In Memorium: Eartha Kitt, Warrior, Truth Teller
Dec 27th, 2008 by admin
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Eartha Kitt died on Christmas day at the age of 81 of colon cancer. She was an amazing woman. She came into the world as the result of rape. A white South Carolina plantation owner raped her Cherokee/black mother who picked cotton on his plantation. Her mother’s rapist immediately disavowed her. Desperately poor, her mother gave her up at a very young age, some accounts say 3, some say 8. An aunt took her to live in Harlem as a young girl. She had a difficult childhood, was abused in many ways and quit school as a young teenager. She was a fighter, a survivor, and she ultimately captured the attention of people who could give her a leg up in the world. She was a wonderful, memorable singer, funny, beautiful, charismatic and hardworking. She spoke four languages and sang in seven to 10 (again, accounts vary). She had small but memorable parts in movies and acted alongside Sammy Davis Jr., Sidney Poitier and Lou Rawls, although she is most remembered as an actress for her role as Catwoman in the Batman series.
In the ’70s she was investigated and hounded by the FBI and the CIA after having been televised telling Lady Bird Johnson, wife of then-President Lyndon Johnson, that it was no wonder students were making revolution, dropping out and smoking pot, given that LBJ was sending them off to die in Vietnam. The FBI and CIA wiretapped her telephones then and created a dossier on her calling her “a sadistic nymphomaniac with a vile tongue”. She was blacklisted in the U.S. as an entertainer for a period of 10 years. She fled to Europe and abroad where she was embraced and loved, finally returning to the U.S. and to the end of her exile at the invitation of President Jimmy Carter. Of this time in her life, she wrote: ”The thing that hurts, that became anger, was when I realized that if you tell the truth — in a country that says you’re entitled to tell the truth — you get your face slapped and you get put out of work.”
Eartha Kitt, her daughter and granddaughter
As a biracial woman, she described herself as “an urchin and an ugly duckling and an unwanted thing… blacks didn’t want me because I wasn’t black enough, and the white people didn’t know what I was. So since I wasn’t wanted by anyone, I simple took fate as she presented herself to me, and did whatever I could, however I could, the best I could. I had a very strong desire to survive.”
She was committed to the rights of indigenous people and in the ’80s was a voice for saving the Franklin River in Tasmania. She used her influence and her voice to urge aboriginal people in Australia to form their own political party to represent their specific interests in the Australian Parliament. She also identified with the struggles of lesbian women and gay men and was an advocate for gay and lesbian rights, especially at the end of her life.
She is being eulogized as a “sex kitten” and a vamp and a “siren,” remembered for her song “Santa Baby” and for her sultry voice; men appreciate how sexy she was. But as is so true with all powerful, talented women who must find a way to survive under white male heterosupremacy, she was so much more. She was courageous and fierce, in her own way, a woman warrior. She consistently used her influence on behalf of the disenfranchised, marginalized and excluded.
It’s hard to see these amazing women pass on. She will be so missed.
Heart
I believe the picture is of her with her daughter, Kitt, and granddaughter Rachel.
Thanks, Melissa, I made the correction.
Wow! I didn’t know all that stuff about Eartha Kitt! I remember her as Catwoman when I was a little girl. What a remarkable woman.
This is the only write-up I’ve seen that mentioned her life of advocacy. Thanks Heart for always going a bit further into women’s lives.
No one else going to mention it? That is one “white” daughter.” I have one blonde, blue-eyed brother (same parents) so it’s not completely a surprise to me.
It is good to know about her amazing life.
I loved Catwoman, it warped me as a child. It was lovely to have something to laugh about, and quite bonding at my primary school.
[...] Eartha Kitt - Multi-talented, Woman-Warrior and Teller of Uncomfortable Truths - 25th December, aged 81. (You might want to wander over to Heart’s place for more on Eartha Kitt.) [...]
I like to listen to Eartha not just for her voice but because she makes me laugh, being so humorous all the time ;D And I love her “cest bon” best of any version. She always was celebrating so many different cultures in her songs. And sounding so amused and happy
Like Usku Dara, the Turkish song, I love that one alot by her.
And I love “Let’s Fall in Love” and “I wanta be evil” and the one “Cos if I love ya then I need ya and if I need ya then I want ya around …!!”
Jeyoni…..And don’t forget “Monotonous” “Chang Kai Chek sends me pots of tea, Harry S. Truman plays bop for me, monotonous…” We just loved that song as kids– I was a fervent supporter of the Nationalist Chinese on Taiwan even at the age of 10, and I loved complex thoughts and phrasing in songs. Eartha Kitt was IT for me!
I found it so touching that she died on Christmas Day, since “Santa Baby” became such a big song. Somehow a song or a cartoon or freedom become so powerful that the person will die on a day that evokes this power — e.g. Charles Schultz died after his last Peanuts cartoon was published, Jefferson and Adams both died on July 4… I know this sounds fanciful and a little out of it, but I couldn’t help but think Eartha is smiling at her Christmas day exit from this earth to maybe Saturn… and every time “Santa Baby” comes on, we can all think of her!
I loved her name too, and heard my parents tell how she told Lady Bird off at the White House and came out against the Vietnam war. So early on, I was a politically precocious child, and her songs added a bit of class and sophistication to my young life back then.
And “Santa Baby” was such a naughty little cute song, and we used to sing it to our dog! (What do you expect from kooky lesbians who live on top of hills
I know I couldn’t help but wonder at the timing of her departure too! What a way to hit your mark, even in death.
I saw an interview with Rain Pryor (Richard Pryor’s comedian daughter I like alot) and she spoke of how her daughter was born on APRIL FOOLS.
She felt like her dad was there.
Anyway I gotta immediately listen to this song you speak of of Eartha’s, I don’t think I’ve heard it.
haha *every* dog deserves to be the recipient of “Santa Baby” solos! ;D heehhehehe LOL! ;D