Eartha Kitt spoke four languages and sung in eleven.
She auditioned for the Katherine Dunham school of dance on a dare, made it up as she went, and received a full ride.
Eartha Kitt left to Europe, yes, where her career wasn’t impacted by American black balling, and where the people loved her; and when she finally returned to American media it was as a star in the Broadway musical Timbuktu. MIND YOU, Queen was so iconic that the audience gave a standing ovation the moment she appeared on stage. 10 years of nothing, and these people are falling over her before she opens her mouth.
Eartha Kitt came from nothing, her family used to sell her to people in their county like a work mule. Her mother chose a man over her, and she went to live with a relative who abused her, until she was rescued by another relative who took her in in Harlem. Eartha Kitt lived her youth feeling rejected by everyone around her, and she STILL built herself up.
Eartha Kitt was the voice of Disney villain Yzma in all works that she appeared in (even recording a villain song that never aired as a result of script rewrites called ‘Snuff Out the Light’), she was Madame Zeroni in the ‘Holes’ movie adaptation. For clarification she was the FIRST Catwoman, and she sang the ORIGINAL Santa Baby.
Eartha Kitt was one of the first stars to embrace the concept of sex positivity, and owning the rights to one’s own body and sexuality. She stood up for LGBTQ people because quote
“We are all rejected people, we know what it is to be refused, we know what it is to be oppressed, depressed, and then, accused, and I am very much cognizant of that feeling. Nothing in the world is more painful than rejection. I am a rejected, oppressed person, and so I understand them, as best as I can…”
Eartha Kitt is one hundred percent my hero, a testament to the belief that we never have to be victims of our circumstances. We can be icons regardless of our origin.
