady to tears, and Kitt found herself essentially blacklisted across the country -- afraid of incurring the government's wrath, venues simply refused to book her. It was later revealed that Kitt was made the subject of a secret federal investigation; her house was bugged and she was tailed by Secret Service agents. When the FBI failed to find evidence that Kitt was a subversive, the CIA compiled a highly speculative dossier that attempted to portray her as a nymphomaniac. Unable to find work in America, Kitt moved to Europe, where she would spend most of the following decade. In 1974, she courted controversy once again by touring South Africa; although she performed for white-only audiences, her show was racially integrated, and she raised money for black schools by selling autographs.

Rest in peace, Ms Kitt - thank you for all you gave and did.

[PSPS]

52. Versatile, legendary performer Eartha Kitt dead at 81

Source: NYT

Eartha Kitt, whose "Santa, Baby" remains the sultriest Christmas song ever recorded, died Thursday on a holiday she turned into something both naughty and nice.

Kitt, a versatile multi-media performer, engaging talk show regular and longtime human rights activist, was 81 and had been suffering from colon cancer.

Her publicist, Patty Freeman, said she died in New York with her daughter, Kitt Shapiro, at her side. Her last performance, a PBS special scheduled to air in February, was taped just six weeks ago.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/2008/12/25/2008-12-25_versatile_legendary_performer_eartha_kit.html

---

Here's Eartha Kitt "with Friends" singing Santa Baby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOMmSbxB_Sg

[merh]

53. She was an incredible woman, I so loved her voice and can

remember her performances on Mike Douglas' show.

And she was one hell of a Catwoman.

And did you know that for all the LBJ did for the civil rights movement, he had Eartha Kitt blacklisted and had her investigated by the FBI and the CIA.

It was not to last, however. In 1968, Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson invited Kitt to a celebrity women's luncheon at the White House to offer her views on inner-city youth. Taking the event seriously, not as a publicity stunt, Kitt pointedly criticized the Vietnam War and its impact on poor minorities. An infuriated Johnson put out the word that Kitt's rudeness had reduced the First Lady to tears, and Kitt found herself essentially blacklisted across the country -- afraid of incurring the government's wrath, venues simply refused to book her. It was later revealed that Kitt was made the subject of a secret federal investigation; her house was bugged and she was tailed by Secret Service agents. When the FBI failed to find evidence that Kitt was a subversive, the CIA compiled a highly speculative dossier that attempted to portray her as a nymphomaniac. Unable to find work in America, Kitt moved to Europe, where she would spend most of the following decade. In 1974, she courted controversy once again by touring South Africa; although she performed for white-only audiences, her show was racially integrated, and she raised money for black schools by selling autographs.

Rest in peace, Ms Kitt - thank you for all you gave and did.

[davidinalameda]

54. I just heard that on the radio driving home

that's so sad; she was my favorite Catwoman

[bikebloke]

55. Let's hope the curse of three's pass by.

Harold Pinter
Eartha Kitt
?

[Kurovski]

56. Rest in peace.

She was fabulous and conscientious, and one of a kind.

[Neecy]

58. Very sad news

[Patchuli]

59. I had just changed my ringtone

earlier this month to her "Santa Baby." Bless her sweet sexy Catwoman heart! (((((((((Eartha))))))))))

[Norrin Radd]

60. Peace to Eartha from a huge Batman fan...

[Alameda]

61. Oh...dear Eartha, what a lady. I'll miss her being around.

Rest in peace sweet lady!

[NuttyFluffers]

62. NO! :( so sad!

:cry:

[progressoid]

63. Wow, we just wiki'd her because of Santa Baby.

My kids wanted to knoe more about her.

She was a great lady.

[Politicub]

64. RIP, Ms. Kitt

Eartha Kitt was one in a million - with a character most of us can only aspire to. What a loss.