"the textbook diva — a woman who acts with divine providence as high as her cheekbones."
This week we celebrated the 82nd birthday of our icon Eartha Kitt!
Eartha's seductive and feline voice is often imitated, but never bettered. She began her career as a dancer, but was soon snapped up to appear on Broadway - not least because of the support of Orson Welles, with whom she allegedly had a torrid affair. Indeed he described her as "the most exciting woman in the world". And he was right! How can anyone compete with her classic performances of songs like C'est si Bon, Just an Old Fashioned Girl, I Want To Be Evil, Mink, Schmink, Under the Bridges of Paris, and of course Santa Baby?
Her film career may not be so well-remembered as her songs and her vampish look, despite starring alongside such luminaries as Sidney Poitier, but Eartha certainly takes her place in the kitsch history books for her portrayal of Catwoman on the Batman TV series. Never known for her reticence Eartha's career was effectively blacklisted in the USA in 1968 when she made an anti-Vietnam remark at a White House luncheon hosted by President Johnson's wife.
But despite that setback her adulation across the world continued, with concert and television appearances . Her loyal gay following in particular never deserted Eartha, and in the early '80s she hit the comeback trail with several huge Hi-NRG singles, including I Love Men and Cha Cha Heels.
We had the privilege of seeing the gorgeous Miss Kitt on stage at the Sondheim 70th birthday celebration gala in 2005, out-performing the rest of the ensemble with her rendition of I'm Still Here - what a lady, what a diva!
But it was her hit Where is My Man? that had the greatest influence on my life. When it was released I was suffering the throes of teenage angst - and it was Eartha Kitt who finally encouraged me to fling open the closet doors and come out! I am eternally grateful to her for that...
Eartha Kitt official website
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